Hagerman church fosters two new congregations
Hagerman Mennonite Church was established more than 60 years ago in a small hamlet north of Toronto, surrounded by farms and market gardens. Over the last 20 years, the community has experienced massive change.
Hagerman is now part an urban community bordering Toronto, with many immigrants, particularly from Asia. About 55 percent of the population is people of colour; 3 out of 10 people identify themselves as Chinese.
Rather than being weakened by the confusion of change, the congregation shifted into a mindset that allowed new ideas and identities to emerge. There was a sense that to resist change would be the death of the church. Out of that fertile ground two new congregations have emerged.
In 1990, Winfred Soong and others from the Toronto Chinese Mennonite Church asked Hagerman about using its facilities for outreach to new immigrants coming from Hong Kong. The members of the Hagerman congregation realized that they were not equipped to reach out effectively to their new neighbours and voted unanimously to share their space.
By 1993, the Markham Chinese Mennonite Church was established as an emerging congregation, with about 30 people participating in Sunday afternoon services.
Demographic shifts were affecting Hagerman in other ways. Property values were rising, along with massive new development and higher density living. This encouraged young couples and retirees to buy homes farther north, many in the Stouffville area.
By 1995, a significant number of members from Hagerman had a vision to start a new church in Stouffville. The congregation held a series of meetings to discern future directions. After a challenging but healthy process of listening to each other, it was clear that there were two equally valid visions: to start a new congregation in Stouffville or to renew the Hagerman congregation to adapt to a multi-cultural and urban environment. Both groups agreed to bless the other’s vision.
Community Mennonite Church of Stouffville was established in 1996, with 30 adults and 25 children. A similar number of adults, but fewer children remained at Hagerman. Pastor Gordon Alton agreed to work with each group during a transition period that lasted for four years. Gerald Good is now the pastor for Hagerman.
The new church in Stouffville had the result of strengthening the partnership between Hagerman and the Chinese congregation. The two congregations were now of a similar size, sharing space. The Chinese church began worshipping on Sunday mornings, making it possible for the children to meet jointly for Sunday school. (Although the Chinese adults wished to study and worship in their first language, the children were fluently bilingual.)
Joint services followed by potluck lunches were held several times each year as a way of building relationships.
This partnership was expressed in economic terms when the Markham Chinese congregation purchased the parsonage adjacent to the church from Hagerman. Although each congregation now owns a part of the property, the space is freely shared by both groups for their programs. The members of Hagerman agreed that the funds from this sale would go to help the congregation become established in Stouffville.
Three healthy congregations are now functioning (involving about 180 people), each with a distinct identity but an interconnected history. We could not have mapped out this future ourselves. The only explanation is that God’s guiding hand has helped each group to adapt and support each other through a challenging period of change. The pieces of the puzzle have fit together beautifully, in ways we could not have imagined.