Portage Avenue Church (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)
The Portage Avenue Church began services about 1930, and formally organized in 1936. In the 1920's, the only Mennonite Brethren church in Winnipeg was the North End Mennonite Brethren Church. This made traveling to the church difficult for the people living in the south end of Winnipeg. This group began to meet in their own part of town in a rented chapel. They then rented a second story room but moved after realizing that their neighbors were spiritualists. In 1933 the group purchased a building at 344 Ross Avenue. In 1936, the congregation became independent from the North End Mennonite Brethren Church and was officially accepted into the MB Conference. It was known as the South End Mennonite Brethren Church.
In 1940 the South End MB Church bought The former Wesley Methodist Church at William and Juno. In 1961 a new church was built on Portage Avenue at Raglan Road. P.J. Kornelson is considered the founding leader of the group. It was then known as the Portage Avenue Mennonite Brethren Church until September 2005, when "Mennonite Brethren" was dropped from the name.
In 1950 there were 279 members; in 1965, 477; in 1985, 667; in 1995, 483; in 2000, 428. The congregation has been affiliated with the Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba (1936-), Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (1936-) and the General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (1936-2002). The language of worship is English; the transition from German occurred in the 1950s.
The pastoral leaders of the church have included Peter J. Kornelsen (1936-1947), Henry H. Janzen (1947-1950), Jacob P. Neufeld (1950-1961), Henry R. Baerg (1962-1969), Henry H. Voth (1970-1980), Frank C. Peters (1980-1983), Abram J. Neufeld (1983-1986), Albert Baerg (1987-1990), Roland Marsch (1991-1997), Cliff Janzen (1998-1999), Claude Pratte (1999- ).
The church's address is 1420 Portage Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R3G 0W2. (204) 774-4414.
Bibliography
Canadian Mennonite (20 May 1960): 18; (15 September 1961): 10.
Mennonite Brethren Herald (27 May 1988): 43.
Toews, John A. A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church: Pilgrims and Pioneers. Fresno, CA, 1975: 162.
50th anniversary book.
Records at the church.
Additional Information
©1996-2008 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.
To cite this page:
MLA style: Neufeld, Herman and Marlene Epp. "Portage Avenue Church (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. February 1989. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 13 May 2008 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/P678ME.html>
APA style: Neufeld, Herman and Marlene Epp. (February 1989). "Portage Avenue Church (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 13 May 2008 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/P678ME.html>
