Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches - Revision history

RichardThiessen: Added hyperlinks.

2026-01-01T01:51:21Z

Added hyperlinks.

RichardThiessen: /* Additional Information */

2025-08-25T23:13:20Z

Additional Information

RichardThiessen: Updated table of conference executive members.

2025-01-07T18:53:38Z

Updated table of conference executive members.

RichardThiessen: /* Additional Information */ added hyperlnks.

2023-12-28T00:42:04Z

Additional Information: added hyperlnks.

RichardThiessen: /* Additional Information */

2023-05-22T02:11:33Z

Additional Information

RichardThiessen: /* Additional Information */

2023-01-06T21:03:29Z

Additional Information

RichardThiessen: /* Additional Information */ Added 2022 information

2023-01-06T20:46:16Z

Additional Information: Added 2022 information

RichardThiessen: /* Additional Information */ Added 2020 information

2023-01-06T20:17:46Z

Additional Information: Added 2020 information

VicFroese: Corrected spelling of Harold Jantz's name.

2022-08-11T22:09:07Z

Corrected spelling of Harold Jantz's name.

AlfRedekopp: correct to date of Ontario conference joining General and Canadian conference.

2022-01-24T17:23:22Z

correct to date of Ontario conference joining General and Canadian conference.

@@ Line 642: / Line 642: @@
 | 7-10 July 1973
 | Three Hills, AB
-| Herbert J. Brandt
+| [[Brandt, Herbert J. (1924-2025)|Herbert J. Brandt]]
 | Eugene Gerbrandt
 | [[Neumann, John Henry (1926-1997)|John H. Neumann ]]
@@ Line 651: / Line 651: @@
 | 6-9 July 1974
 | Vancouver, BC
-| Herbert J. Brandt
+| [[Brandt, Herbert J. (1924-2025)|Herbert J. Brandt]]
 | Eugene Gerbrandt
 | [[Neumann, John Henry (1926-1997)|John H. Neumann ]]
@@ Line 670: / Line 670: @@
 | Winnipeg, MB
 | [[Peters, Frank C. (1920-1987)|Frank C. Peters ]]
-| Herbert J. Brandt
+| [[Brandt, Herbert J. (1924-2025)|Herbert J. Brandt]]
 | [[Rempel, Cornelius J. (1912-1994)|Cornelius J. Rempel]]
 | J. J. Riediger

@@ Line 642: / Line 642: @@
 | 7-10 July 1973
 | Three Hills, AB
-| Herbert Brandt
+| Herbert J. Brandt
 | Eugene Gerbrandt
 | [[Neumann, John Henry (1926-1997)|John H. Neumann ]]
@@ Line 651: / Line 651: @@
 | 6-9 July 1974
 | Vancouver, BC
-| Herbert Brandt
+| Herbert J. Brandt
 | Eugene Gerbrandt
 | [[Neumann, John Henry (1926-1997)|John H. Neumann ]]
@@ Line 670: / Line 670: @@
 | Winnipeg, MB
 | [[Peters, Frank C. (1920-1987)|Frank C. Peters ]]
-| Herbert Brandt
+| Herbert J. Brandt
 | [[Rempel, Cornelius J. (1912-1994)|Cornelius J. Rempel]]
 | J. J. Riediger

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 __FORCETOC__
 __TOC__
-<h3>The Beginning and Early History of the Conference (1910-1924)</h3>
+=== The Beginning and Early History of the Conference (1910-1924) ===
 The Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren (MB) Churches had its beginnings in 1910 as the [[Northern District Conference (Mennonite Brethren Church)|Northern District Conference]] of the [[General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches|Mennonite Brethren Church]]. Until then, the entire [[Mennonite Brethren Church|Mennonite Brethren (MB) Church]] in the [[United States of America|United States]] and [[Canada|Canada]] functioned as one general conference. In 1946, the Northern District Conference became the Canadian Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Church of North America and eventually came to be called the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.
@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 The conference established the [[Herbert Bible School (Herbert, Saskatchewan, Canada)|Herbert Bible School]] in Herbert, Saskatchewan in 1913 and the [[Bethesda Home (Winkler, Manitoba, Canada)|Home for the Aged]] in [[Winkler (Manitoba, Canada)|Winkler]], Manitoba. Courses intended for the training of choir directors and choir singers were also arranged by the conference.
-<h3>Expansion of the Conference and Its Activities (1924-1936)</h3>
+=== Expansion of the Conference and Its Activities (1924-1936) ===
 These twelve years marked a period of rapid growth and expansion in the conference. The effectiveness of home mission activities partly accounted for this rapid growth, but the main contributing factor was the immigration of many Mennonites from [[Russia|Russia]] ([[Rußländer|Rußländer]]) between 1923 and 1930. A fairly large percentage of these immigrants had been members of MB churches in Russia and wherever they settled, they either joined MB churches or formed new churches and affiliated themselves with the conference. At the beginning of 1924 the conference consisted of 22 congregations with a membership of 1,771. At the close of 1936 there were 63 churches and groups with a total membership of 5,562. These churches were spread across [[Manitoba (Canada)|Manitoba]], [[Saskatchewan (Canada)|Saskatchewan]], and [[Alberta (Canada)|Alberta]], and there were small beginnings of congregations in [[British Columbia (Canada)|British Columbia]].
@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 The congregations realized the need and importance of Bible instruction for its young people and encouraged the establishing of Bible schools. The one at Herbert ([[Herbert Bible School (Herbert, Saskatchewan, Canada)|Herbert Bible School]]) continued, and other schools were established in Hepburn ([[Bethany College (Hepburn, Saskatchewan, Canada)|Bethany Bible Institute, later Bethany College]]), Saskatchewan, Winkler ([[Winkler Bible Institute (Winkler, Manitoba, Canada)|Winkler Bible Institute]]), Manitoba, and in Coaldale ([[Coaldale Bible School (Coaldale, Alberta, Canada)|Coaldale Bible School]]) and Gem (Gem Bible School), Alberta. Although these schools were not directly supervised or financed by the conference, the conference continued to encourage them, received reports of their work, and from them received many gifted young workers.
-<h3>The Growth of the Conference and Its Activities (1936-1949)</h3>
+=== The Growth of the Conference and Its Activities (1936-1949) ===
 This period marked a time of further growth and increase in conference activities. During this time the conference expanded westward and eastward. While the churches in Alberta continued to increase for some time, a great rush to the Fraser Valley took place and in a short time large congregations grew up there. By 1949 nearly one third of the conference membership was found in British Columbia. The main reason for this westward emigration was the continuous failure of crops in the prairie belt of [[Saskatchewan (Canada)|Saskatchewan]]. The effect on the churches of this area was a marked decline of membership and in some cases the discontinuation of churches.
@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 After World War II the conference took an increasingly active role in relief work, principally through the [[Mennonite Central Committee (International)|Mennonite Central Committee]]. The conference aided displaced Mennonites who came from Europe to Canada, some of whom joined MB churches. Some emigrant families from [[Brazil|Brazil]] and [[Paraguay|Paraguay]] also joined MB churches.
-<h3>Consolidation and Continued Growth of the Conference (1950-1996)</h3>
+=== Consolidation and Continued Growth of the Conference (1950-1996) ===
 Sometime in late 1947 or early 1948, Mennonite Brethren in Canada had begun to outnumber their [[United States of America|United States]] parent church, and this shift signaled important changes within Canadian MB churches between 1955 and 1985. The migrations of Mennonites from Europe and [[South America|South America]] aided the growth of the church. Beginning in the early 1950s a movement from the farm to the city began. In 1950 the three largest congregations in the conference were all rural. By 1986, in every province except Alberta the biggest congregations were in urban settings, and in several places Mennonite Brethren could claim to be one of the major evangelical church communities ([[Abbotsford (British Columbia, Canada)|Abbotsford]], [[Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada)|Vancouver]], [[Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada)|Winnipeg]], St. Catharines, and Saskatoon). In 1986, there were 16 congregations in Winnipeg alone. Between 1955 and 1995 Canadian membership more than doubled (12,514 to 30,573), as did the number of congregations (78 to 204).
@@ Line 953: / Line 953: @@
 |Jim Bell
 |Elton DaSilva
 |}
@@ Line 959: / Line 968: @@
 . The treasurer position, later changed to chief financial officer, was originally an elected position but later became a staff position not elected at a conference convention. The treasurer listed with each conference executive is the individual who held the position at the time of the convention.
-. The conference minister position, later changed to executive director, is not a position elected at a conference convention. The conference minister listed with each conference executive is the individual who held the position at the time of the convention.
+. The conference minister position, later changed to executive director and then national director, is not a position elected at a conference convention. The conference minister listed with each conference executive is the individual who held the position at the time of the convention.
-{{GAMEO_footer|hp=Vol. 1, pp. 505-506; vol. 5, pp. 124-125|date=January 2023|a1_last=Lohrenz|a1_first=J. H.|a2_last=Jantz|a2_first=Harold}}
+{{GAMEO_footer|hp=Vol. 1, pp. 505-506; vol. 5, pp. 124-125|date=January 2025|a1_last=Lohrenz|a1_first=J. H.|a2_last=Jantz|a2_first=Harold}}
 [[Category:Denominations]]

@@ Line 808: / Line 808: @@
 | [[Enns, Peter (1933-2022)|Peter Enns]]
 | Jake Neufeld
-| Ike Bergen
+| [[Bergen, Isaac "Ike" (1938-2023)|Isaac "Ike" Bergen]]
 |-
 | 81
@@ Line 817: / Line 817: @@
 | [[Enns, Peter (1933-2022)|Peter Enns]]
 | Jake Neufeld
-| Ike Bergen
+| [[Bergen, Isaac "Ike" (1938-2023)|Isaac "Ike" Bergen]]
 |-
 | 82
@@ Line 831: / Line 831: @@
 | 11-14 July 1996
 | Winnipeg, MB
-| Ike Bergen
+| [[Bergen, Isaac "Ike" (1938-2023)|Isaac "Ike" Bergen]]
 | Allan Labun
 | Elizabeth Esau
@@ Line 840: / Line 840: @@
 | 9-12 July 1998
 | Burnaby, BC
-| Ike Bergen
+| [[Bergen, Isaac "Ike" (1938-2023)|Isaac "Ike" Bergen]]
 | Ralph Gliege
+|

@@ Line 806: / Line 806: @@
 | [[Konrad, Abe (1932-2018)|Abe Konrad]]
 | Roland Marsch
-| Peter Enns
+| [[Enns, Peter (1933-2022)|Peter Enns]]
 | Jake Neufeld
 | Ike Bergen
@@ Line 815: / Line 815: @@
 | [[Konrad, Abe (1932-2018)|Abe Konrad]]
 | Roland Marsch
-| Peter Enns
+| [[Enns, Peter (1933-2022)|Peter Enns]]
 | Jake Neufeld
 | Ike Bergen

@@ Line 931: / Line 931: @@
 |Saskatoon SK
 |Bruce Enns
-|Michael Dick
+|Matt Dyck
-|Marilyn Hiebert
-|Jim Davidson
+|Bertha Dyck
 |Steve Berg (interim executive director)
 |-
@@ Line 942: / Line 942: @@
 |Sharon Simpson
 |Reg Toews
-|Jim Davidson
+|Bertha Dyck
 |Elton DaSilva
 |-
 |96
-|2022
+|9-11 June 2022
+|Virtual
 |Ron Penner
 |Cam Stuart

@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 This period marked a time of further growth and increase in conference activities. During this time the conference expanded westward and eastward. While the churches in Alberta continued to increase for some time, a great rush to the Fraser Valley took place and in a short time large congregations grew up there. By 1949 nearly one third of the conference membership was found in British Columbia. The main reason for this westward emigration was the continuous failure of crops in the prairie belt of [[Saskatchewan (Canada)|Saskatchewan]]. The effect on the churches of this area was a marked decline of membership and in some cases the discontinuation of churches.
-The MB churches in [[Ontario (Canada)|Ontario]], which grew out of the emigration of 1923-30 from [[Russia|Russia]], had organized as a separate MB conference, but in 1944 joined the Canadian Conference as well as the General MB Conference of [[North America|North America]]. With this addition the Canadian Conference increased in numbers and received several strong leaders, among who were [[Janzen, Henry H. (1901-1975)|Henry H. Janzen]] and [[Tiessen, Isaac Henry (1904-1999)|Isaac Tiessen]].
+The MB churches in [[Ontario (Canada)|Ontario]], which grew out of the emigration of 1923-30 from [[Russia|Russia]], had organized as a separate MB conference, but joined the General MB Conference of North America in 1939 and the Canadian Conference in 1946. With this addition the Canadian Conference increased in numbers and received several strong leaders, among who were [[Janzen, Henry H. (1901-1975)|Henry H. Janzen]] and [[Tiessen, Isaac Henry (1904-1999)|Isaac Tiessen]].
 The conference reorganized its home mission effort, delegating this work to the five provincial conferences, which reported on their work at the annual conference. The spiritual welfare of the church was under the supervision of the Committee of Reference and Counsel (<em>Fürsorge-Komitee</em>). In December 1945 the Canadian parliament passed a private member’s bill as a special act of parliament, incorporating the Canadian Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Church of North America as a charity. In the following year the conference approved the by-laws of the Canadian Conference, after which it regulated its procedures and conducted its work through the several elected boards and committees.