Church History

The Toronto Chinese Mennonite Church was planted in 1979 by Pastor Winfred Soong and his wife Mrs. Jean Soong. The congregation was formally organized in 1980.

Since our inception, the Toronto Chinese Mennonite Church (TCMC) has been committed to the mission of reaching the local Chinese community within the diverse and multicultural context that shapes the city of Toronto. Begun primarily with outreach ministries to landed immigrant families and overseas students, our church now has growing ministries in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin and continues to hold a strong vision to help newcomers to Canada as they settle and adjust to living in a new culture.

For the first 9 years, we experienced the privilege of sharing space and our ministries with the Danforth Mennonite Church. Motivated by growing ministries in both churches and the need for additional space to accommodate those ministries, TCMC relocated to a nearby Presbyterian church where we rented church space for the last 10 years, and now have finally purchased as our own building.

In 1990, TCMC's church planting team began its ministry in the Markham area in response to the rapid influx of Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong. The Markham Chinese Mennonite Church (MCMC) was established in partnership with the Hagerman Mennonite Church in 1991. MCMC now operates independently from TCMC and shares building facilities with the Hagerman Mennonite Church.

Sunday worship at TCMC is conducted during two simultaneous services, one in English, and the other in Chinese. Average attendance is 50 in our Chinese service and 30 including children in our English service. Aside from worship, Sunday school, fellowship, small group, and prayer meetings form active components of our ministries. At this time there are 6 Sunday school classes, 6 fellowship groups, and 4 small groups that meet at different times during the week. Several emerging ministries have also developed at TCMC over the last 2 years.

In January 1999, we started Mandarin speaking fellowship meetings and began conducting our Chinese services in both Cantonese and Mandarin to minister to the rapidly growing number of Chinese immigrants from mainland China. Attendance at the Mandarin fellowship meeting this past September was 60+.

Growing awareness and commitment in our church to meeting basic human needs in our community has also been shown by support of the food cabinet ministry and volunteer work at a local soup kitchen. The opportunity to interact with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Ontario and its TOOLS ministry has also served to heighten our awareness of social issues and needs such as homelessness, substance abuse, and unemployment.

Praise the Lord!

God answers prayer. After 20 years of ministry at TCMC, we acquired our first church building in August, 2000. While ownership of our church building challenges us to practice faithful stewardship, it also serves as a significant milestone that fuels enthusiasm and vision for future ministries.

We celebrated this gift with a church dedication and thanksgiving service on April 29th, 2001.

Read about our Church Dedication & Thanksgiving Service on the next page...