©Mennonite Heritage Centre 2003
Last update April 12, 2006

Mennonite Heritage Centre Archives
Winnipeg, Manitoba

First Mennonite Church Greendale

Retrieval numbers: Volumes 108, 1954, 2596, 2950, 4996., 5130
Title: First Mennonite Church Greendale (B.C.) fonds
Dates: 1968-2005
Extent: 40 cm of textual records
Repository: Mennonite Heritage Centre Archives

Historical note

First Mennonite Church Greendale (initially called First Mennonite Church of Sardis) was founded in 1931 in Sardis, B.C. They built their own meeting house in 1930-1931 after meeting in private homes for a number of months. The membership was 80 although some of these met in the Yarrow area. In 1936 the provincial conference was founded in their meeting house. The membership for Sardis and Yarrow was 148 in 1936. In 1947, together with the Mennonite Brethren congregation, they purchased land for a cemetery which was given the name Greendale. So the congregation was then renamed the First Mennonite Church Greendale and built a new meeting house. The membership was 172 in 1947. In 1955 this building was destroyed by fire. In 1956 a new meeting house was completed. The membership was 266 in 1956. In 1970 the membership was 181. Thie congregation had gone through a difficult transition in language from German to English in the 1960s. In the 1980s this building was expanded. In 1988 the membership was 185 and in 2000 it was 166. The leaders of the congregation were: Nicolai Bahnman (1930-1939), B. Friesen (1932-1934), D. Derksen (1935), D. Hausknecht (1936-1937, 1943-1944), J.J. Klassen (1940-1942), W. Martens (1945-1949), J.W. Nickel (1949-1950), A. Warkentin (1950-1951), I. Harms (1952-1954), B. Ensz (1954-1963), H. Neufeld (1964-1967), P. Froese (1968), J. Schoenwetter (1968-1973), H. Esau (1974-1979), Helmut Isaak (1981-1987), George Hoeppner (1987-1996), Peter Neudorf (1996-2000), Philip Wheaton (2001- ).

Scope and content note

This fonds contains bulletins (1968-2002), directories (1968-1995), newsletters (1976-1992), annual reports (1976-1995, 2002), constitution (1977), and pictorial directories with brief congregational history (1989-1994). The records pertain to the founding and development of the Mennonite congregation in Sardis, B.C.. They document some of the leaders and participants in the congregation.

Subject terms

First Mennonite Church Greendale

Creators

First Mennonite Church Greendale

Adjunct descriptive data

Finding aids

Inventory file list available.

Notes

Language

Some German.

Restrictions on access

No restrictions on access.

Other notes

Textual records have been deposited by the congregation on a regular basis at the Mennonite Heritage Centre. Described by Bert Friesen 30 January 2003.

First Mennonite Church Greendale (Sardis, B.C.) fonds file list:

Volume 108

  1. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1968), congregational office holders (1968)
  2. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1969)
  3. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1970)
  4. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1974)
  5. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1975), directory (1975)
  6. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1976), newsletter (1976), annual report (1976)
  7. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1977), annual reports (1977), congregational office holders (1977), constitution (1977)
  8. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1978)
  9. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1979)

Volume 1954

  1. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1981)
  2. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1982), directory (1982)
  3. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1983)
  4. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1984)
  5. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1985), directory (1985)
  6. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1986), directory (1986)
  7. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1987), newsletters (1987)

Volume 2950

  1. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1988), directory (1988), annual reports (1988), newsletters (1988)
  2. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1989), annual reports (1989), directory (1989), pictorial directory with brief congregational history (1989), newsletters (1989)
  3. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1990), newsletters (1990), annual reports (1990)
  4. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1991), newsletters (1991), annual reports (1991)
  5. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1992), newsletters (1992), annual reports (1992)

Volume 2596

  1. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1993), annual reports (1993)
  2. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1994), directory (1994), annual reports (1994) pictorial directory (1994)
  3. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1995), annual reports (1995), directory (1995)
  4. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1996)
  5. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1997)
  6. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1998)
  7. First Mennonite Church bulletins (1999)

Volume 4996

  1. First Mennonite Church bulletins (2000)
  2. First Mennontie Church bulletins (2001)
  3. First Mennonite Church Bulletins (2002), annual reports (2002)
  4. First Mennonite Church Bulletins (2003)
  5. First Mennonite Church Bulletins (2004)
Volume 5130
    1.  First Mennonite Church bulletins (2005)