Rosenort Mennonite Church Group (Saskatchewan, Canada)
The Rosenort Mennonite Church (Rosenorter Gemeinde) (General Conference Mennonite), located in the Rosthern district of Saskatchewan, 50 miles north of Saskatoon, began in 1891, when five families came to the prairies at Rosthern. On 2 July 1894, Elder Peter Regier, who had come from the Rosenort church in West Prussia the year before, helped the Rosenort Mennonite Church to organize. In 1896 the first Rosenort church was dedicated in Eigenheim, six miles west of Rosthern. It was rebuilt in 1902. The next year the church in Rosthern was built. In 1910 three churches were built: in Aberdeen (on the right side of the South Saskatchewan River), about 25 miles south of Rosthern, and in Laird and Tiefengrund, 13 miles and 18 miles west and northwest of Rosthern. In 1911 Hague, about 14 miles south of Rosthern, built a church. All of these belonged to the Rosenort congregation. In 1913 David Toews was elected as elder. In 1929 Johannes Regier, son of Elder Peter Regier, was elected as elder to help David Toews, who was commonly called bishop, especially by the government and the daily papers.
In 1931 the church had five congregations and 13 ministers, with David Toews serving as Elder. The church had 1,008 members, a total of 2,131 members and adherents, and 385 families.
Eigenheim became self-sustaining in 1929. Besides Hague, churches were acquired at Hochfeld and Neuanlage. The church in Hague was rebuilt in 1929. In 1945 a church was built at Hochfeld and in 1946 the old Hague church was moved to Neuanlage. The Osler church, about 10 miles south of Hague (built in 1928), joined the Rosenort church in 1931. In 1932 Saskatoon organized a congregation which joined Rosenort until 1938. Capasin, about 100 miles northwest of Rosthern, built a church in 1933. The Garthland and Horse Lake (about 25 miles north of Rosthern) congregations, which have their own meetinghouses, also belong to Rosenort. In September 1946 Johann G. Rempel was ordained as elder.
In 1954 the Rosenort Mennonite Church divided into two parts because of its unwieldy size. The congregations were known as the Rosenort Mennonite Church (Tiefengrund, Garthland, Capasin, Hague, Hochfeld, Neuanlage, and Aberdeen) with Arthur Regier of Tiefengrund as their elder, and the United Mennonite Church (Vereinigten Mennoniten Gemeinden) of Saskatchewan (Rosthern, Osler, Laird, and Horse Lake) with Jacob C. Schmidt of Rosthern as elder. They were both ordained at Rosthern by Elder Johann G. Rempel on 8 August 1954. In the mid-1950s the United Mennonite Church had about 700 members, and the Rosenort Mennonite Church had about 650 members. Assistant ministers of the Rosenort Mennonite Church were Henry T. Klassen (Hague), John Janzen (Neuanlage), Frank Koop (Aberdeen), A. E. Regier (Tiefengrund), J. J. Pauls (Garthland), George Heppner (Capasin), and of the United Church they were Art Friesen (Laird), Willie Janzen (Horse Lake), and J. H. Pauls (Osler).
In 1903 the Rosenort Mennonite Church joined with the Bergthaler Mennonite Church of Manitoba to form the Conference of Mennonites in Middle Canada (Die Konferenz der Mennoniten im Mittleren Kanada).
These congregations now form part of Mennonite Church Saskatchewan.
Bibliography
Konferenz-Bericht der 26. Konferenz der Mennoniten im mittleren Canada, abgehalten in Rosthern, Sask., den 2., 3. end 4. Juli 1928.
Rempel, J. G. Die Rosenorter Gemeinde in Saskatchewan in Word und Bild. Rosthern, 1950.
| Author(s) | John G. Rempel |
|---|---|
| Richard D. Thiessen | |
| Date Published | May 2012 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Rempel, John G. and Richard D. Thiessen. "Rosenort Mennonite Church Group (Saskatchewan, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. May 2012. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Rosenort_Mennonite_Church_Group_(Saskatchewan,_Canada)&oldid=60491.
APA style
Rempel, John G. and Richard D. Thiessen. (May 2012). Rosenort Mennonite Church Group (Saskatchewan, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Rosenort_Mennonite_Church_Group_(Saskatchewan,_Canada)&oldid=60491.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 361. All rights reserved.
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