“Disperse and connect.” This motto guided Hawkesville Mennonite Church as they closed the congregation’s active ministry and disbursed the assets to support other ministries. Mennonite World Conference was one of the beneficiaries from this congregation in rural Ontario, Canada.  

“The church’s assets will be used to promote the ongoing mission of the church,” says David Martin, interim pastor at Hawkesville at the time of closure. (Canada Revenue Agency requires that donations are used according to their designation.) 

The congregation chose Mennonite World Conference, Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church Eastern Canada – representing the global, national and local ministries of the church.  

“The closing service had a sense of commissioning: take what we received here and bring those gifts elsewhere,” says David Martin.  

The church’s money and members are now dispersed for continued connection: people and the gospel.  

Before it closed, the worship leader at Hawkesville’s weekly services would give a short update on how MWC, MC Canada and MCEC are working to build the church. This built the congregation’s role within the wider work of the church. “The global church is important,” says David Martin. 

Closing the church was “a bold decision,” says David Martin. The congregation had strong leadership and the financial resources to continue.  

However, the congregation recognized there was little possibility of accepting new members in their rural context. The region is well resourced with many other congregations, meanwhile younger people usually settle in urban centres.  

“The congregation was not likely to thrive well without getting smaller,” said David Martin.  

There was nearly a year of discernment that led up to the decision and another year of grieving and celebration that preceded the final service in June 2024. 

David Martin guided the congregation in spiritual practices to grieve, release, celebrate and position themselves for “a new future that God is creating for us,” he says. 

Over almost 75 years of ministry, Hawkesville Mennonite served in many ways: member made quilts for MCC, pillows for a local hospital, cream buns for the annual relief sale, and more.  

“We decided to put efforts behind other local churches, to find different ways to reinvest ourselves in the mission of the church, to use assets to seed the future.” 

Every member had at least one if not several options within a 15-minute travel radius, says David Martin. So they dispersed to find new connections and devote their energies to new avenues of service.  

“There is sadness and we wish it had not happened. But there are no regrets,” says Julene Fast, congregational chair. 

Informal gatherings planned the next year will continue to bring the dispersed Hawkesville members together again for connection. God’s mission continues in new forms.  

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• Hawkesville closes with gratitude