Winton Church of God in Christ, Mennonite Church (Winton, California, USA)
The Winton Church of God in Christ, Mennonite congregation in Winton, California, USA was established late in 1911. The congregation started as families from Alberta, Kansas, and Washington began to settle in the Winton area. Most agricultural activities at that time were dairy and grain farming.
Initial church services were held in homes, a schoolhouse, and late in 1912 in J. B. Ratzlaff's barn. Deacon Benjamin T. Koehn provided initial leadership of the group since no minister lived locally. Except for a six-month service by I. N. Mastre, there was no local minister until 1923 when F. C. Fricke came to the area.
The congregation erected its first church building in 1913 on the Ratzlaff property. By 1917 the building was no longer adequate, and the location was not ideal. The congregation built a new building on a lot in Winton at the corner of Cottage and Park streets. A third building was required by 1926, located on North California Street. By the 1940s, this building was also inadequate. The third building was moved across the street and reconstructed into two homes. The fourth building was placed on the former site. It was dedicated on 10 March 1946.
As the original Church of God in Christ, Mennonite congregation in California, Winton helped establish other congregations. These included Livingston in 1943/44 when 24 families, two ministers, and a deacon formed the new congregation. In the 1950s, 22 families, a minister, and a deacon moved to the Glenn area and formed the new congregation there. In 1957 some members, including one minister, helped form a new congregation in Scio, Oregon.
In 2020 the congregation was part of the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite. The ministers were Russell Spence, Gary Koehn, and John Martin Jantz.
Bibliography
Church of God in Christ, Mennonite. Yearbook (1995-2020).
Histories of the congregations. 3rd. ed. Moundridge, Kansas: Gospel Publishers, 1999: 197-201.
Additional Information
Address: 7099 California Street, Winton, California 95388
Phone: 209-358-6604
Website:
Denominational Affiliations:
Church of God in Christ, Mennonite
Ordained Pastors at the Winton Church of God in Christ, Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Deacon Benjamin T. Koehn (1858-1928) | 1911-1924 |
| Isaac N. Mastre (1860-1943) | 1913 |
| F. C. Fricke (1867-1947) | 1923-1925 |
| Samuel Boese (1857-1944) | 1925?-1927? |
| Abraham T. Koehn (1893-1975) | 1928-1930 1933-ca. 1970 |
| J. E. Friesen | 1936-1943 |
| Ben T. Koehn (1906-1981) | 1940-1944 |
| David H. Dyck (1888-1980) | 1943-1980 |
| Jake H. Loewen | 1943-1955 |
| Sam A. Nichols (1894-1968) | 1945-1952 |
| Edward Jantz (1916-1998) | 1946-1959 |
| John J. Esau (1911-1993) | 1952-1971 |
| John Wiens (1920-1996) | 1954-1996 |
| John Jantz, Jr. (1927-2018) | 1961-2008 |
| Gerald Mininger (1927-2015) | 1961-1967 |
| Harold Schmidt (1933-2017) | 1968-1971 |
| Leon Koehn | 1972-1995 |
| Allen Jantz | 1975-2000 |
| Greg Dyck | 1975-2000 |
| James Koehn | 1990-1994 |
| Russell Spence | 1999-present |
| Gary Koehn | 2001-present |
| David Steiner | 2007-2008 |
| John Martin Jantz | 2016-present |
Membership at Winton Church of God in Christ, Mennonite Church
| Year | Membership |
|---|---|
| 1913 | 30 |
| 1995 | 275 |
| 2000 | 173 |
| 2010 | 161 |
| 2020 | 145 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Noah Koehn. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 964. All rights reserved.
Winton Church of God in Christ Mennonite Church, located just east of Winton, California, had its beginning in 1911, when the first 12 members assembled in a barn for worship services. The first church building was erected in 1912. It was replaced by larger buildings in 1917, 1926, and 1945. The present building has a seating capacity of 800. The ministers in 1957 were Edward Jantz, John Wiens, D. H. Dyck, John Esau, and A. T. Koehn; the membership was 290.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | December 2020 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Winton Church of God in Christ, Mennonite Church (Winton, California, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. December 2020. Web. 5 Dec 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Winton_Church_of_God_in_Christ,_Mennonite_Church_(Winton,_California,_USA)&oldid=170257.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (December 2020). Winton Church of God in Christ, Mennonite Church (Winton, California, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 5 December 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Winton_Church_of_God_in_Christ,_Mennonite_Church_(Winton,_California,_USA)&oldid=170257.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.