Parliament Community Church – Regina, SK

Proper Title

Parliament Community Church fonds

Dates of Creation

1977–2022

Physical Description

1.6 m of textual records and digital bulletins and newsletters

Administrative History

Abram Klassen is considered the founding leader of Parliament Community Church. The church began services and formally organized in 1941 as a result of urbanization from rural Saskatchewan. It originally had no name of it’s own, but affiliated itself with the Herbert Mennonite Brethren Church. In 1960, it became known as Hill Avenue Mennonite Brethren Church and, in 1975, changed its name to Parliament Community Church.

The first building was occupied in 1942, with subsequent building programs in 1961, 1974, and 1992. The congregation grew from 16 members in 1950 to 167 members in 2000. The congregation has been affiliated with the Saskatchewan Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (1941– ), the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (1941– ) and the General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (1941–2002).

The church's purpose and vision is to be a safe and compassionate setting in the city of Regina for people of all ages, races, spiritual convictions, and cultural backgrounds to discover for themselves the good news of Jesus Christ.

In 2000, there were 167 members; in 2010, membership was 178; and in 2020, it was 138.

Leaders of the congregation included: A.A. Klassen (1944–1950), P.A. Klassen (1951–1958), Helmut D. Klassen (1959), George B. Dyck (1960–1966), P. Wiebe (assistant pastor, 1967), Peter Teichrob (1968–1969), Don Balzer (1970–1972), Paul Unger (1973–1978), Norman Neufeld (1979–1986), Harry Strauss (1989–1997), Phil Gunther (1998–2016), Scott Tolhurst, transitional leader (2016–2017), Mike Engbers (2019– ).

The language of worship is English; the transition from German occurred in the 1950s.

Scope and Content

This fonds consists of historical notes about Parliament Community Church, its constitution and bylaws, directories, committee meeting minutes, and the bulletins from worship services.

Custodial History

Historical material were collected (ca. 1985) by the Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies as part of its campaign to record the stories of Canadian MB churches. The material was used to produce a special issue of the 1988 Mennonite Brethren Herald celebrating 100 years of MB history in Canada.

Bulletins sent from the church indicate the current worship and events of the church. Some church bulletins were added through a donation from the SK conference office (Acc. No. 2017-02).

In 2017, six banker boxes of committee files from the 1980s through to the 2000s were shipped to CMBS for preservation (Acc. No. 2017-07).

Notes

Location: Vol. 623–624, 1335, 1372A, 1516–1518.
Accession Nos.: 2017-07 and earlier accessions.
Digital files stored on CMBS server @ ... Electronic Collections/Provinces/Saskatchewan.
Title based on the contents of the fonds.
Early classification under the Canadian Conferences of Mennonite Brethren Churches inventory BF525.
Finding aid consists of a textual file list.
Described by Tamara Dyck, November 29, 2007. Updated by Yvonne Snider-Nighswander, October 31, 2011; Februrary 5, 2013; Kate Woltmann July 13, 2013; Conrad Stoesz April 13, 2017; and Jon Isaak, July 2022.
Some restrictions on access.

File List

Volume 623
1. Historical notes of Parliament Community Church. -- 1980–1985.
2. Constitution and bylaws of Parliament Community Church. -- 1977, 1985.
3. Family Directory of the Parliament Community Church. -- 1983, 1994.
4. 50th Anniversary Yearbook of Parliament Community Church. -- 1992.
5. Church bulletins. -- 1981.
6. Church bulletins. -- 1985.
7. Church bulletins. -- 1986.
8. Church bulletins. -- 1987.
9. Church bulletins. -- 1988.
10. Church bulletins. -- 1989.
11. Church bulletins. -- 1990.
12. Church bulletins. -- 1991.
13. Church bulletins. -- 1992.
14. Financial report. -- 1995.

Volume 624
1. Church bulletins. -- 1993.
2. Church bulletins. -- 1994.
3. Church bulletins. -- 1995.
4. Church bulletins. -- 1996.
5. Church bulletins. -- 1997.
6. Church bulletins. -- 1998.
7. Church bulletins. -- 1999.
8. Church bulletins. -- 2000.
9. Church bulletins. -- 2001.

Volume 1335
1. Church bulletins. -- 2002.
2. Church bulletins. -- 2003.
3. Church bulletins. -- 2004.
4. Church bulletins. -- 2005.
5. Church bulletins. -- 2006.
6. Church bulletins. -- 2007.
7. Church bulletins. -- 2008.
8. Church bulletins. -- 2009.
9. Church bulletins. -- 1977–1978. (very incomplete)
10. Church bulletins. -- 1979, 1980. (very incomplete)
11. Church bulletins. -- 1982. (very incomplete)
12. Healing Hearts Ministry. A book describing the ten years of this ministry in Regina. -- 2004.

Volume 1372A
1. Church bulletins. -- 2010.
2. Church bulletins. -- 2011.
3. Church bulletins. -- 2012.
4. Church bulletins. -- 2013.
5. Church bulletins. -- 2014.
6. Church bulletins. -- 2015.
7. Church bulletins. -- 2016.
8. Annual general meeting (June 12, 2017) report book. -- 2017.
9. Bulletins. -- 2016.
10. Bulletins. -- 2017.
11. Bulletins. -- 2018.
12. Bulletins. -- 2019.
13. Bulletins. -- 2020.

Volume 1516

40. Parliament Community Church (PCC) address and photo directories. -- 1986–1991.
41. Parliament Community Church (PCC) address and photo directory. -- 1996.
42. Diaconate service training manual used by PCC. -- 1979, 1987.
43. Diaconate materials and instructions for care groups, baptism, and fellowship groups at PCC. -- 1986–1990.
44. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 1987–1988.
45. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 1988–1989.
46. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 1989–1990.
47. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 1990–1991.
48. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 1992.
49. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 1993.
50. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 1994.
51. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 1995.
52. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 1996.
53. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 1997.
54. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 1998.

Volume 1517

1. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 1999.
2. PCC Diaconate and Church Council Day of Visioning and Prayer. Event planning and report. -- 1999.
3. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 2000.
4. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 2001.
5. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 2002.
6. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 2003.
7. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 2004.
8. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 2005.
9. PCC Diaconate meeting minutes. Restricted. -- 2006–2007.
10. Women's Ministry organizational files. Procedures manual and correspondence. -- 1983–1989.
11. Women's Ministry executive meeting minutes. -- 1983–1986.
12. Women's Ministry executive meeting minutes. -- 1986–1989.
13. Women's Ministry meeting minutes. -- 2000–2001.
14. Women's Ministry meeting minutes. -- 2002–2004.
15. Women's Ministry meeting minutes. -- 2005–2007.
16. Women's Ministry Communiqué [newsletter]. -- 1983–1988.
17. South Saskatchewan MB Ladies Auxiliary meeting minutes. -- 1983–1990.
18. Morning out for Mothers (MOMs) meeting minutes. -- 1983–1985.
19. Morning out for Mothers (MOMs) meeting minutes. -- 1985–1989.
20. Ladies Fellowship meeting minutes and several other related meeting minutes. -- 1981–1983.
21. Ladies Mission Circle meeting minutes (bound volume). -- 1955–1962.
22. Ladies Mission Circle meeting minutes (bound volume). -- 1961–1968.
23. Ladies Mission Circle meeting minutes (bound volume). -- 1968–1983.
24. Record of Evening worship services at the church during its early years. --1943–1944.
25. Cradle Roll participants. Evaluation of program. -- 1974–1997.
26. Christian Service Brigade accreditation charters, information, program review, and list of participants. -- 1974–1992.
27. Christian Service Brigade meeting minutes. -- 1999–2003.
28. Pioneer Girls Club meeting minutes. -- 1976–1980.
29. Pioneer Girls Club meeting minutes. -- 1980–1985.
30. Pioneer Girls Club meeting minutes. -- 1985–1989.
31. Pioneer Girls Club programming and evaluation. -- 1992.
32. Pioneer Clubs meeting minutes. -- 1989–1995.
33. Pioneer Clubs meeting minutes. -- 1995–1998.
34. Pioneer Clubs meeting minutes and reports. -- 1998–2000.
35. PCC Summer Christian Day Camp--planning, programming, and promotion. -- 1993.
36. PCC Summer Christian Day Camp--planning, programming, and promotion. -- 1994.
37. PCC Summer Vacation Bible School--planning, programming, promotion, and evaluation. -- 1988–1989.
38. PCC Summer Vacation Bible School--planning, programming, and promotion. -- 1997.
39. PCC Summer Vacation Bible School--planning, programming, and promotion. -- 1998.
40. Adult Sunday School materials--meeting minutes, curriculum planning, scheduling, and resources. -- 1985–1990.
41. Junior Sunday School materials--meeting minutes, curriculum planning, scheduling, enrollment lists, and resources. -- 1985–1998.
42. Junior Sunday School materials--meeting minutes, enrollment lists, and resources. -- 1992–2000.
43. Board of Evangelism and Education (BEE) meeting minutes, reports, evaluations, and visioning. -- 1973–1985.
44. Missions and Thanksgiving festivals--planning, programs, and brochures. -- 1989–1999.
45. Missions conferences and festival events--planning, programs, and brochures. -- 2000–2010.
46. Missions Committee correspondence. -- 1979–1987.
47. Missions Committee correspondence. -- 1991–1995.
48. Missionary correspondence with Scott & Julie Siemens (1996–2001), Tim & Carolyn Gartke (1996–1999), and McLauren Panderla (1988–1991). -- 1988–2001.
49. Missions Committee correspondence. -- 1996–1998.
50. Missions Committee meeting minutes. -- 1991–1995.
51. Missions Committee meeting minutes. -- 1996–1997.

Volume 1518

1. Missions Committee meeting minutes. -- 1998–2000.
2. Missions Committee meeting minutes. -- 2001–2010.
3. PCC website planning materials, specifications, and launch news. -- 1995–1997.
4. Copies of the Hill Ave. MB Church newsletter, The Tie. -- 1975–1976.
5. Copies of the PCC newsletter, Meet the Church. -- 1978–1979.
6. Copies of the PCC newspaper, Family News and Focus on Parliament Community Church. -- 1983–1986.
7. Copies of the PCC newspaper, Together, "an every home paper." -- 1989–1990.
8. Copies of the PCC leadership council's newsletter for the church membership, The Communicator. -- 1991.
9. Copies of the PCC leadership council's monthly newsletter for the church membership, The Communicator. -- 1992.
10. Copies of the PCC leadership council's monthly newsletter for the church membership, The Communicator. -- 1993.
11. Copies of the PCC leadership council's monthly newsletter for the church membership, The Communicator. -- 1994.
12. Copies of the PCC leadership council's monthly newsletter for the church membership, The Communicator. -- 1995.
13. Copies of the PCC leadership council's monthly newsletter for the church membership, The Communicator. -- 1996.
14. Copies of the PCC leadership council's monthly newsletter for the church membership, The Communicator. -- 1997.
15. Copies of the PCC leadership council's monthly newsletter for the church membership, The Communicator. -- 1998.
16. Copies of the PCC leadership council's monthly newsletter for the church membership, The Communicator. -- 1999.
17. Copies of the PCC leadership council's monthly newsletter for the church membership, The Communicator. -- 2000.
18. Copies of the PCC leadership council's quarterly newsletter for the church membership, The Communicator. -- 2001–2002.
19. Youth Pastor search committee meeting minutes and correspondence.-- 2000–2001.
20. Personnel Committee (Nominating Committee) meeting minutes and election rosters. -- 1980–1999.
21. Music Committee meeting minutes and planning for special programs (e.g., Christmas). -- 1984–1994.
22. Music Committee meeting minutes. -- 1999–2010.
23. PCC fund raising committee meeting minutes. -- 2001.
24. Food services committee meeting minutes. -- 1999–2005.
25. Facility Needs task force meeting minutes. -- 1998.
26. Education Resource Centre committee meeting minutes. -- 2003–2004.
27. Board of Management correspondence. -- 1968–1995.
28. Board of Management meeting minutes. 1991–2004.
29. Church promotional flyers from the 1990s. -- [1990?]–[1999?].
30. PCC small groups (fellowship groups)--organizational material and enrollment lists. -- 1989–1995.

Digital Files

Bulletins and Newsletters. -- 2015.
Bulletins and Newsletters. -- 2016.
Bulletins and Newsletters. -- 2017.
Bulletins and Newsletters. -- 2018.
Bulletins and Newsletters. -- 2019.
Bulletins and Newsletters. -- 2020.
Bulletins and Newsletters. -- 2021.
Bulletins and Newsletters. -- 2022.

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