Mountain Lake Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church (Mountain Lake, Minnesota, USA)
Mountain Lake Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church, 1019 Prince St., Mountain Lake, MN, originated when Elder Aaron Wall and the ministers Johann Becker, Heinrich Fast, Sr., Peter Schultz, Heinrich E. Fast, and deacon Cornelius Friesen together with a group of fifteen families who had withdrawn from the first and larger of the two pioneer Mennonite churches of Mountain Lake began to meet in the homes for fellowship. This group organized as a church in January 1889 as the Bruderthaler Mennoniten-Gemeinde and built a meetinghouse. In the community it was later commonly known as the "Valley Church" because of the location of the church building about a mile north of the village of Mountain Lake, Midway Township, Cottonwood County. The name was later changed to "Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church" to accord with the name of the conference to which it belonged and which it helped bring into being and organized in October 1889. The conference was originally known as the "Defenseless Mennonite Brethren of North America." In 1987 the conference became known at the Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches.
The first meetinghouse was dedicated 16 June 1889. In 1892 another church was built and the first edifice used as a dining hall, and for a short time (1893-1896) as a Bible school. This first building was razed in 1944.
From the very beginning the church stressed Christian education and instituted a Bible school in 1893 known as the Bruderthaler Gemeindeschule. In 1896 a three-story Bible school was built near the church, in which an elementary Bible school was held until 1925. Thereafter for several summers daily vacation Bible school was conducted here. This building was razed in 1947 and the material used for building a modern parsonage in Mountain Lake.
By 1956 at least 35 members coming from this church had served in various conferences and denominations as missionaries, pastors, or Bible teachers; and a number of its younger members were in training for Christian service. Other pastors of this church up to 1957 included D. A. Regier, John N. Wall, H. P. Wiebe, Wm. M. Loewen, and H. A. Brandt. The baptized membership in 1957 was 273.
Bibliography
Rempel, G. S. A Historical Sketch of the Churches of the Evangelical Mennonite Brethren. Rosthern, SK, 1939.
| Author(s) | D. A Regier |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1957 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Regier, D. A. "Mountain Lake Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church (Mountain Lake, Minnesota, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 20 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mountain_Lake_Evangelical_Mennonite_Brethren_Church_(Mountain_Lake,_Minnesota,_USA)&oldid=90228.
APA style
Regier, D. A. (1957). Mountain Lake Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church (Mountain Lake, Minnesota, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 20 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mountain_Lake_Evangelical_Mennonite_Brethren_Church_(Mountain_Lake,_Minnesota,_USA)&oldid=90228.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 761. All rights reserved.
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