Ocean Falls Gospel Fellowship (Ocean Falls, British Columbia, Canada)

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Attempts were made as early as 1940 by local evangelicals to establish a permanent work in Ocean Falls, a company town.  Eventually this group contacted the West Coast Children’s Mission for a worker and in 1958 Jake and Mary Geddert were asked to establish a church there.  They met for Sunday school in the basement of a local home and for services in the Legion Hall.  The hope to build a chapel was frustrated by the difficulty in finding an available lot.  Eventually a location was found and a chapel was built in 1960.

The Ocean Falls Gospel Fellowship was formally organized in 1961 under the auspices of the British Columbia Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Churches, which it joined that year. The membership remained quite small standing at 12 members in 1965.  Due to the closure of the Crown Zellerbach mill and the subsequent move of many people to other areas the church lost most of its members and closed down in 1972.  Towards the end of this time Cornie (Neil) Klassen served as lay leader.

Bibliography

Penner, Peter. Reaching the otherwise unreached: an historical account of the West Coast Children's Mission of B.C. Clearbrook, B.C.: West Coast Children's Mission of B.C., [1959].

Archival Records

Mennonite Archives Centre, Mennonite Historical Society of British Columbia. 211 - 2825 Clearbrook Road, Abbotsford, B.C. V2T 6S3.

Additional Information

Denominational Affiliations:

British Columbia Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Churches (1961-1972)

Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (1961-1972)

General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (1961-1972)

Ocean Falls Gospel Fellowship Pastors (with spouse)

Minister Years
Jake and Mary Geddert 1958-1961
Tom and Mary Loewen 1961-1964
John and Bertha Balzer 1964-1967
Sam and Lilly Lewis 1968-1969
Walter and Gaye Toews 1969-1970

 Ocean Falls Gospel Fellowship Membership

Year Members
1962 12
1967 10


Author(s) Hugo Friesen
Date Published August 2006

Cite This Article

MLA style

Friesen, Hugo. "Ocean Falls Gospel Fellowship (Ocean Falls, British Columbia, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. August 2006. Web. 10 Oct 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Ocean_Falls_Gospel_Fellowship_(Ocean_Falls,_British_Columbia,_Canada)&oldid=167581.

APA style

Friesen, Hugo. (August 2006). Ocean Falls Gospel Fellowship (Ocean Falls, British Columbia, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 10 October 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Ocean_Falls_Gospel_Fellowship_(Ocean_Falls,_British_Columbia,_Canada)&oldid=167581.




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