North Enid Mennonite Brethren Church (Enid, Oklahoma, USA)

The North Enid Mennonite Brethren Church, also known as the Enid Country Mennonite Brethren Church, was located three miles (five km) north of Enid in Garfield County, Oklahoma. In the 1950s it was one of two Mennonite Brethren congregations in the area, the other being the Enid Mennonite Brethren Church, known as the Enid City Church located in Enid.

Shortly after the opening of the Cherokee Strip in north-central Oklahoma, 1893, Mennonites began to settle in this area. Mennonite Brethren from Hamilton County, Nebraska, some of whom had come to America in the 1874 immigration from Russia, were among the original 30 charter members who organized as a congregation 5 April 1897. These members included the families of Bernhard M. Regier, Heinrich Poetker, Isaak Regier, Klass Penner, Jacob Benke, Heinrich Nickel, Absalom Marten, Gerhard Regier and Dr. Gerhard Gaede. Klaas Penner was elected as their first leader in 1895. The Mennonite Brethren Church in Enid dates its beginning from the installation of the North church's first ordained pastor, Peter Regier of Henderson, Nebraska, on 5 April 1897. In the years that followed others came from Nebraska as well as Kansas and the Dakotas.

The first meetinghouse was built and dedicated in 1898; this was replaced by a larger building (40 x 60 feet) in 1911, which was still used for worship in the mid-1950s. Two smaller buildings were used for Sunday school classrooms. A parsonage in Enid was purchased in 1954. For several decades after 1921 the church operated a Bible school.

Though most of the early members were farmers, by the mid-1950s about half of the members lived in Enid. In its first 60 years of existence more than 400 were baptized and received into its membership; its 1957 membership was 212.

During its first six decades the following ministers served this congregation: Peter Regier, John Bese, John D. Hiebert, Gerhard Voth, P. P. Regier, Cornelius Grunau, G. A. Wiens, D. J. Dick, J. K. Siemens, A. A. Smith, P. C. Grunau, R. C. Seibel, and Clarence Hiebert.

In 1960, after much prayer and deliberation, the North Enid and the Enid City Church agreed to merge. The first joint worship service was held in the City church on 5 June 1960. A new building for the combined congregations was constructed at 2500 North Van Buren and completed a year later.

Bibliography

Froese, Vic. "Enid MB Church: History." Web. 22 April 2012. http://www.enidmb.com/contentpages.aspx?parentnavigationid=9742&viewcontentpageguid=badcd37e-0ab4-462f-b9fe-e3e68c36be86.

Grunau, P. C. North Enid Mennonite Brethren Church." Mennonite Life 9 (October 1954).

Author(s)	Clarence Hiebert
	Vic Froese
Date Published	April 2012

Cite This Article

MLA style

Hiebert, Clarence and Vic Froese. "North Enid Mennonite Brethren Church (Enid, Oklahoma, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. April 2012. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=North_Enid_Mennonite_Brethren_Church_(Enid,_Oklahoma,_USA)&oldid=76435.

APA style

Hiebert, Clarence and Vic Froese. (April 2012). North Enid Mennonite Brethren Church (Enid, Oklahoma, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=North_Enid_Mennonite_Brethren_Church_(Enid,_Oklahoma,_USA)&oldid=76435.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 917. All rights reserved.

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