Who We Are

Our congregation is an intergenerational community of Jesus-followers from various backgrounds. We strive to share in Christ-centred worship, nurturing fellowship, Spirit-led education, and compassionate service.

Welcoming & Inclusion Statement

(Developed by the WMF Tapestry Committee, and unanimously approved February 5th 2023 at Windsor Mennonite Fellowship’s Annual Meeting Sunday)

“Windsor Mennonite Fellowship is an intergenerational community of Christian believers rooted in the Anabaptist Peace Church tradition. We welcome everyone to full participation, inclusion and membership recognizing that everyone is created in the image of God, inclusive of cultural and ethnic background, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ability, and other gifts which we share in community.

We confess that the Mennonite Church, including our congregation, has been part of the historic and ongoing exclusion and rejection of LGBTQIA+ persons, families, and communities. Churches have wielded theological rationale and social power in ways that cause suffering, division, and harm. All too often, they have failed to take a courageous stance to love, support, and embrace gender and sexual minorities. We confess this as a form of violence and neglect of our responsibilities as followers of Jesus. We strive to be a safe place for all and encourage all to engage in the ministries and practices of the congregation such as worship, baptism, membership, leadership, marriage, and service.

We are a community that values and respects the tapestry of perspectives and voices among us. We seek to be listeners and humble learners from one another, believing the Holy Spirit is present and at work in us all. Based on the study of Scripture and the teachings of Jesus, we are compelled by the love of God to give freedom and space for all people to fully share and participate in the life of our faith community.”

+++

Position on Article 19:

“As written, Article 19 “Family, Singleness, and Marriage” of the 1995 Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective does not reflect the theology and practices of our local church concerning the welcoming and inclusion of all persons. We believe that God intends marriage to be a covenant between two persons for life.

Windsor Mennonite Fellowship is a congregation of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, which is part of Mennonite Church Canada. Although our local fellowship is a part of the Mennonite/Anabaptist tradition of Mennonite Church Canada, we also have areas of autonomy. We believe it is important to be open about our differences, and hold those differences in a spirit of unity, love, and respect. In particular, the community of Windsor Mennonite Fellowship has prayerfully discerned and chosen to join other MC Canada congregations in amending Article 19 to better reflect our position of LGBTQIA+ inclusion.  We are also committed to being an active part of the process of reconciliation and thus to actively push for the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective to be updated.”

Our Tradition:

We are members of the Mennonite Church Eastern Canada

The Sunday Gathering:

WMF gathers every Sunday at 1709 George Ave. for 10:00 AM.

Announcements, resources, and discussion questions will be posted on our Facebook Page and sent to our church email list prior to our Sunday morning gathering. If you’d like to join our email list please send a request to wmfpastor@gmail.com.

Online Teaching & Messages:

In addition, we are providing video messages from our teaching team on our Facebook Page and our Windsor Mennonite Fellowship Youtube Channel

You are welcome to join us on Sunday at 10am.

1709 George Avenue
Windsor, ON N8Y 2Y8
Canada

History

The Windsor Mennonite Fellowship is the second attempt to establish a Mennonite church in Windsor, Ontario. The first group lasted from 1926 until the mid-40s and never achieved autonomous status, remaining a satellite of the Essex County United Mennonite Church centred in Leamington.

The second attempt began as a church-planting project of the Conference of United Mennonite Churches of Ontario. Henry Paetkau, pastor of the Harrow United Mennonite Church, was appointed to lead this project. First, week-night Bible studies involving interested people were held in the home of Henry and Mary Janzen; these went from September, 1981, to February, 1983.

Then, on November 27, 1983, Sunday evening worship services were formally begun in the basement of Trinity United Church. These services continued until December 30, 1984. On January 6, 1985, the services moved to Sunday mornings and the meeting place shifted to the Remington Booster Community Centre. Since Henry Paetkau then had to withdraw as pastor, Henry P. Epp of Leamington, newly-retired pastor of the St. Catharines United Mennonite Church, assumed the pastoral leadership on an interim basis. The move to the community centre also led to the addition of a Sunday School for all ages.

In 1985 the congregation adopted a constitution, registration as a charitable institution, and, on October 27, celebrated “Membership Sunday,” at which time 13 full members and 4 associate members formally joined to form the core of the Fellowship. On August 1, Jacob W. Dyck was hired as pastor, and he served until July 31, 1987. During his tenure, the first baptism (Cathy Janzen) was held on June 7, 1987. On January 1, 1988, Arthur P. Boers took on the position of pastor and held it until his resignation in April, 1992. An ordination service was held for Arthur on January 8, 1989. During his term of service, the Windsor Mennonite Fellowship was accepted as a member church in the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada, and its meeting place changed twice: first, to the AKO Community Centre and then, in 1990, to its own building at 1709 George Avenue.

Here an abandoned laundromat was transformed into a meeting-house, with financial assistance from MCEC and Tenth Man, and volunteer labour from the Leamington and Harrow churches. Within two years, an education wing was added. Mathew Swora served the congregation in an interim preaching capacity in 1993. Erwin Wiens became pastor on September 1, 1993, and held that position until July 2002, when he and his wife Marian left to serve with Mennonite Church Canada in South Korea.

At the annual meeting in January 2003, the membership adopted a revised constitution, which changed the Fellowship’s leadership structure from a traditional church council/ministry council format to an eldership/trustee model.

On September 1, 2003, Phyllis Kramer took over the pastoral leadership and served for about 7 years. A transition period was followed by the calling of Paul Dueck, who has served as pastor since his installation in April 2010. Angelika G. Correa joined Paul as associate pastor in September 2013, marking the first pastoral team for WMF. After Paul Dueck’s departure in August 2014, Angelika G. Correa continued serving WMF until May 2015, when she decided to go into full-time university studies. Susan K. Harrison was then called to serve as pastor starting in September 2015. Rielly McLaren is our current pastor starting with us in 2018.

Our Pastors: Rielly McLaren 2018 – present, Susan K. Harrison 2015-2018, Angelika G. Correa: 2013-2015, Paul Dueck: 2010-2014, Phyllis Kramer: 2003-2010, Erwin Wiens: 1993-2002, Arthur P. Boers: 1988-92, Jacob W. Dyck: 1985-87, Henry P. Epp: 1985, Henry Paetkau: 1981-1983

Contact

Windsor Mennonite Fellowship
1709 George Ave
Windsor, ON N8Y 2Y8

Central bus route #3 , stops at the church
(Corner of Alice St and George Ave)

Phone:(519) 974-1346
E-mail: wmfpastor@gmail.com
Pastor: Rev. Rielly McLaren