Conestoga Mennonite Meetinghouse in 2004

The Conestoga congregation is one of the oldest in the Waterloo region. In 1844, 0.5 hectares (1.3 acres) of land was purchased for 5 shillings and the Mennonite community erected a log building for use as a school and a meetinghouse. A frame church building was constructed in 1853, after the log building was destroyed by fire.

Ludwig Koch was ordained in 1845 as Conestoga's first minister, and John W. Brubacher was ordained in 1847 as the first deacon. As was the practice in Mennonite churches of the time, they were ordained by lot from within the congregation and were not paid for their church service. 

The division within the Ontario Mennonite Conference in the 1880s affected the Conestoga congregation. For a time the Conestoga congregation shared the meetinghouse with dissident minority group. However, around 1892 a conflict arose between the two, with the dissident Mennonites claiming the building as their own. It is said that "one day a man asked the caretaker for the keys, saying he left in the rubbers in the church. He kept the keys."

As a result, Old Order Deacons Levi P. Martin, David Cressman, and Menno Shantz purchased 0.75 hectares (1.85 acres) of land from George and Nancy Hoffman for $1.00, about 0.8 km (0.5 miles) south of the original site. A frame building 9.8 x 18.9 m (32' x 62') was constructed in 1894. In 1925, a 3 meter (10') addition was built, and in 1991, a completely new church was built on the same site.   

The Conestoga congregation provides signing for the deaf when a deaf or hard of hearing person regularly attends, and has been doing so since around 1999. 

In 2004, the Conestoga congregation consisted of around 60 families. No accurate count of members is available for most of the history of the congregation because Old Order Mennonites think of themselves as members of the church at large and not just the immediate congregation. The Old Order also do not see the quantity of members as indicative of the congregation's importance. When people move from one geographical area to another, they automatically “belong to” the congregation whose meetinghouse is closest to their home. No membership transfer takes place from the former location.

After the Old Order Mennonites ceased using the Martin Meetinghouse on the northern edge of the city of Waterloo, the Martin's congregation began to meet every other Sunday at the Conestoga meetinghouse. The meetinghouse is used every Sunday, but by two different Old Order Mennonite congregations.

See also St. Jacobs Mennonite Church (St. Jacobs, Ontario, Canada)

Bibliography

Additional Information

Table 1: Conestoga Meetinghouse Ordained Leaders*

*Unless otherwise noted, the dates of service span date of ordination to date of death.

¹Ezra L. Martin was ordained to the office of Bishop in 1914. 

²Levi P. Martin was ordained at Wallace and then moved to Conestoga.

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