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Broadway Mennonite Brethren Church (Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada)Broadway Mennonite Brethren (MB) Church, located in Chilliwack, British Columbia, began as a daughter church of the East Chilliwack Mennonite Brethren Church. In the mid-1940s, the recently established East Chilliwack congregation was quickly experiencing overcrowding due to the large numbers of Mennonites moving to the Fraser Valley from the Canadian prairies. To relieve this situation, a group of urban members from East Chilliwack MB Church began holding their own services in the St. Thomas Anglican Hall near downtown Chilliwack. After meeting together for seven months, the new group decided to construct a new church building on the corner of Broadway and Maple. The building was completed and dedicated in 1947 and in the same year became a member of the British Columbia Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches. The congregation was referred to as the Chilliwack Mennonite Brethren Church, a name that changed to Broadway Mennonite Brethren Church in 1970. In 1969, the Broadway congregation decided to build a new structure on the same site. The congregation met at Little Mountain Elementary School until the new building was dedicated in early December of 1969. It had a seating capacity of 450 people. A new stage area, an enlarged foyer, a reconstructed balcony, and several other aesthetic changes were completed with volunteer labour in 1990. For several years, the Broadway church assisted in a church plant effort in the Sardis area. In 1975, nine families left the church to form the core of the work in Sardis Community Church. Jacob I. Bergen is considered the founding leader of the group, serving the church as lead minister from 1947 to 1958. Since this time the following ministers and pastors have served the congregation as leading ministers: Isaac H. Tiessen (1959–1963, first salaried minister), Henry Warkentin (1964–1974), John E. Friesen (1975–1978), David Neumann (1979-1981), Robert J. Friesen (1981–2000), Wilf Richert (2002–2003), and Gary Simpson (2004– ). Other ministers have included Peter S. Thiessen, Bernhard Epp, Herman Lenzmann and Gerhard G. Thielmann. BibliographyCanadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches: Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies. "Broadway Mennonite Brethren Church." (accessed 3 June 2006). http://www.mbconf.ca/mbstudies/holdings/bc/broadway.en.html. Canadian Mennonite (31 December 1969): 6. Mennonite Brethren Herald (27 May 1988): 26; (12 October 1990): 18. Additional InformationAddress: 46611 Maple Ave., Chilliwack, BC, V2P 2K3 Phone: 604-792-9147 Website: Broadway Church, Mennonite Brethren Denominational Affiliations: British Columbia Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (1947-present) Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (1947-present) General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches of North America (1947-2003) Broadway Church Pastors
©1996-2009 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved. To cite this page:MLA style: Friesen, Hugo and Richard D. Thiessen. "Broadway Mennonite Brethren Church (Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. June 2006. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 07 January 2009 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/B7633.html> APA style: Friesen, Hugo and Richard D. Thiessen. (June 2006). "Broadway Mennonite Brethren Church (Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 07 January 2009 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/B7633.html> Document Actions |
