Western Gospel Mission, an inter-denominational undertaking, was organized in early 1944 by mem­bers of the Prairie Rose Evangelical Mennonite Church (Evangelical Mennonite Conference [EMC]) near Steinbach, Manitoba. In June 1946 it was reorganized when three congregations of the Evangelical Mennonite Church -- Steinbach, Kleefeld, and Prairie Rose -- united in the project. Four years later, because of the great needs and many open doors, other groups of evangelical Christians were invited to take part. Incorporated in 1956, with a federal charter, it operated in three of the ten Canadian provinces -- Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Ontario, with headquarters in Steinbach, Manitoba. The work was carried on from seven main stations, from which resident missionaries operate the outstations. The main stations at Weekes, Canora, Kamsack, Wynyard, Pelly, and Danbury in Saskatchewan also served Mozart, Neely Lake, Haglof, Veregin, White Beech, Stenen, and Arabella. In Manitoba, Dominion City, Grand Marais, and Mafeking were main stations serving also Victoria Beach, Beaconia, Falcon Beach, Roseau Indian Reserve, Balsam Bay, Baden, Bellsite, and Noora. In Ontario a work was started early in 1958 at Kenora.

The purpose of the mission was to bring the Gospel into the neglected areas of Can­ada. The aim was to establish indigenous Sunday schools and churches as soon as possible. The board of directors of eleven members, three from the Rudnerweide Mennonite Church (now Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference [EMMC]) and eight from the Evangelical Mennonite Church, were chosen by the board themselves, except for the three founding churches which elected their own representatives. Since 1957 the mission published a 6-page Bul­letin. 

In 1960 the two conferences mutually decided to divide the fields. Dominion City, Wynyard, Grand Marias and the Indian reserve went into the EMMC. Danbury, Weekes, Pelly, Canora, Kamsack and Mafeking joined the EMC. The division took effect on 1 March 1961, and the mission closed.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, pp. 933-934. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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