Pioneer Park Christian Fellowship

Classification scheme:

III-27

Title: Pioneer Park Christian Fellowship fonds

Dates of creation: 1899-2010

Physical description: 90 cm of textual records

Administrative history: The church is located at 68 Biehn Drive, Kitchener, Ontario.  The congregation has been affiliated with the Mennonite Conference of Ontario (1842-1988), the Mennonite Church (1898-1999), Mennonite Church Eastern Canada (1988-) and Mennonite Church Canada  (1995-). The language of worship is English; the transition from German occurred in the late 1800s.

The congregation began services about 1833 and formally organized in 1838. The first building was occupied in 1842. John Stoeckle is considered the founding leader of the group. The congregation originated through immigration from Pennsylvania. The congregation has also been known as Weber Mennonite or Strasburg Mennonite. The name changed to Pioneer Park to identify with the new Kitchener subdivision within which the congregation was now located.

Pastoral leaders who served the Weber/Strasburg/Pioneer Park congregation have included: David Sherk (1838-1840), John Stoeckle (1840-1879), Noah Stauffer (1876-1928), Isaiah Wismer (1906-1933), Jesse B. Martin (1925-1929), Simon Martin (1930-1958), Lester Bauman (1958-1964), Stanley Sauder (1965-1968), Jesse B. Martin (Interim, 1968/69), Darrell D. Jantzi (1969-1985), Rufus Jutzi (Interim, 1985/86), Brian Laverty (1986-    )

Custodial history: The Pioneer Park 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: 135th Anniversary 1842-1977. Kitchener, ON: The Church, 1977;L.J. Burkholder, A brief history of the Mennonites in Ontario (1935), 99-100.
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 February 2002 by Sam Steiner

File list:

Series 1: Formal records

  1. Constitution [195-?], 1989 (plus report on review of constitution, 1991), 2015
  2. Annual reports
         1972-1979
         1980-1989
         1990-1995, 1999
         2001, 2007-2010, 2013-2014, 2016, 2018
  3. Annual/Congregational meeting minutes
         1929-1949 (includes financial records)
         1950, 1957, 
         1973, 1978-1988 (held in January of following year),
  4. Church Directory
         1976, 1980, 1982-1987, 1989-1990, 2017-2018
  5. Church Council  / Council of Elders minutes
         1964/65, 1968-1973
         1974-1988 (incomplete)
         1989-1994
    2017, 2019 (Ministry Coordinating Team)
  6. Congregational profile and leadership review
        1983-1984
  7. Crescent Sewing Circle
         1957-1975
  8. King's Daughter Sewing Circle
         1955-1973
  9. Church Treasurer's Account Book
         1949-1975 (includes some offering schedules)
  10. Young People's Bible Meeting
         1928-1956
  11. Sunday School records (attendance, reorganization)
         1898-1923
         1924-1925, 1928-1935
         1936-1948
         1926-1956 (reorganization only; book also includes records from a 1916 Bible conference held at Weber)
         1956-1971 (reorganization)
         1968-2008
         1961-1970 (financial records)
  12. Miscellaneous committee minutes
    Library committee, 11 Jan 1979
    Ushers workshop, 26 Mar 1991
  13. Missions Committee minutes, 1991-1993
  14. Building projects, 1977-1985

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Series 2: Informal records

  1. 135th Anniversary, 1842-1977 (Kitchener, ON: The Church, 1977), 20 p. (2 copies)
  2. Programs of events, 1898-
  3. Sample Sunday school class books [193-?]
  4. Guest book, 1968-1975
  5. News Clippings
  6. Sunday school awards (from Sophia Vale)
  7. Sunday school prize book (Georgie's Prayer and What Became of It and other stories (London: Religious Tract Society, n.d.)
  8. Mario Snyder letter from Argentina to Weber Sunday School, n.d.
  9. Reflections on Voluntary Service by Cindy Bolger, Donna Wirth, Lois Snider, Jim & Bonnie Nafziger
  10. Transcript of statements on Ruth Anne Laverty's Call to Ministry, 1991
  11. Congregational brochure [197-?]
  12. Photographs
    Note: For digital images, search the Mennonite Archival Information Database

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Series 3: Church Bulletins

1965-1989
1990-2006
26 Sep 2010
2015-2018

Series 4: Newsletters

Newsletter (March 1984)
Pioneer Park Perspective 1987-Spring, 1989, 1990 (February, June)

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