North Leamington United Mennonite Church (Leamington, ON)

Classification scheme:

XIII-2-16

Title: North Leamington United Mennonite Church fonds

Dates of creation: 1963-2015
Note: Further accruals are expected.

Physical description: 75 cm of textual records

Administrative history: Located Lot 6, Conc. 6, Mersea Township, R.R. 5, Leamington, Ontario.

The congregation began services in 1954, and formally organized in 1980. The first building was built in 1953 and occupied in 1954. The congregation was established by Essex County (Leamington) United Mennonite Church to accommodate its growing membership. The two churches operated under one organization until 1981 when they became autonomous. Services have been in English only since 1985.

The congregation affiliated as a congregation with the Conference of United Mennonite Churches in Ontario, the Conference of Mennonites in Canada and the General Conference Mennonite Church in 1981 and the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada in 1988.

J.C. Neufeld and N. N. Driedger are considered the founding ministers of the group. Leading ministers since 1980 have included Cornelius Driedger (1980-1989), Victor Kliewer (1989-2000), and Bruce Wiebe (2000- ). In 1985 there were 489 members; in 1995, 519.

Custodial history: The congregation has made periodic donations to the Mennonite Archives of Ontario but the primary archival collection is at the Mennonite Heritage Centre, 31 Pickwick Dr., Leamington, ON N8H 5C4 (519) 326-0456.

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

Notes: For further information see N. N. Driedger, The Leamington United Mennonite Church : establishment and development 1925-1972 (Leamington, Ont. : The Church, 1972); The Mennonites in Essex and Kent Counties, Ontario: an introduction, Victor D. Kliewer, ed. (Leamington : Essex-Kent Mennonite Historical Association, 1997).

Original description created December 1999 by Sam Steiner