Three Congregations, Three Different Cultures, One Church!

October 5, 2008 marked one of the most significant Sundays in recent memory,” says Jonathan Emerson-Pierce, pastor of Hagerman Mennonite Church. “It is difficult to describe the excitement I felt seeing the sanctuary filled with persons from different cultures.”

Hagerman Mennonite Church, Markham Chinese Mennonite Church and Markham Christian Worship Centre, a predominantly Tamil congregation, use the same building for worship. For World Communion Sunday, they joined together to plan and lead a service to celebrate their oneness in Christ and share communion. Pastor Albert Jebanayagam, a visiting pastor from Sri Lanka, noted that God would be pleased to see three very distinct congregations joined as one on such an occasion.

The morning ended with a potluck where everyone enjoyed the diversity of food representing the cultures present. One participant summed up the experience with these words, “I really felt connected to everyone this morning. It didn’t seem to matter that we came from different backgrounds. We really felt like one church.”