Reedley Mennonite Brethren Church (Reedley, California, USA)
Reedley Mennonite Brethren Church, located in Reedley, Fresno County, California, in the fertile San Joaquin Valley, a member of the Pacific District, was organized 12 June 1905, under the leadership of D. T. Enns, whose family had come with others from the Middle West to settle in the area. The church of less than 20 charter members had grown to a membership of 1,436 in 1957, the largest Mennonite congregation in the Western Hemisphere of any branch. In 1907 a building with a seating capacity of approximately 150 was constructed, enlarged in 1910 to seat 300 and in 1919 to 1,200. In 1952 a fireproof structure with 2,000 seats was built. The membership, which in the late 1950s was 30 per cent urban and 70 per cent rural, migrated from Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Minnesota, approximately 100 coming from Russia. The church was well organized in all phases of church work. In the late 1950s it practiced footwashing. Pastors who have served the congregation are D. T. Enns, Abraham Buhler, Johann Berg, D. C. Eitzen, G. B. Huebert, J. B. Toews; Dan Friesen was serving as pastor in 1957, with H. R. Wiens as assistant pastor.
| Author(s) | Jacob J Toews |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Toews, Jacob J. "Reedley Mennonite Brethren Church (Reedley, California, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Reedley_Mennonite_Brethren_Church_(Reedley,_California,_USA)&oldid=96165.
APA style
Toews, Jacob J. (1959). Reedley Mennonite Brethren Church (Reedley, California, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Reedley_Mennonite_Brethren_Church_(Reedley,_California,_USA)&oldid=96165.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 265. All rights reserved.
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