Mennonite Church Canada is a

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the R ...

denomination in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, with head offices in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,60 ...

. It is a member of the Mennonite World Conference and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.

History

The first Mennonites in Canada arrived from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in 1786. The majority of the Mennonites that migrated to Canada over the next 150 years came directly from Europe. The first annual meeting of Mennonite ministers was held in 1810, which eventually led to founding the ''Mennonite Conference of Ontario'' (later the ''Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec''). The ''Conference of Mennonites in Central Canada'' was formed in 1903. When other bodies arriving in Canada began to settle outside this "central" base, the name was changed to the ''General Conference of Mennonites in Canada'' in 1932 (later the ''Conference of Mennonites in Canada''). The ''Ontario Amish Mennonite Conference'' (later ''Western Ontario Mennonite Conference'') was founded in 1923, and the ''Conference of United Mennonite Churches in Ontario'' in 1945. In 1988, the ''Western Ontario Mennonite Conference'', the ''Conference of United Mennonite Churches in Ontario'' and the ''Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec'' united to form the ''Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada''. Beginning in 1989, a series of consultations, discussions, proposals, and sessions led to the unification of two North American bodies (the ''Mennonite Church & General Conference Mennonite Church'') and the related Canadian ''Conference of Mennonites in Canada'' into the

Mennonite Church USA The Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the United States. Although the organization is a recent 2002 merger of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church, the body has roots in the Radi ...

and the ''Mennonite Church Canada'' in 2002. According to a census published in 2018, it would have 203 churches and 26,000 baptized members.

Beliefs

The doctrinal faith of the Mennonite Church Canada is set forth in ''The Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective''. This confession was adopted in 1995 by the ''General Conference Mennonite Church'' and the ''Mennonite Church'' at

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

. It contains 24 articles on the following: "God;

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

;

Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...

; Scripture; Creation and Divine Providence; the Creation and Calling of Human Beings; Sin; Salvation; The Church of Jesus Christ; The Church in Mission;

Baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

; The Lord's Supper; Foot Washing; Discipline in the Church; Ministry and Leadership; Church Order and Unity; Discipleship and the Christian Life; Christian Spirituality; Family, Singleness, and Marriage; Truth and the Avoidance of Oaths; Christian Stewardship; Peace, Justice, and Nonresistance; The Church's Relation to Government and Society; and The Reign of God." The church ordains women as pastors. In 2015, the first same-gender marriage was officiated in a congregation of the Mennonite Church Canada with the denomination in 2016 clarifying that each congregation is free to decide its own position on the issue.

Structure

The organizational structure of the ''Mennonite Church Canada'' is divided into five Area Churches - Mennonite Church Alberta, Mennonite Church British Columbia, Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, Mennonite Church Manitoba, and Mennonite Church Saskatchewan. Denominational work is administered through a board elected by the delegates to the biennial assembly. Mennonite Church Canada participates in the Canadian Council of Churches, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, and the Mennonite World Conference.

Periodical

''Canadian Mennonite'' is the official conference periodical. The conference also published the German-language ''

Der Bote ''Der Bote'' ('The Messenger') was a German-language Mennonite newspaper published in Winnipeg, Manitoba, by Mennonite Church Canada. ''Der Bote'' was first published 16 January 1924 as ''Der Mennonitische Immigrantenbote'' by Dietrich H. Epp ...

'' newspaper until 2008, when it ceased publication.

Notes

External links