Floradale Mennonite Church (Floradale, ON)

Title: Floradale Mennonite Church fonds

Dates of creation: 1896-2019
Note: Further accruals are expected.

Physical description: 117 cm of textual records

Administrative history: Located at 22 2nd St., Floradale, Ontario, the congregation began services in 1857, and formally organized in 1889. The congregation first purchased a building from the Evangelical Church in 1867. After the Old Order division a new building was constructed north of Floradale in 1896; in 1936 a new church was built at the present location. Abraham Dettwiler and William Hembling are considered founding leaders of the group. The congregation originated through division from North Woolwich Old Order Mennonite after a division in 1889. Initially (1856-1867) the church met every eight weeks in the home of Deacon William Hembling.

The 1889 division of the North Woolwich Old Order from the Mennonite Conference of Ontario caused a split in the congregation, after which the church was officially organized as Floradale Mennonite. The Old Order retained use of the building and the conference group was without a church building until 1896.

The congregation affiliated with the Mennonite Conference of Ontario from 1889-1988, the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada since 1988 and the Conference of Mennonites in Canada since 1995.  The language of worship is English; language transition from German occurred in 1920s.

Major renovations took place in 1986, and a new building was erected at the present location in 2006.

Pastoral leaders since 1896 have included Abram B. Gingrich (1896-1936), Oliver D. Snider (1909-1934), Reuben Dettwiler (1934-1951), Rufus Jutzi (1951-1964), Weyburn Groff (1964-1965), Gerald Good (1965-1976), Lester Kehl (1976-1989), Stanley D. Shantz (1989-1990), Richard Yordy (1990-1991), Fred Redekop (1991-2016), Gary Knarr (Interim, 2016- )

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

Scope and content: There are four series of congregational records: formal records, informal records, church bulletins and newsletters

Notes: For further information see: Brent Bauman, Forged anew: a history of Floradale Mennonite Church, Hembling-North Woolwich-Floradale 1856-1996 (Floradale : The Church, 1996).

Original description created November 1999 by Sam Steiner

File list:

Series 1: Formal records

1. Annual meeting, special meeting minute book, 1896-1963
2. Congregational meeting minute book, 1963-1977
3. Annual meeting reports, minutes, 1967-1969, 1972-1979
4. Annual meeting reports, minutes, 1980-1988
5. Church Council & congregational meeting minutes, 1976-1987
6. Church Council minutes, annual reports, congregational meeting minutes, 1988-2019 (no Council minutes for 1999)
7. Congregational survey, 1981
8. Church Council minutes, 1958-1970
9. Property Deed, 1897, map showing property purchased 1973
10. Membership book, 1897-1940
11. Membership records of deceased, transferred and withdrawn members,     - 1989
12. Church register or photo directory, 1975, 1977?, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999-2003, 2005-2010, 2012-2014, 2017-2019
13. Church Constitutions, between 1963 & 1971, 1976, 1983, 2000
14. Sunday school constitution, n.d.
15. Building Committee minutes, 1985
16. Mennonite Youth Fellowship minute book, 1950-1957 (holograph constitution and later minutes laid in)
17. Mennonite Youth Fellowship minutes, 1950-1965 (early minutes re-copied)
18. Mennonite Youth Fellowship missionary project record book, 1950-1956
19. Mennonite Youth Fellowship financial records, 1958-1972, 1972-75
20. Mennonite Youth Fellowship Faith Committee records, 1962-1964
21. Mennonite Youth Fellowship minutes, 1972-1986
22. Young Peoples Bible Meeting records, 1957-1960
23. Stewardship for Mission in the local congregation, 1965
24. Adult Fellowship meeting book, 1963-1969
25. Summer Bible School records, 1935-1984 (not complete)
26. Women's Mission & Service Commission minutes, 1976-1993, 1995-2000, 2008-2015
27. Handbook for Youth Advocates, n.d.
28. Missions Committee minutes, 1992
29. Nurture Cabinet minutes, 1984, 1989
30. Sunday school organization (1920s) and attendance records, 1920-1960 (box)
31. Youth Ministry Council, 1997
32. Vesper Sewing Circle
    Minutes, 1958-1984
    Financial records, 1968-1981
33. Girl's Missionary and Service Auxiliary (GMSA) record books, 1972-1981, 1983-1991
34. Women's Fellowship, 2016-

Series 2: Informal records

1. Delton Martin, "The history of the Floradale Mennonite Church," 1967 (14 p.)
2. Delton Martin, The history of the Floradale Mennonite Church, 1971
3. Correspondence re: withdrawals of membership, 1964, 1968
4. Misc. news clippings, 1957ff.
5. Misc. programmes, 1924ff (includes dedication and ordination services)
6. Family child assistance information (includes two photos), 1960s?
7. Mennonite Youth Fellowship affiliated unit certificate, 1950
8. Receipts from donations to K-W hospital, 1951
9. Annual reports to Mennonite Conference of Ontario, 1957-1975
10. Misc. lists, forms and questionnaires (includes car rally directions)
11. Monthly calendars of events, 2001, 2004-2007, Feb 2009-2019
12. Vacation Bible School certificate, 1934 (stored at back of large box of formal records)
13. Starlite Fellowship records, 1989-2002
14. Map of the Floradale Community, 1971
    Note: Includes property owners ca. 1861, 1896 and 1971, and houses of worship
15. "The growth of the Floradale Mennonite Church, Floradale, Ontario, 1944-1964," Edith Martin, 1 Mar 1965
16. New building floor plan, 2006
17. Correspondence
    1996
18. Historical notes by Reuben Dettwiler
    "Regarding Bro. Simeon Weaver's resignation from the office of Deacon"
    "The beginnings of a Mennonite witness at Floradale"
    Note: Items donated to the Archives in 2023 by Richard Olley

Series 3: Church bulletins

1955-1957, 1960-2019

Series 4: Newsletter

Focus on Floradale, 1985-2019