Fort Garry Mennonite Brethren Church (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)
The Fort Garry Mennonite Brethren Church is, in a sense, a granddaughter church. Its forebears were the Gospel Light Mission on Logan Avenue and the Fort Rouge Mennonite Brethren Church on the corner of Arbuthnot and MacMillan. In 1953 a group of Mennonite Brethren Bible College students began an inner city Sunday school ministry on Logan Avenue, which grew to the point where in 1956 they established the Gospel Light Mission, with a charter membership of 30, under the founding leadership of John M. Schmidt. Cosponsoring the church was the South End Mennonite Brethren Church. This group soon outgrew its facilities and began to look for a larger sanctuary. On 9 August 1959 this young congregation began services in an old vacated church building on the corner of Arbuthnot and MacMillan, in the Fort Rouge area, and became the Fort Rouge Mennonite Brethren Church. Pastoral leaders during this period were David Nickel (1959-1960), Jacob J. Toews (1960-1962) and John M. Schmidt (1962-1963). The years at Fort Rouge were preoccupied with finding a location on which to build a new church and recruiting a permanent pastor. In 1963 a site was selected at 1771 Pembina Highway, near the University of Manitoba, and John Wall was called as the founding pastor. The name of the church then changed again to the Fort Garry Mennonite Brethren Church. Construction began on 12 June 1963 and the church was dedicated on 8 December 1963.
In the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s most Mennonite churches in Winnipeg were struggling with the transition from the German to the English language in their ministries. Divisions on this issue also ran deep in many Mennonite Brethren churches. A primary feature of the Fort Rouge, and later the Fort Garry MB church, was that only English would be the language of discourse. Language was not to be a divisive issue in the church. In the eyes of many this was a radical move, if not indeed touching on theological unfaithfulness, assuming, as some did, that God strongly favored the German language. Hence, in earlier years this congregation was viewed by some as innovative, if not marginal, when compared with the established Mennonite Brethren community.
The rationale for locating the church on Pembina Highway was twofold. First was accessibility. Increasingly people no longer walked but traveled to church by car, and therefore locating it on a main thoroughfare would be an attractive feature, as has been the case. Second, the lot on South Pembina Highway was close to the University of Manitoba. This feature offered students in general and youth from southern Manitoba a convenient place for fellowship and worship.
Since its inception the Fort Garry MB Church has held a special attraction for youth and students. Hence College and Career and youth ministries have always been a high priority. In later years, many of these men and women have served at home and abroad in Mennonite Central Committee, Mennonite Brethren Missions and Service International and other church-related ministries.
Although the congregation was spared the language struggles of earlier years, it did not escape the divisive issues related to worship style, especially the traditional versus contemporary approaches to church music. Over time a generally accepted compromise was found, without serious damage to church harmony and fellowship.
Since its inception the church has been affiliated with the Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba, the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches and the General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches. Its pastors and members have been active on many of the committees and boards of all three conferences.
Currently the congregation is well advanced in a consultative process to determine the best approach to expanding its ministries, either through enlargement of present facilities or daughtering one or more churches or a combination of both. The process continues.
On two occasions the congregation celebrated significant anniversaries with banquets and special services: on 26 November 1988 after 25 years of ministry and on 15 and 16 November 2003 following 40 years of God’s faithfulness.
The Fort Garry MB Church participated in the establishment of three other MB churches in Winnipeg. In 1979 several members from western Winnipeg joined the group that founded the Westwood Community MB Church; in 1978 Fort Garry daughtered the St. Vital MB Church and in 2003 the senior and associate pastors left Fort Garry with a sizeable group of members to establish the Faithworks MB Church in the River Heights area of the city.
Bibliography
Canadian Mennonite (9 December 1955): 1,3; (20 May 1960): 16; (10 December 1963): 4.
Klassen, Bill (William). “Fort Garry Mennonite Brethren Church: A Portrait.” Unpublished. 1984.
Mennonite Brethren Herald (27 May 1988): 45.
Mennonite Observer (24 July 1959): 12; (11 September 1959): 3.
Siemens, Leonard. “Fort Garry Mennonite Brethren Church: Celebrating its 25 th Anniversary on 20 November, 1988: A Historical Sketch.” Unpublished.
Archival Records
Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies, Winnipeg MB: Vols. 481-482, Reels 81-82.
Additional Information
Address: 1771 Pembina Highway, Winnipeg MB R3T 2G6
Phone: 204-269-5940
Website: Fort Garry Mennonite Brethren Church
Denominational Affiliations:
Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba
Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches
General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches
Fort Garry Mennonite Brethren Church Pastoral Leaders
| Minister | Years |
|---|---|
| John M. Schmidt | 1956-1959 |
| Dave Nikkel | 1959-1960 |
| Jacob J. Toews | 1960-1962 |
| John M. Schmidt | 1962-1963 |
| John Wall | 1963-1973 |
| Hugo Jantz | 1974-1977 |
| Herb Kopp | 1979-1984 |
| Dan Unrau | 1984-1992 |
| Gordon Stewert | 1992-1994 |
| Calvin Bergen | 1993-2002 |
| V. George Shillington (interim) | 2002-2003 |
| John Unger | 2004-2013 |
| Carl Heppner | 2013-present |
Fort Garry Mennonite Mennonite Church Membership*
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1965 | 198 |
| 1985 | 293 |
| 1995 | 321 |
| 2000 | 296 |
| 2004 | 310 |
| 2010 | 349 |
- Official membership numbers for various years are cited above. In some respects the generally low, static, numbers do not reflect reality. Through the years hundreds of young people made Fort Garry their temporary church home during their university years and then moved on. It was a highly transient membership and many attendees never became members. However, the official membership numbers appear above.
| Author(s) | Leonard Siemens |
|---|---|
| Date Published | January 2014 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Siemens, Leonard. "Fort Garry Mennonite Brethren Church (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. January 2014. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Fort_Garry_Mennonite_Brethren_Church_(Winnipeg,_Manitoba,_Canada)&oldid=170118.
APA style
Siemens, Leonard. (January 2014). Fort Garry Mennonite Brethren Church (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Fort_Garry_Mennonite_Brethren_Church_(Winnipeg,_Manitoba,_Canada)&oldid=170118.
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