First Mennonite Church: Gigliotti

Avenue Church Dept: When I sit in the sanctuary of First Mennonite Church, I feel peace. Not only because the Mennonite church is pacifist, and not only because it is one of the places where I feel closest to the loving God I believe in; when I sit on these pews, I am living in the midst of my family, cultural and religious history. KEN GIGLIOTTI/ The First Mennonite Church is filled with memoriesfor the Schroeder family. KEN GIGLIOTTI/ Lara Schroeder feels at peace inside First Mennonite Church at 922 Notre Dame Ave. All four of my immigrant grandparents, who had recently arrived from revolution-torn Russia, were founding members of the church in 1926, and my parents were children when the congregation relocated to this new building in 1950. It was an impressive improvement on the humble Alexander Avenue church the congregation had purchased in the 1920s, though it lacked the beautiful flourishes of older Christian denominations' houses of worship.Enlarge Image (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.