Peace Mennonite Church (Richmond, British Columbia, Canada)
As the Prince of Peace Mennonite Church began the dissolution process, representatives from both Prince of Peace Mennonite Church and Sherbrooke Mennonite Church met with the intention of forming a steering committee that would oversee the establishment of a new fellowship in Richmond, BC. John Sawatzky from Prince of Peace and Erwin Cornelsen from Sherbrooke met initially in 1977, and eventually First United Mennonite Church and Mountainview Mennonite Church were brought on board to assist in the endeavour.
Palmer Becker was the first pastor of this new congregation in 1979, and a new church building was soon built in 1980 on land that was previously purchased by Sherbrooke and by using proceeds from the sale of Prince of Peace's church facilities. Initially, this new congregation met twice a month at Sherbrooke Mennonite Church by holding services in the evenings. With the dedication on 7 September 1980 of the new church building, which included a 135-seat sanctuary, education wing and gymnasium, Peace Mennonite Church was poised to officially organize, which it did on 30 November 1980 with 135 chartered members.
While most of the congregation is of European descent, Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Indonesian, Laotian, Ethiopian and Punjabi people also call Peace Mennonite their church home. This diversity is illustrated aptly in the launch of Peace Chinese Mennonite Church in 1988. The congregation joined Mennonite Church British Columbia and Mennonite Church Canada in 1981.
Bibliography
Lehn, Cornelia. Frontier Challenge: A Story of the Conference of Mennonites in British Columbia. Clearbrook, BC: The Conference of Mennonites in British Columbia, 1990: 135-137.
Mennonite Reporter (22 June 1987): 16; (26 November 1979): 4; (26 May 1980): 14; (13 October 1980): 4; (5 January 1981): 11.
Wiens, John R. "The Development of Peace Mennonite Church, Richmond, B.C." Research paper, Canadian Mennonite Bible College, 1982, 35 pp. Mennonite Heritage Centre.
Additional Information
Address: 11571 Daniels Rd., Richmond, BC V6X 1M7
Phone: 604-278-0111
Website: www.peacemennonite.ca
Denominational Affiliations:
Conference of Mennonites in British Columbia / Mennonite Church British Columbia(1981-present)
Conference of Mennonites in Canada / Mennonite Church Canada (1981-present)
General Conference Mennonite Church (1981-1999)
Peace Mennonite Church Leading Ministers
| Minister |
Years |
|---|---|
| Palmer Becker | 1980-1987 |
| Donavan Smucker (interim) |
1988 |
| Sven Eriksson | 1989-2002 |
| Tim Kuepfer | 2003-present |
Peace Mennonite Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1980 | 135 |
| 1985 | 221 |
| 1995 | 184 |
| 2000 | 198 |
| 2006 | 190 |
©1996-2008 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.
To cite this page:
MLA style: Epp, Marlene and Andrew Klager. "Peace Mennonite Church (Richmond, British Columbia, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. August 2007. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 09 July 2008 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/P4245.html>
APA style: Epp, Marlene and Andrew Klager. (August 2007). "Peace Mennonite Church (Richmond, British Columbia, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 09 July 2008 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/P4245.html>
