Hagerman Celebrates 75th Anniversary

By: Joanna Reesor-McDowell

A large group of past and present members gathered at Hagerman Mennonite Church in Markham on June 10, 2012 to remember the vision of earlier leaders, and to celebrate God’s faithfulness throughout 75 years of change.

Floyd and Lillian Schmucker, with their family of nine children, were the driving force behind establishing a community-oriented church in a small hamlet called Hagerman’s Corners. The congregation was formally established in 1937 with 16 charter members.

While some support was given by the Mennonite Mission Board, Pastor Floyd worked full-time at other jobs to support his family while doing church ministry. He spent considerable time in visiting local families, many of whom were recent immigrants from Europe.

The earliest outreach efforts focused on providing Sunday school and vacation Bible school for the many children in the neighbourhood. A Girls’ Club and Sewing Circle were also established by Lillian Schmucker. After 30 years of service to the Hagerman community, the Schmuckers moved to semi-retirement in Monetville, Ontario.

After using a home, the local school and a temporary “basement with a roof” on the current property for worship and programs during the early years, the whole community celebrated when an architect-designed building was completed in 1956. There were two worship services every Sunday—morning and evening. A number of Mennonite families from other churches came to support the mission focus of the church. Some women from neighbourhood families came faithfully to Sewing Circle and worship services.

Pastor Emerson McDowell, his wife Elsie, and their five children came to Hagerman in 1965. He had previously served for 20 years at Danforth Mennonite Church in Toronto. Pastor Emerson had many involvements outside the community, including Christian camping for children at Fraser Lake Camp and Glenbrook Day Camp and he served on the broader church boards and committees.

The Fellowship Hall was added in 1968 and was used as recreational space for the clubs as well as Sunday School. Boys and girls clubs, Christian camping and other programs for youth—both in the church and from the neighbourhood— were a focus during those years. Nancy Dolphin Marshall, one of the local teens at that time, came to the anniversary celebration and spoke about how the church was a “safe haven” and “changed her life.”

After a period of steady growth, a time of loss was experienced in the 1970s. Pastor Emerson died of cancer in 1976 at the age of 58. At the same time, another long-standing member was diagnosed with a terminal illness and the congregation found it painful to walk with families closely connected to the church who were experiencing marital breakdown.

Maurice and Phyllis Martin and their two children came to serve in 1976. Although young people from the community were moving away, Pastor Maurice helped to establish a Serve and Learn Together (SALT) unit that brought other young adults from across Canada to our church.

Many of the young people who were raised in church families were now marrying and having children. Pastor David Martin and his wife Doris moved to the church parsonage in 1982 and joined the trend by starting a family. In 1986 the Fellowship Hall was renovated to become the new worship space to accommodate the growing numbers.

By the 1980s, Hagerman’s Corners was experiencing massive change. It became part of an urban community bordering the City of Toronto with many immigrants, particularly from Asia.

The congregation felt unsure of how to respond to all the changes knowing that the language and cultural barriers made it difficult to reach out to the new neighbours. When the Toronto Chinese Mennonite Church asked to use their facilities as a basis to do outreach to the new immigrants in 1990, they voted unanimously to share their space. By 1993, the Markham Chinese Mennonite Church was established.

Demographic shifts were affecting the church in other ways during the same period. Property values were rising, along with massive new development and higher density living. This had the effect of encouraging young couples and retirees to buy homes north of the city and many purchased homes in the Stouffville area. By 1995, there were a significant number of Hagerman members with a vision to start a new church in that community. After a challenging but healthy process of listening to each other, it was clear that there were two distinct but equally valid visions: one to start a new Mennonite congregation in Stouffville; the other to have a renewed congregation at Hagerman that adapts to a multi-cultural and urban environment. Both groups agreed to bless the other’s vision and 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 part-time during a transition period that lasted for four years.

Pastor Gerald Good served Hagerman as pastor from 2001-2004. He led a process of renewing our church structures to best support our vision: “As followers of Jesus, we encourage people to receive God’s transforming love and become God’s servants in the world.” In 2005, Jonathan Emerson-Pierce became our first full-time pastor.

Several young couples who moved to the Toronto area to work on advanced academic degrees blessed our congregation with their involvement. It was hard to say “good-bye” later, when some moved for career opportunities. This contributed to a plateau in numbers and our decision that full-time pastoral leadership was not financially viable.

Hagerman nurtured the start of another new congregation in 2005 when space was provided to the Markham Christian Worship Centre, the first Tamil- speaking Mennonite Church in Canada. Now each Sunday, three congregations meet and worship in Cantonese, Tamil and English on the same site in Markham.