Gilroy Mennonite Brethren Church (Gilroy, Saskatchewan, Canada)
Gilroy Mennonite Brethren Church was a small congregation that met for a time in the Gilroy, Saskatchewan, village hall and was part of the Herbert Kreis (Circuit) of the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches. Gilroy is in the Saskatchewan RM #224 (Maple Bush) on Highway No. 42 between Riverhurst and Lawson, with Elbow about 25 km. north-north east. The congregation began in fall 1925 when the Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization settled eight families fleeing from the Soviet Union on farms with more families settling the following year. An additional 12 families were settled in the Elbow area. In 1927 Jacob I. Bergen settled near Riverhurst and pastored Gilroy. There was a revival in the congregation in the early 1930s but by 1933 because of repeated drought and crop failures Bergen was forced to move 375 km. north to Mullingar.
The 1940s brought better crops and on September 1941 a large Thanksgiving festival was held with many invited guests. However, the 1940s also brought improved roads and better employment and farmland elsewhere and a number of families moved away. The congregation was without a pastor for a number of years and by about 1946 the congregation closed. In 1942, the Beechy congregation purchased a town hall, formerly used by the Mennonite Brethren congregation in Gilroy. The building was dismantled, transported to a section of land just outside of Beechy, and then used to construct a new church building.
Bibliography
Der Bote (17 March 1926): 2; (29 October 1941): 2.
Additional Information
Gilroy MB Church Ministers
| Minister | Years |
|---|---|
| Jacob I. Bergen | 1927-1933 |
| Wiens, Frank F. | 1928-? |
| Braun, Peter P. | 1928-1937 |
| Dyck, Jacob P. |
Gilroy MB Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1929 | 36 |
| 1935 | 30 |
| 1938 | 29 |
| 1942 | 2 |
| Author(s) | Victor G Wiebe |
|---|---|
| Date Published | September 2014 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Wiebe, Victor G. "Gilroy Mennonite Brethren Church (Gilroy, Saskatchewan, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. September 2014. Web. 24 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Gilroy_Mennonite_Brethren_Church_(Gilroy,_Saskatchewan,_Canada)&oldid=125501.
APA style
Wiebe, Victor G. (September 2014). Gilroy Mennonite Brethren Church (Gilroy, Saskatchewan, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Gilroy_Mennonite_Brethren_Church_(Gilroy,_Saskatchewan,_Canada)&oldid=125501.
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