Swedenborgian Church, Wellesley
Begun: 1858
Closed: c.1901
Land in the Village of Wellesley was donated to the Swedenborgians by the Doering family, and a white frame church was built at the corner of William and Doering Streets in 1858. Land for a cemetery, alongside that of the Lutherans, was also donated by the Doerings. (This cemetery later became part of the Lutheran one.) Rev. G. Reiche from New Hamburg was the minister who served the congregation until the arrival in 1860 of Rev. F.W. Tuerk of Berlin. Rev. Tuerk began his ministry in the area (in Mitchell in 1853) as a Lutheran missionary. Because he "embraced the doctrines of Emmanuel Swedenborg" he was "deposed from the ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church" in 1857 (Cronmiller 1961:141). Rev. Tuerk, who was pastor of the Berlin New Convention Church of the New Jerusalem (now the Church of the Good Shepherd) from June 1857, conducted monthly services in Wellesley until his death on July 3, 1901.
The congregation dispersed in the early part of this century after the death of Rev. Tuerk. The church building was sold and became known as Union Church, which was shared by the Methodists and Presbyterians. It became a United Church in 1925. It was later rented and sold in 1965 to the Zion Mennonite congregation. Later, the building became the Pentecostal Church of Wellesley Village. In 1992 it was the Wellesley Missionary Church.
Records:
Baptism dates: unknown Location of records: unknown*
Marriage dates: unknown Location of records: unknown*
Burial dates: unknown Location of records: unknown*
*As Rev. F.W. Tuerk was based at the Berlin Swedenborgian Church, it is possible that some Wellesley records are with those for that church. Records from 1843-1900, for the Church of the Good Shepherd, are at the Kitchener Public Library.
References: Cronmiller 1961:141; Maple Leaf 1983:96; R. Taylor 1986; Uttley 1937; WHS 1967(55):45,52; Wellesley W.I.
Information excerpted from: Waterloo County Churches, A Research Guide to Churches established before 1900, by Rosemary Willard Ambrose © Waterloo-Wellington Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society, 1993. It is reproduced by permission.
For a complete list of resources mentioned above, please click here.
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Closed: c.1901
Land in the Village of Wellesley was donated to the Swedenborgians by the Doering family, and a white frame church was built at the corner of William and Doering Streets in 1858. Land for a cemetery, alongside that of the Lutherans, was also donated by the Doerings. (This cemetery later became part of the Lutheran one.) Rev. G. Reiche from New Hamburg was the minister who served the congregation until the arrival in 1860 of Rev. F.W. Tuerk of Berlin. Rev. Tuerk began his ministry in the area (in Mitchell in 1853) as a Lutheran missionary. Because he "embraced the doctrines of Emmanuel Swedenborg" he was "deposed from the ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church" in 1857 (Cronmiller 1961:141). Rev. Tuerk, who was pastor of the Berlin New Convention Church of the New Jerusalem (now the Church of the Good Shepherd) from June 1857, conducted monthly services in Wellesley until his death on July 3, 1901.
The congregation dispersed in the early part of this century after the death of Rev. Tuerk. The church building was sold and became known as Union Church, which was shared by the Methodists and Presbyterians. It became a United Church in 1925. It was later rented and sold in 1965 to the Zion Mennonite congregation. Later, the building became the Pentecostal Church of Wellesley Village. In 1992 it was the Wellesley Missionary Church.
Records:
Baptism dates: unknown Location of records: unknown*
Marriage dates: unknown Location of records: unknown*
Burial dates: unknown Location of records: unknown*
*As Rev. F.W. Tuerk was based at the Berlin Swedenborgian Church, it is possible that some Wellesley records are with those for that church. Records from 1843-1900, for the Church of the Good Shepherd, are at the Kitchener Public Library.
References: Cronmiller 1961:141; Maple Leaf 1983:96; R. Taylor 1986; Uttley 1937; WHS 1967(55):45,52; Wellesley W.I.
Information excerpted from: Waterloo County Churches, A Research Guide to Churches established before 1900, by Rosemary Willard Ambrose © Waterloo-Wellington Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society, 1993. It is reproduced by permission.
For a complete list of resources mentioned above, please click here.
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