Harold Sherk

John Harold Sherk (20 December 190328 February 1974) was a Canadian Mennonite minister, educator, and advocate of Christian pacifism.

Early life and background Sherk was born in Berlin, Ontario (later renamed to Kitchener in 1916). His father, John Hubert Sherk, was a local farmer and deacon near Centreville, which at the time was in Waterloo Township and had not been annexed by the city of Kitchener. Harold's grandfather, Moses Sherk, was a Mennonite minister. His great-grandfather, Abraham Sherk (18171898), was the first in his line to be born in Waterloo Township; he grew up near Blair, of which his own grandfather, Joseph Schörg (17691855), had been one of the first settlers, and also one of the first settlers of Waterloo Township in general. He was part of the first wave of Pennsylvania Dutch settlers who purchased plots in the German Company Tract. The family had previously lived in Switzerland before emigrating to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1727.

Peace activism

As the first secretary of the Conference of Historic Peace Churches (formed in 1940 in Ontario), Sherk negotiated frequently with the Canadian federal government.