Schoenwiese Mennonite Church group (Manitoba)

The Schoenwiese Mennonite Church (Schoenwieser Mennoniten Gemeinde von Manitoba) began in 1926 when the Elder Johann Peter Klassen, the former Elder (Ältester) of the Kronsweide Mennonite Church in the Soviet Union moved to Starbuck, Manitoba and helped organize the Mennonite worshiping group that had been meeting in various locations since 1924. The name was chosen in honour of Klassen’s home village, Schönwiese, in the Chortitza Mennonite Settlement. This church became a member of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada in 1926.

In 1927 Johann P. Klassen moved to Winnipeg. There a group of Mennonite immigrants soon also agreed to be part of the Schoenwieser Gemeinde (eventually named First Mennonite Church). The Schoenwiese Church grew and expanded in membership and geographic scope, as Aeltester Klassen, with support of the General Conference Mennonite Church, visited the widely scattered immigrant groups along the railway between Winnipeg and the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border. Klassen organized churches and groups as affiliate-congregations of the Schoenwiese Mennonite Church of Manitoba. By 1931 the church had 15 congregations and was led by Johann P. Klassen, who was assisted by 21 ministers. The church had 666 congregational members, a total of 1,470 members and adherents, and 298 families.

The entire area covered by the Schoenwiese church was divided into seven regions with up to 37 meeting places in a given year. Worship services took place in homes, schools, and rental spaces. As local groups grew in strength and numbers, they constructed their own church building and eventually become independent churches. As local groups diminished in strength and numbers, and as it became possible to travel greater distances with better roads and automobiles, worship services were discontinued and remaining members would join another worshiping group.

The worship groups in the southwest region became independent in 1939 as the Springstein Mennonite Church. In the near west region, the group at Pigeon Lake became independent in 1939 and chose the name Schoenfelder Mennonite Church. In the far west region, the Rivers group became an affiliate-congregation of the Whitewater Mennonite Church in 1939, and independent in the late 1960s when the Whitewater Church decentralized. In the southern region, Glenlea Mennonite Church chose independence in 1945 and the Graysville Mennonite Church joined the Bergthaler Mennonite Church of Manitoba in 1953. A group in the Morris, Stuartburn, and Gardenton areas, at their highest point, built a church in Morris during the 1940s, but by 1968 this group had dissolved. In the southeast region, there was a Schoenwiese group which led to the founding of Steinbach Mennonite Church in 1936, and the Niverville Mennonite Church which became independent from the Schoenwiese church in 1944. In the Winnipeg region, First Mennonite Church was the city’s first and largest General Conference church, and also the place where the bishop resided. North Kildonan Mennonite Church, which lay on the outskirts of Winnipeg in 1929, was a Schoenwieser congregation until it became independent in 1956. The worshipping groups in the northern region, Stonewall and Petersfield eventually dwindled as people moved away or joined First Mennonite in Winnipeg. The Oak Lake Mennonite Church in western Manitoba was the last Schoenwiese congregation to become independent in 1974.

First Mennonite Church (Winnipeg) can be seen both as the successor to the Schoenwiese Mennonite Church of Manitoba, and as the "mother church" for the congregations which grew and became independent.

Bibliography

Ens, Anna. In Search of Unity: Story of the Conference of Mennonites in Manitoba. Winnipeg: CMBC Publications, 1996.

Klassen, Is. Dem Herrn die Ehre: Schoenwieser Mennoniten Gemeinde von Manitoba, 1924-1968. Altona, MB: The Conference, 1969.

Konferenz-Bericht der 26. Konferenz der Mennoniten im mittleren Canada, abgehalten in Rosthern, Sask., den 2., 3. end 4. Juli 1928.

Additional Information

Schoenwiese Mennonite Settlement groups (with the number of families in some of the locations)

Southwest region	Starbuck 6; Springstein 25, Oak Bluff 13; Culross; Elm Creek; Fannystelle 31.
Near West region	Pigeon Lake 19; Headingly 9; Elie 11; Meadows 7; Marquette; High Bluff; Westbourne 2.
Far West region	Foxwarren 25; Birtle; McAuley 23; Willen; Manson; Fleming; Kirkella1 13; Kenton 35; Elkhorn; Virden; Routledge; Oak Lake; Griswold; Alexander 25; Rivers 13; Wheatland.
Southern region	Sperling 18; Graysville 3; Glenlea; St. Adolphe 24; Morris 16; Stuartburn; Gardenton 8.
Southeast region	Steinbach 61; Niverville 72; Ste. Anne 17; Lorette 7; Prairie Rose
Winnipeg region	Winnipeg (First Mennonite) 280; North Kildonan 79; Brooklands; Kirkfield Park
Northern region	Stonewall; Petersfield

Bishops and Ministers that served the Schoenwiese Mennonte Church of Manitoba

Role	Name	Life Dates	Service Dates	Served in	Year of Ordination or Election
Aeltester	Klassen, Johann P.	1868-1947	1926-1939
Aeltester	Loewen, Daniel	1872-1951		Winnipeg	1936
Minister	Schulz, Jakob J.	1891-1958		Winnipeg	1936
Minister	Rogalsky, Johann	1888-1961		Glenlea	1931
Minister	Friesen, John	1889-1955		Glenlea	1931
Minister	Braun, Johann	1882-1956		Niverville	1911
Minister	Klassen, Jakob	1893-1964		Niverville	1931
Minister	Olfert, Abraham	1872-1936		Sperling	1912
Minister	Baerg, Jakob	1868-1949		McAuley	1900
Minister	Wiens, Abraham	1890-1929		McAuley
Minister	Pankratz, Jakob	1901-1962		Glenlea	1926
Minister	Driedger, Johann	1872-1957	1925-1957	Pigeon Lake	1909
Minister	Schroeder, Johannes	1872-1965		Winnipeg	1906
Aeltester	Abrahams, David	1894-1966		Pigeon Lake	1928; 1942
Minister	Reimer, Peter	1884-1962		Ste. Anne; Steinbach	1924
Aeltester	Koop, Dietrich	1886-1944		Niverville	1930; 1941
Minister	Penner, Peter	1885-1945		Oak Lake
Minister	Thiessen, Johann	1883-1951		Rivers; Niverville	1930
Minister	Schulz, Peter	1868-1944		Oak Lake	1908
Minister	Niebuhr, Abram	1893-1949		Oak Lake
Minister	Giesbrecht, Gerhard	1878-1940		Stonewall
Aeltester	Wiebe, Jakob	1899-	1964-		1964
Aeltester	Martens, Wilhelm	1892-	1963-	Winnipeg	1919
Aeltester	Enns, Johann Hermann	1889-	1932-1964	Winnipeg	1924
Minister	Klassen, Isaak	1899-	1944-	Winnipeg	1944
Minister	Peters, Cornelius	1888-	1931-	Glenlea	1921
Minister	Sawatzky, Jakob	1924-	1955-	Oak Lake	1955
Minister	Schroeder, Alfred	1925-	1961	Winnipeg	1961
Minister	Sawatzky, Jakob	1927-	1961	Winnipeg	1961
Minister	Vogt, Reinhard "Roy"	1934-		Winnipeg
Minister	Janzen, Waldemar	1932-		Winnipeg
Minister	Neufeld, John Hermann	1933-	1969-	Winnipeg
Bishops and ministers who served and went to serve another church
Aeltester	Enns, Wilhelm	1895-1974		Pigeon Lake; Springstein	1928; 1941
Minister	Letkemann, Franz	1898-1986		Graysville; Bergthaler	1945
Minister	Enns, Jakob	1914-2007		Oak Lake; Black Creek, BC	1955
Minister	Goerz, Heinrich	1890-1972		Winnipeg; Vancouver	1921
Minister	Dirks, Peter	1891-1970		Winnipeg; Niagara
Aeltester	Schroeder, Victor	1897-1969		Winnipeg; Pigeon Lake; North Kildonan	1929
Minister	Hausknecht, David	1898-		Niverville; Greendale, BC	1931
Minister	Penner, Isaak	1890-1972		Starbuck; Springstein; West Abbotsford	1936
Minister	Tiessen, Isaak	1902-1983		Oak Lake; Blumenorter
Minister	Baerg, Jakob	1890-1978		McAuley; BC	1929

Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article

The Schoenwiese Mennonite Church (Schönwiese Mennoniten Gemeinde) was part of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada, and merged into the Conference of Mennonites in Manitoba. When the Mennonite refugees from the Soviet Union came to Canada in 1923, Elder Johann Peter Klassen of Schönwiese in Ukraine gathered 22 new Mennonite settlements in Manitoba into one church, which was first called the Starbuck Mennonite Church, but changed to Schoenwiese in 1929.

In 1931 the church had 15 congregations and was led by Elder Johann P. Klassen, who was assisted by 21 ministers. The church had 666 congregational members, a total of 1,470 members and adherents, and 298 families.

The Schoenwiese congregation expanded to Springstein (1939), Schoenfeld (1939), Steinbach (1942, in part from other congregations), Niverville (1944), Glenlea (1945) and North Kildonan (1956).

In 1958 the Schoenwiese Mennonite Church consisted of First Mennonite Church (Winnipeg) (1,026 members); Oak Lake (75 members); Petersfield (17 members); Steinbach (24 members) and scattered membership of 135. The elder in 1958 was Johann Hermann Enns. -- John H. Enns, Vol. 4, p. 471.

Author(s)	Alf Redekopp
Date Published	November 2015

Cite This Article

MLA style

Redekopp, Alf. "Schoenwiese Mennonite Church group (Manitoba)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. November 2015. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Schoenwiese_Mennonite_Church_group_(Manitoba)&oldid=136035.

APA style

Redekopp, Alf. (November 2015). Schoenwiese Mennonite Church group (Manitoba). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Schoenwiese_Mennonite_Church_group_(Manitoba)&oldid=136035.

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