Agassiz Mennonite Brethren Church (Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada)
Mennonite settlers came to Agassiz, British Columbia as early as 1927. One of these was John Bargen but he soon moved on to Yarrow. Abram Nikkel, who came in 1928, settled on a dairy farm in Agassiz. However, the Nikkels fellowshipped in Yarrow and soon moved there as well. Others came in 1928 and 1929 including the Frank Kornelson family, the John P. Stobbe family, and the John J. Stobbe family. Other families and individuals also came to Agassiz and the group began to have Bible studies and prayer in the home of John P. Stobbe, also developing Sunday school and eventually regular worship services for which they met in an empty home.
In 1930 the group decided to build a 24 ft. by 30 ft. church building on land donated by Chauncey E. Eckert, a wealthy land developer from Chilliwack who had sold land to the Mennonites who had settled in Yarrow in the late 1920s. In December 1930 an organizational meeting was held with Cornelius Klassen of Yarrow presiding. There were 22 charter members and they chose John J. Stobbe as leader, H. S. Dahl as assistant, Isaak Dirks in charge of Sunday School, Abe Stobbe in charge of the young people and singing, and John F. Kornelson as secretary. Agassiz was one of founding churches of the British Columbia Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches in 1931.
In 1932 Cornelius C. "C. C." Peters joined this group and became their minister and Bible school teacher and in the same year the membership grew to its height at 40 members. However, people began to leave for the South Abbotsford area in 1933 including the Stobbes, and C. C. Peters took a teaching position in 1936 as Bible school teacher at South Abbotsford although he kept ministering at Agassiz. Membership declined from 35 members in 1932 and 1933 to 22 members in 1934 and 1935, and 13 members in 1936. The conclusion of the church came at the end of 1936 although some some small efforts were made to continue the work in Agassiz.
Bibliography
Mennonite Brethren Herald (24 October 1980): 3.
Stobbe, Abe. “The Agassiz Settlement.” Unpublished paper.
Additional Information
Denominational Affiliations:
British Columbia Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Churches (1931-1936)
Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (1931-1936)
| Author(s) | Hugo Friesen |
|---|---|
| Date Published | March 2012 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Friesen, Hugo. "Agassiz Mennonite Brethren Church (Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. March 2012. Web. 23 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Agassiz_Mennonite_Brethren_Church_(Agassiz,_British_Columbia,_Canada)&oldid=74547.
APA style
Friesen, Hugo. (March 2012). Agassiz Mennonite Brethren Church (Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Agassiz_Mennonite_Brethren_Church_(Agassiz,_British_Columbia,_Canada)&oldid=74547.
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