Bethany Mennonite Church

Title: Bethany Mennonite Church fonds

Dates of creation: 1961-2020

Physical description: 1.37 m of textual records

Administrative history:  Located at the corner of Creek Rd. and East-West Line in Virgil, Ontario, the Bethany congregation is an outgrowth of the Niagara United Mennonite Church. In the early 1960s there was greater pressure in that church to use the English language. On December 1964, 143 members from the Niagara church became the charter members of the new Bethany Church. 

The congregation has been affiliated with the Conference of United Mennonite Churches of Ontario (1965-1988), Conference of Mennonites in Canada /Mennonite Church Canada (1965-), General Conference Mennonite Church (1965-1999) and Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada (1988- ).

Custodial history: The congregation has made periodic donations to the Mennonite Archives of Ontario.

Scope and content: There are four series: Formal records, Informal records, Church bulletins and Newsletter.

Notes: For further information see C. Alfred Friesen, Memoirs of the Virgil-Niagara Mennonites (1984), 39-42.
For photographs related to this congregation search the Mennonite Archival Image Database.
For sound recordings related to this congregation, see Hist.Mss.9.25. 
Further materials related to this congregation may be found by searching the Archives.
An encyclopedia entry for this congregation may be found in GAMEO.
Original description created December 1999 by Sam Steiner.

File list:

Series 1: Formal records

1. Constitutions, 1969, 1976, 1982, 1995, 2005, 2006, 2014, 2015
   Note: Includes Constitutional Task Force report, 1999
2. Church board minutes, 1964-1985
3. Membership meeting minutes, 1964-2003
4. Annual reports, 1983-1985, 1987, 1989-1994, 1996, 1998-2018
5. Church directories, 1966, 1968-1981, 1983, 1985-1986, 1988, 1990-2018
6. Mission and Service Committee minutes, 1976-1977
7. Budget materials, 1964/65, 1976
8. Education Committee, 1979
9. Documents on divorce and remarriage, 1969/1970, 1981
10. Space utilization policies, 1972, 1976
11. Action Plan, 1988
12. Renewal Task Force reports, 1989, 1995
13. Congregational profiles, [19--], 1987, 1993, 2001, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016

Series 2: Informal records

1. Commemorative plate that includes picture of church, n.d.
2. Church growth material, 1970
3. Church correspondence re: membership, 1970
4. A Celebration of Faith Stories, June 2000
5. News clippings

Series 3: Church bulletins

 6 Feb 1966, 1973-2008, January 2009-June 2009, 2010-February 2020

Series 4: Newsletter

1967-2004