©Mennonite Heritage Centre 2003-2010
Last updated 21 March 2012
Mennonite Heritage Centre Archives
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Vineland United Mennonite Church
Retrieval numbers: Volumes 15, 16, 2425, 2659, 3813, 4686, 5321.
Title: Vineland United Mennonite Church fonds
Dates: 1957-1958, 1965-2007
Extent: 62 cm of textual records
Repository: Mennonite Heritage Centre Archives
Historical note
The Vineland United Mennonite Church was founded in 1936 in
Ontario by Russian Mennonite immigrants who had begun to settle in the
area as early as 1924. They were sponsored by the First Mennonite
Church in Vineland. The language barrier was an incentive to have their
own worship services. The United Mennonite and Mennonite Brethren
families worshipped together these first years in private homes and
rented facilities and were connected to the Waterloo-Kitchener United
Mennonite Church. In 1927 they acquired a saw mill which they converted
into a meeting house. In 1934 the Mennonite Brethren families decided
to form their own congregation in Beamsville. In 1935 they built a new
meeting house. It was in the 1930s that two other groups affiliated
with Waterloo became independent congregations. They were in Port Rowan
and Virgil. In 1936 there were 135 charter members. In 1945 the
membership was 243 and in 1952 it was 292. In 1953 they were part of a
number of Mennonite congregations to found a senior citizens home which
was built in Vineland. In 1957 they built a larger meeting house near
the Senior citizens home. In 1961 the membership was 382. In 1980 the
membership was 426 and in 2000 it stood at 351. The leaders of the
congregation were: Johann Wichert (1927-1983), Nikolas Fransen
(1929-1995), Abram Epp (1931-1944), Dietrich Koop (1931-1944),
Cornelius Neufeld (1929-1938), Abram Harder (1934-1973), Dietrich
Sawatzky (1938-1946), A.A. Peters (1936-1952), Johann Neufeld
(1955-1990), Jacob Fransen (1961- ), J.K. Klassen (1965-1973), Henry H.
Epp (1974-1976), Otto Giesbrecht (1981-1995), Peter Retzlaff
(1985-1991), David Brubacher (1991-2000), Marvin Friesen (2001- ).
Scope and content note
This fonds contains bulletins (1958, 1965-2002), constitution (1960), programmes
(1965-1977), annual and other reports (1965-1993), directories
(1966-2007), newsletters (1970-1997), correspondence (1974-1977),
minutes (1978-1990), and a 25th anniversary history booklet. The
records pertain to the development of the Mennonite congregation in
Vineland, Ontario since 1965.
Index terms
Subject terms
Vineland United Mennonite Church
Creators
Vineland United Mennonite Church
Adjunct descriptive data
Finding aids
Inventory file list available.
Notes
Restrictions on access
No restrictions on access.
Other notes
Textual records have been deposited by the congregation on
a regular basis at the Mennonite Heritage Centre. Described by Bert
Friesen 8 August 2002.
Vineland United Mennonite Church fonds file list:
Volume 15
- Vineland United Mennonite Church Building dedication program (1957), bulletins (1958)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church constitution (1960), 25th anniversary book (1961)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1965), Bible conference/study programme (1965), MCC (Ontario) report (1965)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1966), directory (1966)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1967)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1968), directory (1968)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1969), directory (1969)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1970),
highlights of the Ontario conference sessions (1970); Financial
statements (1970)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1971), congregational minutes (1971)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1972)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1973)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1974), MCC (Ontario) correspondence (1974), congregational minutes (1974)
Volume 16
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1975), congregational directory (1975), annual reports (1975)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1976), annual reports (1976)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1977), correspondence
(1977), Bible conference/study programme (1977), congregational filing
code (1977), annual reports (1977)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1978), directory (1978), congregational meeting minutes (1978)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1979), annual reports (1979)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1980), annual reports (1980)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1981), directory (1981), annual reports (1981)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church newsletters (1976-1979)
Volume 2425
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1982)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1983)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1984)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1985)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1986), annual reports (1986)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1987), annual reports (1987)
Volume 2659
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1988), congregational
meeting minutes (1988), annual reports (1988)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1989)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1990), congregational meeting minutes (1990), annual reports (1990),
directory (1990)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1991), annual reports (1991)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1992), directory (1992)
Volume 3813
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1993), annual reports (1993)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1994), directory (1994)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1995)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1996), directory (1996)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1997)
Volume 4686
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1998), directory (1998)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (1999)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (2000), directory (2000)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins (2001)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church bulletins [incomplete] (2002), directory (2002)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church directory (2005), directory (2007)
Volume 5321
- Vineland United Mennonite Church Newsletter (1970-1975)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church Newsletter (1976-1981)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church Newsletter (1982-1987)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church Views from the Vineyard [newsletter] (1988-1991)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church Good News [newsletter] (1991-1997)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church Telephone Directory (2009)
- Vineland United Mennonite Church Telephone Directory (2012)