Gathering Church, The (Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada)

Bakerview MB Church, Abbotsford
Source: D. Giesbrecht

The Bakerview Mennonite Brethren (MB) Church had its origin in the Clearbrook Mennonite Brethren Church, which had grown quite large in the 1960s, nearing capacity.  In addition there was strong interest among younger members to have all-English services.  David H. Neumann collected the names of those who wished to form a new church.  At the time it was decided that an organizational meeting would not be called until he had gathered the names of at least 75 members. On 2 March 1965, 88 members intent on forming a daughter church were called to meet with Pastor Henry Thielman. In response to these concerns church leaders decided to go ahead and plant a daughter church that would help to address these needs, contributing $15,000 towards the new congregation. 

After having one last communion service with Clearbrook MB, Bakerview began meeting at the Mennonite Brethren Bible Institute (now Columbia Bible College). Their first service was on 11 April 1965, and David H. Neumann was selected to lead the group. Most of the new members came from Clearbrook MB, while a significant number also came from South Abbotsford Mennonite Brethren Church. The church found that they were well equipped for ministry, having taken many Sunday school teachers and other active members with them from the mother congregation. The rapid growth of the church demanded a church building and by the end of 1965 a church had been built. It was dedicated in February of 1966.

The church grew fourfold in the next ten years from 103 original members to 431 by 1975. Throughout these years the congregation was involved in international missions and community outreach. In 1985 the church started a Vietnamese ministry under the ministry leadership of Ken Ha, and by 1990 they had 45 in attendance, 20 of which were baptized Christians. Isaac Hernandez started the Spanish language ministry in May 1989 which eventually became the Bakerview Hispanic Church.  The congregation continues (in 2009) to meet at Bakerview.

In 2010 the church had three Sunday services: a traditional service, a contemporary service, and a liturgical service. The congregation had 613 members and an average weekly attendance of 609.

Bibliography

Canadian Mennonite (18 January 1966): 1; (1 February 1966): 9.

Funk, Tony, ed. Bakerview Twenty Fifth Anniversary Pictoral Directory. 1990.

Mennonite Brethren Herald (27 May 1988): 24; (8 January 1993): 22.

Additional Information

Address: 2285 Clearbrook Road, Abbotsford BC  V2T 2X4

Phone: 604-859-4611

Website: http://www.bakerview.org/

Denominational Affiliations:

British Columbia Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (1965-present)

Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (1965-present)

General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches of North America (1965-2003)

Bakerview MB Church Pastors

Pastor	Years
Jacob H. Quiring	1966-1974
Peter Falk (interim)	1975
Ben Zerbe	1976-1981
Harry Heidebrecht	1982-1994
John H. Neufeld	1995-1999
Ross Johnston (interim)	1999-2000
Michael Dick	2000-2015

Bakerview MB Membership

Year	Membership
1965	113
1971	367
1975	431
1980	469
1985	550
1990	633
1995	724
2000	690
2006	694
2010	613

Maps

Author(s)	Waylon Klix
	Hugo Friesen
Date Published	November 2010

Cite This Article

MLA style

Klix, Waylon and Hugo Friesen. "Gathering Church, The (Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. November 2010. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Gathering_Church,_The_(Abbotsford,_British_Columbia,_Canada)&oldid=132033.

APA style

Klix, Waylon and Hugo Friesen. (November 2010). Gathering Church, The (Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Gathering_Church,_The_(Abbotsford,_British_Columbia,_Canada)&oldid=132033.

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