First Mennonite Church (Aberdeen, Idaho, USA)
First Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church USA), a member of the Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference, was organized in Aberdeen, Idaho, on 4 July 1907, with a membership of 36 and the Elder Jacob Hege officiating. Mennonites first came to the area in 1905, when the Aberdeen-Springfield irrigation tract was opened to settlers. Canal builders and land promoters invited German-speaking Mennonite farmers to come to Idaho to help settle that area. The church was erected in 1909, enlarged in 1938, and again in 1947. The congregation had a membership of 357 in 1955, and 223 in 2006. In the 1950s it had two missionaries in overseas service.
Bibliography
"History & Photos." First Mennonite Church. Web. http://aberdeenmennonites.org/Brief_History.php (accessed 13 December 2014).
Additional Information
Address: 381 Washington & 4th, PO Box 246, Aberdeen ID 83210
Phone: 208-397-4239
Website: First Mennonite Church
Denominational Affiliations:
Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference
Pastoral Leaders at First Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Jacob Hege | 1907-1909 |
| John B. Baer | 1909-1911 |
| Henry Toews | 1913-1914 |
| E.J. Neuenswander | 1914-1920 |
| Edward J. Schmidt | 1920-1922 |
| Menno J. Galle | 1922-1929 |
| John E. Kaufman | 1929-1936 |
| Philip Wedel | 1936-1944 |
| Henry Brown (interim) |
1944-1945 |
| Henry Harder | 1945-1954 |
| Rudolph Toews (interim) |
1954-1955 |
| Walter H. Dyck | 1956-1962 |
| Donovan Diller (interim) |
1962-1963 |
| Wilfred Ulrich | 1963-1969 |
| Paul Roth (interim) |
1969-1970 |
| Aaron Epp | 1970-1975 |
| P.J. John (interim) |
1975-1976 |
| Lowell Gerber (interim) |
1976-1977 |
| Ben Rahn | 1977-1983 |
| Lance Eisele | 1983-1989 |
| Perry Rotenberger (interim) |
1989 |
| Elmer Friesen (interim) |
1989-1990 |
| Frank Horst (interim) |
1990-1991 |
| Oscar Brown (interim) |
1991 |
| Monty Ledford | 1991-2006 |
| David Stutzman (interim) |
2006-2007 |
| Jarry Kaiser | 2007-present |
| Author(s) | H. N Harder |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1955 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Harder, H. N. "First Mennonite Church (Aberdeen, Idaho, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1955. Web. 2 Feb 2026. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=First_Mennonite_Church_(Aberdeen,_Idaho,_USA)&oldid=128519.
APA style
Harder, H. N. (1955). First Mennonite Church (Aberdeen, Idaho, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 2 February 2026, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=First_Mennonite_Church_(Aberdeen,_Idaho,_USA)&oldid=128519.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 7. All rights reserved.
©1996-2026 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.