Classification scheme:
V-8
Title: Valleyview Mennonite Church fonds
Dates of Creation: 1954-2007
Note: Further accruals are expected
Physical Description: 3 m of textual material
Administrative History: Valleyview Mennonite Church began services in 1953 and formally organized in 1962. Alvin Roth and Ralph Lebold were considered to be the founding leaders.
The first services were held at a house, 368 King St. in London, purchased by Nairn Mennonite Church. The congregation was first known as the Forest City Mennonite Mission, and later, King Street Mennonite Church. In 1962, the congregation relocated to 1181 Melsandra Street, and became known as Valleyview Mennonite Church.
The congregation established a voluntary service unit in 1966. Valleyview was affiliated with the Western Ontario Mennonite Conference from 1953-1988, and then became a congregation of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada.
Custodial History: These records were predominantly received from Valleyview Mennonite Church at various times, with a few from the files of Ralph Lebold.
Scope and Content: The fonds consists of the formal and informal records of Valleyview Mennonite Church, and is divided into four series.
Notes:
The Valleyview Mennonite Church Oral History Project is located in Hist. Mss. 22.1.
See Hist.Mss.10, Hist.Mss.10.2, Hist.Mss.10.25, Hist.Mss.10.10 and the Mennonite Archival Image Database for photographs related to the congregation.
Archival description revised 2017 by Sam Steiner.
File list:
Series 1: Formal Records
- Congregational Meetings and Annual Reports
1961-1973, 1976-1977 (minutes only), 1983, 1985-2002 - Church Council Minutes & Correspondence
1961, 1963-2002 - Constitutions
Proposed Constitutional Changes, 1967
1962
1968
1971
1974
1979
1987 (draft)
1990 (draft)
1991 (draft)
2000 - Church Directories
1968/69-1984/85, 1986-1990, 1994-1995, 1999
(picture directories from ca. 1990, 1999) - Worship Committee
1968-1990, 2000-2001
Worship leader guidelines, 1991
Worship Task Force, 1977-1978 - Christian Education Committee
1968-1971, 1976-1999, 2001-2003 (incomplete)
Correspondence, 1962-1975 - Mission & Social Concerns Committee
1977-1999 - Property and Finance Committee
1968-1971, 1974-1999, 2001-2002 - Social Committee
1985, 1987 - Pastoral Relations Committee
1970-1995
Communion survey, 2002 - Women’s Missionary and Service Auxiliary (WMSA)
Minutes, etc., 1970-1989
Activity reports, 1961-1977, 1991 - Mennonite Youth Fellowship (MYF) and Youth Ministry
1973/74, 1977-1981, 1984-1994, 2002-2003 - Summer Bible School
1961-1967 - Refugee Support Committee
1979-1980 - Zone 25/Outlook Committee
Includes purpose statements and survey
1970, 1981-1983 - Pastoral Search Committees
1980
1986/87
1991
2000/01 - Valleyview Day Nursery (operated in church basement)
(also includes the Boullee Street Nursery)
1967, 1977-1983, 1985 (minutes & reports)
1990-1999 (correspondence and policies) - Congregational Self-Study
1973 - Church Membership Study
1975-1977 - Facilities/Space Needs Committees
1978, 2002 - Communion Committee
Minutes and papers on communion
1996, 1999 - Ad hoc Music Committee
1969-1971 - Greater London Crusade for Christ
(Crusade by Myron Augsburger)
Correspondence and minutes, 1965 - Supervised Pastoral Education
1967-1969, 1969-1973, 1973-1984
Reports to Canadian Association for Pastoral Education (CAPE), 1976-1981 - London Pastoral Institute
1978-1981 - Special Reports
Day Nursery Center
The Philosphy and Program of Valleyview Mennonite Church, 5 Jan 1969
Seminar on Church Life: Evaluation of Team Ministry 28 Feb 1970/Proposal for Salaries and Workload, Mar 1970
The Place of Small Groups in the Church, 10 May 1970
The Question of Ordination, 10 May 1970
Evaluation of the Team Ministry for 1971-72 - Membership
Correspondence and certificates, 1977-1983, 1985-1998
Roll, 1962-2001 - Voluntary Service Unit
Correspondence & minutes
1966-1991
Offender Ministry, 1980-1984
Victim Care Program, 1984-1985
Advisory Committee minutes, 1966-1971
Misc. materials - Deeds
Series 2: Informal Records
- List of Anabaptist-Mennonite books available in London-area libraries
1971 - Brochures and Special Programs
- Clippings
- A talk given by Alvin Roth at the church banquet during dedication week services, 1962
- Materials on Outreach, including to Mennonite students
1962-1965, 1977, 1997 - Korean Church Integration Proposal
2000 - Proposal for “Who are the Mennonites” grant
1973 - Miscellaneous job descriptions for volunteers
1980s - Hillcrest Coffee House
1970 - Self-Help Crafts/Ten Thousand Villages
1987-1989, 1994
1997-2003 - Wills Emphasis meeting on need to make a will
1966 - Valleyview Mennonite Church Endowment Fund
1994 - Inter-Church Slow Pitch schedule
2001 - Homebuilders Literature packets
1964 - Student Christian Movement Advisory Board
1965-1966 - Ridgeview-Hillcrest Community Association
1971-1973 - Church library procedures and database
2001-2002 - Conscientious Objection and Thorbjorn Jensen case
1976-1977 - General Correspondence
1970s, 1980, 1983 (including Valleyview’s application to join the United Mennonite Conference and the Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec) - Pastor’s Correspondence (partial)
1965-1973, 1976, 1983-1985, 1988-1992, 1996-1997 - Fellowship Groups Correspondence
1982, 1994, 1996, 1998 - Covenant Renewal & Correspondence
1977-1981 - Seminar on Church Life
1969 - Frieda Peters report on Jute Works in Bangladesh
1977 - Congregational Retreats
1980s-2000s - Business Mission group
1979-1981 - Documents on Conference Integration
1978-79, 1986 - Small Groups
1986-1988 - Ministry to Community by John E. Adams
Copy of academic paper, “Ministry to Community: The Mennonite Church in London, Ontario, 1953-1970” by John E. Adams, 1970. - Ministry to Aging Workshop
1979 - Early Historical documents
(Sunday school records, correspondence, some minutes)
1954-1961 - Historical programs and litanies
1960s - Historical notes and articles
Scattered from 1960s to 2000s - Historical clippings
(both related to the church and members of the church)
1980s and 1990s - Oral History Project
2002-2007 - Photographs
Series 3: Bulletins
1961-1999, 2002-2004
Note: Also includes a folder of miscellaneous funeral bulletins
Series 4: Newsletters
Zone 25
1969-1982
Zone 25 survey
1971
Outlook
Spring 1983-Summer 1986, Spring 1987-Fall 1987
Newsletter
July 1967, Dec 1968, Dec 1970-1997, Nov 2002-2003