The following items are available for purchase. Please keep in mind that the prices do not include shipping and handling. Books can ordered from the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario by:
Detweiler’s meetinghouse is the only surviving stone meetinghouse built by Mennonites in Ontario. This book looks at the history of the Mennonites near Roseville, Ontario and the restoration of the meetinghouse and cemetery.
This volume located First Mennonite Church in the broad context of: pioneer settlement patterns (including conflicts with native land claims), the emergence of the Old Mennonite Church in Canada, changing authority patterns in the church and the U.S. influence in church and national policies. The book opens a window on formative years of the Canadian Mennonite experience.
The sixteenth century was, like the present, a time of feverish preoccupation with the approaching End of all things. The Anabaptists in that century without exception concerned themselves with it, some more, some less. These are the people whose views and convictions are described in this book. All of these people confidently believed that they were living at the End of the Ages. They had no doubt of it. Some were impatient for the End to begin. Others, while certain of the nearness of the End, decided to wait quietly for its arrival. All of them strove with all their might to keep oil in their lamps and so be ready when the Bridegroom would appear.
When war broke out in 1939 Canadian Mennonites were overwhelmingly a rural people. By 1970 they had largely completed one of the greatest ‘migrations’ in their history – the transformation from a rural to an urban community. This third and final volume of Mennonite history in Canada shows how the Second World War challenged the pacifist views of Mennonites and created a population more aware of events, problems, and opportunities for Christian services and personal advancement in the world beyond their traditional rural communities. Regehr describes how the war also initiated the urbanization process and the influences of urbanization on Mennonite identity.
Marlene Epp, Associate Professor of History, and Director of Mennonite Studies at Conrad Grebel University College, has updated her popular Mennonites in Ontario. The cover features the striking fibre art by Judy Gascho-Jutzi, "Encounters along the Grand." Last updated in 2002, the 2012 edition includes new analysis and updated statistics. Mennonites in Ontario remains the best introduction to the myriad Amish and Mennonite groups in Ontario. Read more about this book.
This book attempts to recognize the various settlers who made up the German Block settlement of Wilmot Township between the years 1822 and 1860. The book takes the reader from securing land in Canada to the daily life of families in Wilmot Township.
A community in paradox – This book is a sociological history of the large Mennonite and Amish community in the Waterloo area. It describes their origins and focuses on the distinct Mennonite way of life. The various organizational structures that help constitute the present-day Mennonite community are illustrated and the differences between Mennonites and Amish and the various divisions within those groups are clearly defined. The book asks how the Waterloo-area Mennonites of today earn their living, spend their money and use their leisure time; how families and churches respond to social change and to what degree they are accommodating to or assimilating with the larger society. The study concludes by reflecting on the future of the Mennonites as a distinctive group.
This collection of stories documents the desire of Ontario Mennonite women to perform “willing service” in their home and beyond and how this has led to the acceptance of new challenges. Looking into the times and communities in which the women in these stories lived and served brings to light a sensitive topic throughout social history – the role of women in society.
