Bethel Mennonite Church, Langley, BC Source: D. Giesbrecht

In 1934 Mennonites in the Aldergrove area met together in their homes.  By 1936 they were organized and calling themselves Coghlan Mennonite Church. The leaders of the church were Heinrich H. Dueck, Jacob J. Baerg and Aron J. Janzen, and Nicolai W. Bahnmann and Jacob B. Wiens served the church alternately as elders.

The first building was built on blocks and was a 26 by 40 foot structure. Construction began in 1936 but it could not be dedicated until the spring of 1937 due to the cold winter that year. In 1939 Coghlan Bible School was begun at the church by N. W. Bahnmann. The school was later moved to Abbotsford and became Bethel Bible Institute. Bahnmann was installed as the church's first pastor on 13 February 1944, and served in this capacity until 3 February 1945.  For the next three years Heinrich H. Dueck, Jacob J. Baerg and Aron J. Janzen served alternately as congregational leaders until Johannes Regier became pastor.

By 1944, the growth of the church directed that a basement be added to give more room. The basement included room for Sunday school instruction, a kitchen and a room for the heating system. During this time a balcony was also added. In 1948 further expansions were required due to the coming of the post World War II immigrants. A structure nearly as large as the original church building, with a complete basement, was added to the rear of the church to give it a “T” shape. On 5 January 1951 it was decided to change the church’s name to Bethel Mennonite Church since the church no longer resided on Coghlan due to a change in its address to 56^th Avenue. As the church continued to grow it was concluded in 1956 that a new church should be built. The groundbreaking took place on 28 October 1956 and was dedicated on 2 June 1957. The old church was purchased by the Christian Reformed Church.

By 1964 the congregation gathered a fund of $6,000 for much needed Sunday school classrooms. On 2 August 1964 the Education wing was dedicated complete with 11 classrooms, a library and assembly area. During all this time the service had been in German but, with more children going to public schools an English service seemed necessary but his did not happen late 1968. In 1976 due to problems with water leakage the towers on either side of the church were removed and the whole roof was re-shingled in the process. In January of 1978 the church under went extensive interior remodeling from the sanctuary to the nursery room to the lobby. In 1980 once again improvements were made this time focusing on the education wing.

Bibliography

Additional Information

Address: 24687 56th Ave., Langley BC V2Z 1B9

Phone: 604-856-8454

Denominational Affiliations:

Conference of Mennonites in British Columbia / Mennonite Church British Columbia (1936-present)

Conference of Mennonites in Canada / Mennonite Church Canada (1937-2006)

General Conference Mennonite Church (1938-1999)

Bethel Mennonite Church Leading Ministers

Bethel Mennonite Church Membership

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