First United Mennonite Church, Vancouver BC Source: Belinda Rempel

By the early 1930s, Mennonites were moving from rural areas to Vancouver. The leadership of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada decided to send Elder Jacob H. Janzen from Ontario to Vancouver in 1935 to help organize a Mennonite congregation in the city. Jacob and his wife Elisabeth also helped to establish the Mary Martha Girls' Home to assist young Mennonite women who had in many cases been sent by their families to the city to earn income for the family. Services began in 1935, and the First United Mennonite Church was formally organized in 1937 with 11 charter members. The first building was occupied in 1937, with subsequent building programs in 1954 and 1969 to accommodate the significant influx of post World War II immigrants from Europe and South America. The congregation grew from 95 members in 1950 to 160 in 1951, 207 in 1954, 315 in 1956, 353 in 1957, 404 in 1958, 471 in 1959, and 568 in 1965.

First United Mennonite Church (FUMC) is the parent church to Mountainview Mennonite (formerly Vancouver Mennonite Mission), founded in 1952, Prince of Peace Mennonite in Richmond, founded in 1961, and Sherbrooke Mennonite, founded in 1965. All three daughter congregations received both members and financial support from FUMC. First United Mennonite and Sherbrooke operated as one until 1968 when the latter became fully independent.

Membership reached over 600 members in both the 1960s and the 1970s before a decline in membership set in, due to the movement of many members to other areas in the Fraser Valley. Beginning in the 1980s, a number of immigrant ethnic groups began moving into the church's neighborhood. By the 1990s a ministry began with Spanish-speaking immigrants, resulting in the formation of the First United Spanish Mennonite Church in 1995.

Bibliography

Additional Information

Address: 659 East 52nd Avenue, Vancouver, BC  V5X 1G8

Phone: 604-321-2131

Website: First United Mennonite Church

Denominational Affiliations:

Conference of Mennonites in British Columbia / Mennonite Church British Columbia (1936-present)

Conference of Mennonites in Canada / Mennonite Church Canada (1937-present)

General Conference Mennonite Church (1938-1999)

First United Mennonite Church Ministers

First United Mennonite Church Membership

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