Swift Current (Saskatchewan, Canada)
Swift Current (Saskatchewan), city and Mennonite settlement. The city (pop. 10,000 in the late 1950s; 14,946 in 2006) is located in southwest Saskatchewan, 105 miles west of Moose Jaw in a wheat district. Sommerfeld and Old Colony Mennonites settled south of Swift Current starting in 1900, mostly from the West Reserve in Manitoba, but also from the overflow of the Rosthern settlement. The Old Colony Mennonites settled in villages near the railroad stations of Dunhelm, Wymark, and Blumenhof. In 1914 the following fifteen villages were still in existence: Rosenhof, Rosenfeld, Reinfeld, Rosenbach, Rosenort, Neuendorf, Blumenhof, Schönfeld, Chortitz, Reinland, Schanzenfeld, Blumenort, Schönwiese, Springfeld, and Gnadenthal. In 1911 the total Mennonite population of the Herbert and Swift Current area was 4,590. About 1500 of the Old Colony and Sommerfeld Mennonites immigrated to Mexico and Paraguay after World War I. In 1931 the Swift Current Mennonite settlement had a population of 1500. By that time Mennonites from Russia had joined this settlement. In 1950 it was estimated that 3,000 Sommerfelders lived in the settlement.
The Emmaus Mennonite (GCM) Church had seven church buildings in this general area, the largest of which was in the city of Swift Current. Other places of worship included Wymark, McMahon, and Reinland. V. E. Nickel was the elder of the church. The total membership in 1956 was 368. There is also an Old Colony Mennonite Church in the Swift Current area. The Mennonite Brethren had a congregation of about 100 in Swift Current in the late 1950s (now Bridgeway Community Church), led at the time by F. J. Peters. The Swift Current Bible Institute functioned since 1936.
Bibliography
Jahrbuch der Konferenz der Mennoniten in Canada. 1956.
Lehmann, Heinz. Das Deutschtum in Westkanada. Berlin: 1939: 170.
| Author(s) | Cornelius N Krahn |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Krahn, Cornelius N. "Swift Current (Saskatchewan, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Swift_Current_(Saskatchewan,_Canada)&oldid=133901.
APA style
Krahn, Cornelius N. (1959). Swift Current (Saskatchewan, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Swift_Current_(Saskatchewan,_Canada)&oldid=133901.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 669. All rights reserved.
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