Emmaus Mennonite Church Group (Saskatchewan, Canada)
The Emmaus Mennonite Church Group (Gemeinde), located in the area of Swift Current, a city of about 9,000 (15,503 in 2011) in south-western Saskatchewan, a wheat-growing area, was a multi-congregation church (Gemeinde) in the Conference of Mennonites of Canada. In 1954 the church had seven church buildings (Pella in Neville, Wymark, Syke's Farm, Swift Current, Blumenhof, Schoenfeld, and Rhineland; an eighth location, McMahon, closed in 1949) the largest of which, with a seating capacity of 250, was in Swift Current.
In 1913 the Home Mission Board of the Canadian Conference began to serve the scattered families living in the area and in 1914 the first 12 candidates were baptized. During the following years this group was served by Elder Johann Gerbrandt, Drake, Saskatchewan; Gerhard Buhler, Herbert, Saskatchewan; Peter J. Epp, Eigenheim, Saskatchewan; and Elder Benjamin Ewert. After World War I, a number of families from Russia settled here. As a result a congregation was organized on 16 June 1928, and Isaac H. Wiens was ordained as the first minister, although Benjamin Ewert served for some time longer as elder.
The first meetinghouse was built in 1916 near Neville. The other six churches were built with aid from the General Conference Home Mission Board beginning in 1937. The membership in 1954 was 371, about half urban and half rural.
The congregation had Sunday schools, Christian Endeavor groups, women's mission groups, prayer meetings, and choirs. The German language was used for some morning services and English in Sunday schools and in some morning and all evening services. The ministers in 1954 were Werner Zacharias, David Quiring, Wilhelm Zacharias, Cornelius P. Kehler, Jacob J. M. Friesen, and Valentine E. Nickel, who was ordained as elder on 31 October 1948.
Bibliography
Epp, Judy. "Emmaus: Church of the Swift Current Reserve," Research paper, Canadian Mennonite Bible College, 1972, 23 pp. Mennonite Heritage Centre.
Sawatzky, Ernie. "The History of the Emmaus Mennonite Church of Swift Current and South." Research paper, Mennonite Biblical Seminary, 1961. 26 pp. Mennonite Heritage Centre.
| Author(s) | Valentine E Nickel |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1956 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Nickel, Valentine E. "Emmaus Mennonite Church Group (Saskatchewan, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Emmaus_Mennonite_Church_Group_(Saskatchewan,_Canada)&oldid=112573.
APA style
Nickel, Valentine E. (1956). Emmaus Mennonite Church Group (Saskatchewan, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Emmaus_Mennonite_Church_Group_(Saskatchewan,_Canada)&oldid=112573.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, pp. 204-205. All rights reserved.
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