Winton Church of God in Christ, Mennonite Church (Winton, California, USA)

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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.




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