Gordon Bauman fonds

Title: Gordon M. Bauman fonds

Dates of creation: 1955, 1957, 1966, 1967, 1977, 1981-2003, 2023

Physical description: 11 cm of textual records

Biographical sketch: Gordon Bauman (1928-2023) was born to Milton S. and Susannah (Martin) Bauman on a farm three miles north of Waterloo, Ontario. He was raised in the Old Order Mennonite Church until the age of 12, when his parents joined the Markham-Waterloo Conference. In his early twenties he began attending the more progressive St. Jacobs Mennonite Church.  He married Erma S. Martin in 1951; the couple would have seven children, five of whom would live to adulthood.

Gordon left school after the eighth grade but later decided to pursue an education at the Ontario Mennonite Bible Institute. While still in school he was called to pastor Berea Mennonite Church and was ordained in 1955. In 1967, he began pastoring at both Mannheim Mennonite Church and Blenheim Mennonite Church. When Blenheim closed, he took a pastoral position at Nith Valley Mennonite Church. From 1978-1988, he was pastor of Tavistock Mennonite Church. Following a number of short term and voluntary assignments, he retired from ministry in 1994.

Custodial history: Donated to the Archives by Gordon Bauman in 2017 and by Rick Cober Bauman in 2023

Scope and content: Sermons, a file on pastoral retirement, and an obituary

Notes: Archival description created by Laureen Harder-Gissing in 2017 and updated in 2023

For more information, see Memories Of Our Lives: Gordon and Erma (Martin) Bauman. Tavistock, Ont.: G.&E. Bauman, 2001. A copy is located in the Milton Good Library.

File list:

1. Sermons, 1981-1983
2. Sermons, 1984-1986
3. Sermons, 1986-2000
4. Occasional sermons, 1997-2003
5. Various sermons
   Note: File contains a sample of seven sermons preached over the course of his ministry. The sermons titles are: ""Past Resurrection Meditations," "Friends and Foes of the Home," "The Church Facing Crises," "The Doctrine of Satan and Demons," "The Ascension: From Tragedy to Triumph," "Service is a Lifestyle," "I Will Be with You" (service of installation at Hawkesville Mennonite Chuch for Herb and Shirley Schultz)
6. Retired pastors
   Note: Includes an obituary for Gordon Bauman