Valleyview Mennonite Church

Classification scheme:

V-8

Title: Valleyview Mennonite Church fonds

Dates of Creation: 1954-2007
Note: Further accruals are expected

Physical Description: 3 m of textual material

Administrative History: Valleyview Mennonite Church began services in 1953 and formally organized in 1962. Alvin Roth and Ralph Lebold were considered to be the founding leaders.

The first services were held at a house, 368 King St. in London, purchased by Nairn Mennonite Church. The congregation was first known as the Forest City Mennonite Mission, and later, King Street Mennonite Church. In 1962, the congregation relocated to 1181 Melsandra Street, and became known as Valleyview Mennonite Church.

The congregation established a voluntary service unit in 1966. Valleyview was affiliated with the Western Ontario Mennonite Conference from 1953-1988, and then became a congregation of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada.

Custodial History: These records were predominantly received from Valleyview Mennonite Church at various times, with a few from the files of Ralph Lebold.

Scope and Content: The fonds consists of the formal and informal records of Valleyview Mennonite Church, and is divided into four series.

Notes:
The Valleyview Mennonite Church Oral History Project is located in Hist. Mss. 22.1.
See Hist.Mss.10, Hist.Mss.10.2, Hist.Mss.10.25, Hist.Mss.10.10 and the Mennonite Archival Image Database for photographs related to the congregation.
Archival description revised 2017 by Sam Steiner.

File list:

Series 1: Formal Records

Congregational Meetings and Annual Reports
1961-1973, 1976-1977 (minutes only), 1983, 1985-2002
Church Council Minutes & Correspondence
1961, 1963-2002
Constitutions
Proposed Constitutional Changes, 1967
1962
1968
1971
1974
1979
1987 (draft)
1990 (draft)
1991 (draft)
2000
Church Directories
1968/69-1984/85, 1986-1990, 1994-1995, 1999
(picture directories from ca. 1990, 1999)
Worship Committee
1968-1990, 2000-2001
Worship leader guidelines, 1991
Worship Task Force, 1977-1978
Christian Education Committee
1968-1971, 1976-1999, 2001-2003 (incomplete)
Correspondence, 1962-1975
Mission & Social Concerns Committee
1977-1999
Property and Finance Committee
1968-1971, 1974-1999, 2001-2002
Social Committee
1985, 1987
Pastoral Relations Committee
1970-1995
Communion survey, 2002
Women’s Missionary and Service Auxiliary (WMSA)
Minutes, etc., 1970-1989
Activity reports, 1961-1977, 1991
Mennonite Youth Fellowship (MYF) and Youth Ministry
1973/74, 1977-1981, 1984-1994, 2002-2003
Summer Bible School
1961-1967
Refugee Support Committee
1979-1980
Zone 25/Outlook Committee
Includes purpose statements and survey
1970, 1981-1983
Pastoral Search Committees
1980
1986/87
1991
2000/01
Valleyview Day Nursery (operated in church basement)
(also includes the Boullee Street Nursery)
1967, 1977-1983, 1985 (minutes & reports)
1990-1999 (correspondence and policies)
Congregational Self-Study
1973
Church Membership Study
1975-1977
Facilities/Space Needs Committees
1978, 2002
Communion Committee
Minutes and papers on communion
1996, 1999
Ad hoc Music Committee
1969-1971
Greater London Crusade for Christ
(Crusade by Myron Augsburger)
Correspondence and minutes, 1965
Supervised Pastoral Education
1967-1969, 1969-1973, 1973-1984
Reports to Canadian Association for Pastoral Education (CAPE), 1976-1981
London Pastoral Institute
1978-1981
Special Reports
Day Nursery Center
The Philosphy and Program of Valleyview Mennonite Church, 5 Jan 1969
Seminar on Church Life: Evaluation of Team Ministry 28 Feb 1970/Proposal for Salaries and Workload, Mar 1970
The Place of Small Groups in the Church, 10 May 1970
The Question of Ordination, 10 May 1970
Evaluation of the Team Ministry for 1971-72
Membership
Correspondence and certificates, 1977-1983, 1985-1998
Roll, 1962-2001
Voluntary Service Unit
Correspondence & minutes
1966-1991
Offender Ministry, 1980-1984
Victim Care Program, 1984-1985
Advisory Committee minutes, 1966-1971
Misc. materials
Deeds

Series 2: Informal Records

List of Anabaptist-Mennonite books available in London-area libraries
1971
Brochures and Special Programs
Clippings
A talk given by Alvin Roth at the church banquet during dedication week services, 1962
Materials on Outreach, including to Mennonite students
1962-1965, 1977, 1997
Korean Church Integration Proposal
2000
Proposal for “Who are the Mennonites” grant
1973
Miscellaneous job descriptions for volunteers
1980s
Hillcrest Coffee House
1970
Self-Help Crafts/Ten Thousand Villages
1987-1989, 1994
1997-2003
Wills Emphasis meeting on need to make a will
1966
Valleyview Mennonite Church Endowment Fund
1994
Inter-Church Slow Pitch schedule
2001
Homebuilders Literature packets
1964
Student Christian Movement Advisory Board
1965-1966
Ridgeview-Hillcrest Community Association
1971-1973
Church library procedures and database
2001-2002
Conscientious Objection and Thorbjorn Jensen case
1976-1977
General Correspondence
1970s, 1980, 1983 (including Valleyview’s application to join the United Mennonite Conference and the Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec)
Pastor’s Correspondence (partial)
1965-1973, 1976, 1983-1985, 1988-1992, 1996-1997
Fellowship Groups Correspondence
1982, 1994, 1996, 1998
Covenant Renewal & Correspondence
1977-1981
Seminar on Church Life
1969
Frieda Peters report on Jute Works in Bangladesh
1977
Congregational Retreats
1980s-2000s
Business Mission group
1979-1981
Documents on Conference Integration
1978-79, 1986
Small Groups
1986-1988
Ministry to Community by John E. Adams
Copy of academic paper, “Ministry to Community: The Mennonite Church in London, Ontario, 1953-1970” by John E. Adams, 1970.
Ministry to Aging Workshop
1979
Early Historical documents
(Sunday school records, correspondence, some minutes)
1954-1961
Historical programs and litanies
1960s
Historical notes and articles
Scattered from 1960s to 2000s
Historical clippings
(both related to the church and members of the church)
1980s and 1990s
Oral History Project
2002-2007
Photographs