Montezuma Church of God in Christ, Mennonite Church is located near Montezuma, Gray County, Kansas. The first members arrived in 1912. In this group there was Peter A. Friesen, the first resident minister, who served the congregation until 1918. Before 1915 the worship services were conducted in homes and in a small frame meetinghouse, which was later enlarged, and in 1946 replaced by a new brick structure with a seating capacity of 900. The German language, formerly used in the services, replaced by the English. The members are of Dutch-Russian Mennonite descent and the Low German dialect was still spoken in many homes in the 1950s. The Sunday school was organized in 1935. Three sewing circles were functioning. Several members of the congregation were actively engaged in missionary work. The local burial plan organized in 1940 was operating successfully. Bethel Home for the aged was built in 1950. The membership in 1957 was 386, with Daniel J, Koehn as minister in charge. The congregation survived the dust storms and extreme drought of the 1930s.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 746. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

©1996-2008 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.

To cite this page: