Classification scheme: V-5
Title: Steinmann Mennonite Church fonds
Dates of creation: 1932-2008
Physical description: 1.1m of textual records; 1 pitcher
Administrative history: This church was originally part of the Wilmot Amish district conference, organized about 1826. It is located at R.R.#2, Baden, Ont., NOB 1G0. Worship services were held in private homes until 1884 when a frame meetinghouse was built on land donated by deacon Daniel Steinmann. The original frame meetinghouse was replaced with a brick edifice in 1946. An educational wing was added in 1976.
Sunday services alternated between Steinman and St. Agatha until 1939 when concurrent services were held weekly. The two churches continued to function as one entity known as Wilmot Amish Mennonite until 1957. A congregational polity was adopted in 1963.
Custodial history: Accessions have been received from time to time. Latest accession was made in 2024.
Notes: For further reference see Lillian Kennel, A History of the Wilmot Amish Mennonite Congregation (Baden, Ontario: Steinman Mennonite Church, 1984.
See also Steinmann items in Worship Service sound recordings.
Original description created by Sam Steiner.
File list:
Series 1: Formal records
- Church Council / Vision Focus Team Minutes
1963-2018 - Annual/Program Review reports,
1963-2022 - Congregational meeting minutes (annual reports usually also contain minutes of previous year)
1961, 1965-1968, 1970, 1975, 1980-1988, 1996, 2000, 2004-2005 - Ministerial Committee,
1956-1995, 2000-2001 - Leadership Team,
1994-2000, 2003 - Worship Committee
1981-2013 - Mission & Service Committee/ Outreach and Service Committee
1985-March 2005
2008-2010 (incomplete), 2014-2017 - Personnel Committee
1983-1995 - Gift Discernment Committee,
1982-1986, 1996-2004 - Christian Education Committee / Christian Formation Team
1967, 1969-1988, 1995-June 2004, 2006-2007 - Mennonite Youth Fellowship (MYF)
Executive Minutes, 1954-1972, 1979-1980, 1983-1993, 1996, 1998-1999, 2001, 2004
Correspondence, etc., [19--], 1970-2000
Songbooks
Bible Quizzing - "Focusing our Vision" / Vision Action Committee
1995-1998 - Wilmot Cluster Refugee Support Committee,
1996-1997 - Facilities Study Committee
1987, [19--?], [20--?] - Good Samaritan Fund
1986 - Anniversaries
1983-1984, 1998-1999 - Torchbearers (boys club)
1970-1972 - Intrust Mission Project
[196?], 1965-1991
Financial statements
Correspondence
Mission Note certificates - Steering Committee
1990-1992 - Student Mutual Aid
1985-1994, 1997 - Youth Advocacy Program
1989-1995 - West Hills Emerging Church Reference Group
1991 - Music Committee
1991, 1995 - Pastoral Search Committee
1990, 1993, 2001-2002, 2022, 2023 - Women's groups
Administrative history: Sewing circles involving Steinmann women began at Wilmot Amish Mennonite (1920) and the Baden Mission (1934). In 1938, a sewing circle formed which became the Steinmann Mennonite Church WMSA. Other groups formed at Steinmann including the Master's Followers (1942) and the Stewardess group (1953-1971). By the 1970s, the WMSC were meeting in afternoon or evening groups.
WMSA/WMSC/WMCEC, 1939-1941, 1958-1988, 2004-2013, 2016
Stewardess WMSA, 1961, 1964-1970
Master's Followers, 1942-1969
Home and Special Interest/Evening Group, 1988-1999, 2001-2010
General correspondence, [19--], 1957-1986
Steinmann Mennonite Church Ladies (single/widow) gatherings, 1982-1994 - Building Committee
1980, 1998-1999, 2003, 2006 - Church directories
1979, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1994, 2003, 2005-2009, 2011-2019 - Congregational profile
1980, [19--?], 1993, 2000, 2002-2004 - Photography Committee
1986-1993 - Finance Committee
5 May 1970, 4 Dec 2008 - Policies and guidelines (miscellaneous)
- Men's Breakfast planning
1998/99 - Area Vacation Bible School Committee
1977, 1980-1982, 1986-1988, 1997, 1999-2006 - Transition, 2000-2003
Minutes and notes
Reports
Covenant study guide
Members Handbook - Steinman-St. Agatha Combined Mission Project Committee, 1962-1969
- Girls Clubs
Missionary Maids GMSA, 1956-1965
Girls Club, 1987-1998 - Marriage registers
1913-1927 (Note: Volume includes list of marriages from 1902-1913), 1927-1951 - Baptisms and memberships
1879, 1883, 1885-1887, 1892-1893, 1900, 1902, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1937-1944, 1946-1953, 1984
Series 2: Informal Records
- Correspondence
1963, 1969-1974, 1976-2009, 2012, 2014-2015, 2017, 2019 - Programs
Note: Includes program of dedication, 1948 - News clippings
- Historical notes and papers
Note: Includes a copy of Pauline Steinmann, "Congregational history of Steinmann Mennonite Church," 1977 - Sketchbook of Architectural Drawings (1980s?) (long, wide, flat box)
- "Midnight Star" Literary Society "newspaper"
1949-1959 - Correspondence re pitcher of consecrated communion bread, 2011
Note: See also V-5.5/1 Realia. - Notes from Ontario Amish Mennonite Bible School held at Steinmann Church, 1934
Scope and content: Course notes taken by Ruth Brenneman of R.R.#2 Haysville, Ontario, February 1934. - Publicity brochures
1996, [20--?] - Deacon Elmer Schwartentruber's offering purse
- Lists of birthdays, deaths and anniversaries, 1971, 1972, 1985 (cumulative), 1987 (cumulative), 1983-1991, 1997
Note: File restricted by the Archives until 90 years after latest entry. - Discussion topics
"Women in Leadership: Some Biblical Perspectives" by Ken Bechtel, 2002
Marriage, Divorce and Sexuality, 1981-1987
Series 3: Bulletins
Bulletins, 1965-August 2021, 2022-2023
Funeral programs, 1982-2024
Wedding programs, [19--?], 1972-2016
Series 4: Newsletter
Congregational Communicator Newsletter, 1980-2019
Caring and Connecting, 2020-2023
Series 5: Realia
- Pitcher of consecrated communion bread
Administrative history: Oral history conveys a tradition in Ontario Amish Mennonite communities of saving pieces of leftover consecrated communion bread. Barbara Steinmann, daughter of Bishop Steinmann, said her father saved the leftover bread because church members would ask him for pieces to place in the attics of their homes or up in the barns. There was a belief that a piece of this bread protected the building from lightning strikes.
Custodial history: Owned by Bishop Daniel H. Steinmann (1857-1935) and given to his daughter, Barbara Steinmann. Recieved by the Archives from Fred Lichti, former pastor of Steinmann Mennonite Church.