Personal tools
You are here: Home → Encyclopedia Index → Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO) → Main Centre Mennonite Brethren Church (Main Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada)

Main Centre Mennonite Brethren Church (Main Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada)

Main Centre MB Church
Main Centre MB Church
Source: Saskatchewan MB Conference website

The Main Centre Mennonite Brethren was founded in June 1904 by recently arrived settlers from Steinbach, Manitoba. Main Centre is located 50 km east-north-east of Swift Current, Saskatchewan, and just north of Herbert. It was founded by 15 charter members and began worship under the leadership of Benjamin Janz. The church met in Main Centre school until the construction of a church building in 1907, with subsequent building programs in 1922 and 1945. Main Centre was originally called the Bethel Mennonite Brethren Church.

The first baptism was held on 16 August 1905. In 1915 they hosted the North District Conference of the Mennonite Brethren (later known as the Canadian Conference). Membership peaked in 1937 at 239. The economic oppression of the Great Depression forced many farmer–members to move to British Columbia or to other, more fertile, parts of Saskatchewan.

Bibliography

The History of the Main Centre Mennonite Brethren Church, 1904-1979. 1979, 40 pp.

Mennonite Brethren Herald (27 May 1988): 62; (28 August 1992): 25.

Toews, John A. A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church: Pilgrims and Pioneers. Fresno, CA, 1975, 160.

Archival Records

Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies, Winnipeg, MB: Volume 592, Reel 45.

Additional Information

Mailing Address: Box 86, Main Centre SK S0H 2V0

Telephone: 306-784-3266.

Denominational Affiliations:

Saskatchewan Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches

Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches

General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches

Main Centre Mennonite Brethren Church Ministers

Minister
 Years
Benjamin Janz 1904–1915
Jacob D. Ewert 1906–1917
Johann P. Wiebe 1917–1923
Henry P. Janz 1924–1932
Jacob A. Martens 1924–1927
1929–1940
Klaas Ewert 1928
Nick P. Janz 1923–1935
1943–1950
Jacob F. Redekop 1932–1945
Abram P. Janz 1940-1941
Abram D. Rempel 1941-1943
John D. Goertzen 1943-1953
1954-1956
Johann Siemens 1953-1954
1956
1958-1961
Abram Goerz 1956-1958
Abram Siebert 1958
Rudy Heidebrecht 1960
David Epp 1961-1969
Edward Hamm 1969-1973
Alvin Penner 1973-1979
Murray Unruh 1980-1984
Reg Toews
  1986-1992
Ken Epp
 1992-present

Main Centre Mennonite Brethren Church Membership

Year
 Members
1965 102
1985 83
1994 68
2000 74
2010
 66

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 442. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

©1996-2013 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.

To cite this page:

MLA style: Regehr, Jacob I. and Marlene Epp. "Main Centre Mennonite Brethren Church (Main Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. August 2011. Web. 19 June 2013. http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/M345ME.html.

APA style: Regehr, Jacob I. and Marlene Epp. (August 2011). Main Centre Mennonite Brethren Church (Main Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 19 June 2013, from http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/M345ME.html.
Document Actions