Central District of Mennonite Brethren Churches (United States Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches)
The Central District of Mennonite Brethren Churches had its beginning as a result of a provision made by the Mennonite Brethren General Conference in 1909. This conference arranged to divide its constituency into three distinct conferences -- Northern, Central, and Southern.
According to this provision the Mennonite Brethren congregations in the states of Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Michigan, Colorado, and Oregon and those of the province Manitoba, Canada, constituted the Central District Conference. This conference convened for its first annual meeting 17 and 18 October 1910, in the MB Church at Bingham Lake, Minnesota, and organized itself. Sixteen local churches were represented by 48 delegates. These churches at that time had a total membership of 1,359.
In 1913 the churches of Manitoba withdrew and joined the Northern or Canadian District Conference, and the Central District Conference became composed solely of churches in the United States.
In 1987 the Central District Conference (Mennonite Brethren) consisted of 28 churches in the states of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, and Illinois. In 1960, when the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren and Mennonite Brethren churches merged, the Central District received 800 new members in South Dakota and from missions in Chicago and Omaha; the merger thus affected the Central District more than any other Mennonite Brethren conference. In 1987 the total membership was 2,350.
The conference was organized into six committees coordinated through an executive committee and a district minister. The first district minister was Waldo Wiebe (1978-86). He was succeeded by J. J. Toews. The other committees were: Reference and Counsel, Pulpit, Home Missions Board, Youth, Board of Trustees, and Women's Missionary Service. The Central District, together with the Southern, Latin American, and North Carolina districts, operated Tabor College through the Tabor College Senate. The college makes annual reports to the Central District.
The Central District is known for its deep commitment to foreign missions, home missions, and youth work. Work with Native American peoples (Indian ministries) began in 1948 at the Pineridge Indian Reservation of South Dakota. In 1987 home mission churches were located in Sioux Falls and Rapid City, South Dakota; Bismark, North Dakota; and Millard, Nebraska.
Bibliography
Lohrenz, J. H. The Mennonite Brethren Church. Hillsboro, KS: The Mennonite Brethren Publishing House, 1950.
Mennonite Brethren General Conference Yearbook (1981): 172, 187-189.
Year Books of the Central District Conference of the MB Church, 1910-
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, pp. 541-542; vol. 5, p. 131. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.
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MLA style: Lohrenz, J. H. and Wesley Prieb. "Central District of Mennonite Brethren Churches (United States Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1987. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2009 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/C45886ME.html>
APA style: Lohrenz, J. H. and Wesley Prieb. (1987). "Central District of Mennonite Brethren Churches (United States Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2009 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/C45886ME.html>
