Winterbourne Old Order Mennonite Meetinghouse (West Montrose, Ontario, Canada)
 |
| Winterbourne Mennonite Meetinghouse in 2004 |
The first ordination at the meetinghouse was for Paul Martin as Minister on 29 November 1966. Clarence Martin was the congregation's first Deacon. As is the practice in Old Order churches, they were ordained by lot from within the congregation. Ordained persons are not paid for their church service.
In 2004, the number of families in the Winterbourne district was around 80. 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.
Bibliography
Mennonite Reporter (3 April 1989): 14.
Information from the congregation.
Additional Information
Table 1: Winterbourne Old Order Mennonite Meetinghouse Ordained Leaders*
| Ministers | Deacons | ||
Paul Martin1 |
29 November 1966-2001 | Clarence Martin2 | 1965-9 July 1997 |
| Alvin Gingrich | 5 June 2001- | Amsey Bauman3 | 3 November 1987- |
| Elmer Shantz | 11 June 2002- | Henry Brubacher | 2 June 1998- |
*Unless otherwise noted, the dates of service span date of ordination to date of death
1Paul Martin transferred to Martinfield in 2001.
2Clarence Martin transferred from Elmira in 1965; he was ordained in 1954.
3Amsey Bauman moved from the community in 1997.
Table 2: Winterbourne Old Order Mennonite Meetinghouse Membership (in families)
| Year | Membership |
| 2004 | 80 families |
©1996-2008 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.
To cite this page:
MLA style: Streicher, Anita. "Winterbourne Old Order Mennonite Meetinghouse (West Montrose, Ontario, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 2005. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 07 July 2008 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/W576.html>
APA style: Streicher, Anita. (2005). "Winterbourne Old Order Mennonite Meetinghouse (West Montrose, Ontario, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 07 July 2008 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/W576.html>
