Crystal City Mennonite Church (Crystal City, Manitoba, Canada)
The Crystal City Mennonite Church traces its beginning to the Fall of 1924 when twelve Mennonite families, recently immigrated from Russia arrive in the area and began to meet in private home for fellowship. The group grew to 20 families by 1930 with a few other Mennonite families from other groups joined them. This group became one of the congregations that Franz F. Enns established and led as part of the Whitewater Gemeinde. Lay member Peter Hildebrand donated an acre of land for a building in 1948. The church building was occupied in 1949 and a subsequent building program occurred in 1958. After the new meeting place was constructed in 1958, the old one was moved to Mather and there rebuilt for the use of the Mather congregation.
The language of worship transitioned from German to English during the 1960s.
The local church leadership included lay ministers Heinrich H. Janzen, 1928-1929, Gerhard Bock, 1940-1958, Peter G. Harms, 1954-1966, Abram Reimer, 1954-1989 and Allen Harms (1991-). Salaried pastors started in 1981 with Abe Buhler serving 1981-1983, Gary Giesbrecht, 1984-1988, John Neufeld (1988, 1996-1997, George Derksen, 1989-1994, Allen Harms, 1995, 1998, and Erwin Kroeker, 1999-. Erin Morash began serving both Crystal City Mennonite Church and Trinity Mennonite Fellowship in Mather (a 2-point charge) in September 2006.
In Spring 2020 the congregation merged with the Trinity Mennonite Fellowship to form the Prairie Mennonite Fellowship, located in the former Crystal City building.
Bibliography
40th anniversary materials in Mennonites in Canada collection, Mennonite Archives of Ontario.
Bergen, Myrna. "The History of the Crystal City Mennonite Church." Research paper, Canadian Mennonite Bible College, 1985, 19 pp. Mennonite Heritage Centre.
Canadian Mennonite (29 August 1958): 3.
Ens, Anna. In Search of Unity: Story of the Conference of Mennonites in Manitoba. Winnipeg, Manitoba: CMBC Publications, 1996.
Hildebrand, Peter. "History of Crystal City Mennonite Church." Research paper, Canadian Mennonite Bible College, 1977, 20 pp. Mennonite Heritage Centre.
History of the Whitewater Mennonite Church, 1927-1987. 1987, 99 pp.
Klassen-Wiebe, Nicolien. "Hope and faith . . . even when things don’t go as planned: Two churches in rural Manitoba merge into one." Canadian Mennonite 24, no. 16D (29 July 2020). Web. 30 July 2020. https://canadianmennonite.org/stories/hope-and-faith-even-when-things-don%E2%80%99t-go-planned.
Tiessen, Brenda. "The History of the Crystal City Mennonite Church." Research paper, Canadian Mennonite Bible College, 1985, 27 pp. Mennonite Heritage Centre.
Additional Information
Address: Crystal City, MB, R0K 0N0 (Co-ordinates 49.0810105,-98.9501414)
Phone: (204) 873-2336
Denominational Afflication: Whitewater Mennonite Church Group
Conference of Mennonites in Manitoba / Mennonite Church Manitoba (1947-
[Conference of Mennonites in Canada]] / Mennonite Church Canada (1927-
General Conference Mennonite Church (until 1999)
| Author(s) | Marlene Epp |
|---|---|
| Alf Redekopp | |
| Date Published | July 2020 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Epp, Marlene and Alf Redekopp. "Crystal City Mennonite Church (Crystal City, Manitoba, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. July 2020. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Crystal_City_Mennonite_Church_(Crystal_City,_Manitoba,_Canada)&oldid=168968.
APA style
Epp, Marlene and Alf Redekopp. (July 2020). Crystal City Mennonite Church (Crystal City, Manitoba, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Crystal_City_Mennonite_Church_(Crystal_City,_Manitoba,_Canada)&oldid=168968.
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