First Mennonite Church (Beatrice, Nebraska, USA)
First Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church USA) near Beatrice, Nebraska, was organized on 9 September 1877, by 34 families from Prussia with 138 members.
Since 1788 Prussian Mennonites had been migrating to Russia because of religious and economic restrictions. When in the 1870s Russia too introduced general military conscription, Prussian Mennonites began to consider immigration to America. Cornelius Jansen of Berdyansk and Wilhelm Ewert of Prussia paved the way. Some 30 families of the large Heubuden Mennonite Church and a few from the Elbing-Ellerwald Mennonite Church under the leadership of Elder Johann Andreas who were unwilling to accept non-combatant service, left Germany 15 June 1876, for America, stopping in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where Cornelius Jansen temporarily resided. Under his guidance some families went to Beatrice, Nebraska, arriving there in February 1877, while others followed Peter Dyck to settle near Whitewater, Elbing, and Newton, Kansas.
The group at Beatrice was joined by some additional families from Heubuden on 19 June 1877, led by Elder Gerhard Penner, who died the next year. Elder Johann Andreas had died in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. For a time the newly organized church was served by the elders Isaak Peters of Henderson, Nebraska, and Leonhard Sudermann of Whitewater, Kansas, in addition to its own ministers, Andreas Penner and Heinrich Zimmermann. In 1888 Gerhard Penner, Jr., son of Elder Gerhard Penner, was ordained as minister and elder and served in this capacity until 1920, at which time he was succeeded by Franz Albrecht, 1920-1940. From 1940 to 1946 Walter H. Dyck served the congregation as the first full-time minister. He was succeeded by Jacob T. Friesen, 1947- .
For some time the congregation had several meeting places, one in Beatrice, one four miles (7 km) west of Beatrice erected in 1879 and patterned after the Heubuden church, and another some ten miles (16 km) west of the city, which was discontinued. The main sanctuary erected in 1879 was destroyed by fire the first year and immediately rebuilt after the same pattern. It was replaced by a large stone structure in 1951. Customs of worship and social life were continued and changed only with the infiltration of the English language after World War I, which is a partial explanation for the organization of the (Second) Beatrice Mennonite Church in 1926. Sunday school, young people’s organizations, and missionary interests were started during the first years. In 1892 the congregation joined the Western District Conference, in 1896 the General Conference Mennonite Church. Among the ten families that came from Khiva in 1884 were the ministers Johann Jantzen and Johannes K. Penner. The latter became one of the outstanding parochial teachers of the Mennonite community.
The Mennonite Bible Academy and the Beatrice Mennonite Deaconess Home and Hospital were established by the congregation. The 1953 membership of the congregation was 338; in 2006 it was 251. Numerous families have moved to other communities such as Paso Robles, California.
Bibliography
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 147.
Additional Information
Address: 6714 West State Highway 4, Beatrice, Nebraska
Phone: 402-228-2231
Website: First Mennonite Church
Denominational Affiliations:
Western District Mennonite Conference (1892-present)
General Conference Mennonite Church (1892-2002)
Mennonite Church USA (2002-present)
Ordained Leaders at First Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Gerhard Penner | 1877-1878 |
| Gerhard Penner, Jr. | 1888-1920 |
| Franz Albrecht | 1920-1940 |
| Walter H. Dyck | 1940-1946 |
| Jacob T. Friesen | 1947-1956 |
| Harold W. Buller | 1957-1960 |
| Leo. L. Miller | 1960-1969 |
| Kenneth E. Rupp | 1969-1972 |
| Donavin Diller | 1973-1984 |
| Tim Schrag | 1985-1996 |
| Florence Schloneger | 1998-2006 |
| Weldon Schloneger | 1998-2010 |
| Brett Klingenberg | 2011-present |
Membership at First Mennonite Church
| Year | Membership |
|---|---|
| 1940 | 361 |
| 1945 | 340 |
| 1950 | 330 |
| 1955 | 333 |
| 1960 | 327 |
| 1965 | 330 |
| 1970 | 298 |
| 1975 | 286 |
| 1980 | 254 |
| 1985 | 257 |
| 1990 | 256 |
| 1995 | 229 |
| 2000 | 247 |
| 2005 | 249 |
| 2010 | 236 |
| 2015 | 227 |
Maps
Map:First Mennonite Church (Beatrice, Nebraska)
| Author(s) | Cornelius Krahn |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1953 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Krahn, Cornelius. "First Mennonite Church (Beatrice, Nebraska, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1953. Web. 22 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=First_Mennonite_Church_(Beatrice,_Nebraska,_USA)&oldid=163083.
APA style
Krahn, Cornelius. (1953). First Mennonite Church (Beatrice, Nebraska, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 22 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=First_Mennonite_Church_(Beatrice,_Nebraska,_USA)&oldid=163083.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, pp. 256-257. All rights reserved.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.