©Mennonite Heritage Centre 2002
Last updated April 17, 2002
Title: Bethany Mennonite Church (Lost River, Sask.) fonds
Dates: 1963-1991
Extent: 8 cm of textual records
Mennonites settled in the area north east of the Hague Osler Reserve at the beginning of the 20th century. In late 1916 and early 1917 a series of meetings were held which resulted in the founding of the Bethany Mennonite Church in the Lost River area of Saskatchewan, which is just a bit south-east of Nipawin. With the coming of Russian Mennonite immigrants in the 1920s the congregation grew and reached its peak in the early 1950s. The membership was 170 in 1940 and 162 in 1952. In 1961 it had declined to 70 and in 1970 it was 60. In 1971 the congregation withdrew from the Conference of Mennonites in Canada. Frank Eidse was the last leader recorded in the extant records at the MHC. The leaders of the congregation were: Jacob Ens ([1930]-1947), David Neufeld ([1930]-1937), Peter Vogt ([1930]-1952), Isaak Derksen (1938-1940), Jacob H. Enns (1943-1968), Cornelius Ens (1943-1957), Abe Buhler (1961-1965), Peter Peters (1966-1968), Frank Eidse (1969- ).
The fonds consists of bulletins (1963-1970), correspondence (1991), and a brief congregational history ([19-?])which show who participated and gave leadership to the life of the congregation in Lost River.
Inventory file list available.
Some German.
No restrictions on access.
Textual records were deposited by the congregation at the Mennonite Heritage Centre in 1994. Described by Bert Friesen 21 January 2002.