Congregations Closed in 2020
MCEC has been blessed, changed and impacted by our partnership in the gospel together with The Commons and The Network. We have much to learn about church planting in urban, under-resourced neighbourhoods and are grateful for the relationships we have had with both congregations.
The Commons, Hamilton, ON - 7 Years of Ministry with MCEC
The Commons was an urban/inner-city congregation in Hamilton, ON, under the leadership of Randell Neudorf. A faith community since 2001, they became an MCEC emerging congregation (now provisional) in April 2013. They closed their doors on December 24, 2020.
Described by Krista VanderHout who was a member of The Commons as a “bunch of dreamers who were willing to follow Jesus into a crazy experiment on the margins of what church could be,” they do not experience the closure of The Commons as sad news but rather as a good news story. “After 20 years of ministry we believe that the seeds of creativity, community, and innovation that God asked us to sow have taken root in places far beyond our little part of the kingdom,” she writes. “It is now time to formally close the last chapter of The Commons and let our family of Commoners take what they have learned into new places.”
We celebrate the lives impacted through the ministry of The Commons
The Network, Kitchener – 5 Years of Ministry with MCEC
The Network was a neighbourhood house church in Kitchener, ON, under the leadership of Devon & Meredith Wagler, and was an MCEC supported ministry. Although not yet a provisional congregation with MCEC, The Network was an active part of MCEC over the past five years. Officially connecting in 2015, they closed their doors in October 2020. We celebrate the lives impacted through the ministry of The Network.