Eben-Ezer Mennonite Church (Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada)

Eben-Ezer Mennonite Church, Abbotsford, BC
Source: D. Giesbrecht

The influx of German-speaking families from Europe and Paraguay in the post-World War II years brought into focus different language needs among the Mennonites in British Columbia. Whereas the West Abbotsford Mennonite Church was moving towards more use of English to accommodate acculturation, the new immigrants and others still preferred to use German. Other cultural issues, personalities and leadership styles were also present. On 24 January 1963, 52 members of the West Abbotsford congregation formed a new congregation, ministering in the German language. Jake Tilitzky, a minister in the West Abbotsford congregation, was called to be the leading minister (his wife, Erna, served for years as pianist and choir leader), while another minister, Henry Neudorf, was asked to serve as assistant minister. Land was purchased at the corner of Windsor and Marshall near West Abbotsford church, a sod turning ceremony was held on 27 February 1963, and the building was dedicated on 14 July of that year. They named it Eben-Ezer Mennonite Church (Eben-Ezer means the Stone of Help).

The 52 charter members grew to 146 in the first year. The numbers increased to about 500 by 1980. Facilities were added as required: an education wing in 1964, an enlarged sanctuary in 1970, and a gym in 1983.

In the early years, the leading minister also was the chairperson of the congregation. That changed in the mid-1970s when the congregation elected a separate chairman. Other organizational changes followed as needed. As the numbers grew, so, too, did the ministries: children, youth, and, of course, adults. This increased the need for more and more volunteer church workers.

Pastoral ministries at Eben-Ezer have changed over the years. For the first 14 years, the congregation had one salaried pastor and a paid part-time custodian. The paid office secretary came much later. Much of the care-giving was entrusted to the deacons who were elected for an open-ended term, and to the lay ministers who joined the church over the years. Later on, the congregation added paid staff for various ministries such as youth, music and worship, and the elderly. Eben-Ezer has never called a lead pastor out of its own midst.

Since its beginnings, Eben-Ezer has had a dominant immigrant character; in 2011 the congregation remains 99% Caucasian. The charter members were immigrants with a close European or even Latin American connection. The membership above the age of sixty has increased significantly from about 17% in the first three years compared to 65% in the last three years. Numerical growth has been mainly due to baptisms, urban migration of people who prefer a traditional style of worship, and new immigrants.

In recent years, German speaking young families from Paraguay have made Eben-Ezer their spiritual home. At the congregational as well as many personal levels, there are strong ties between Eben-Ezer and Mennonites in Latin America. The current pastor, Artur Bergen – born and raised in Paraguay, has been serving Eben-Ezer since 2003.

Over the years, the congregation has experimented with different styles of Sunday Services. In 2011, services were integrated - a bilingual and inter-generational worship time, followed by Sunday school for children and youth, and separate English and German messages for adults.

The surrounding culture forced upon the congregation the very same challenges they could not face back in 1963. In 1978 some 40 members announced that they were ready to start an English-language congregation. This group formed what was to become the Emmanuel Mennonite Church in 1981. The departure of Emmanuel members underscored the need for the mother church to make some significant allowance for the remaining younger members in terms of the Sunday Worship services. About five years later, after some heart-wrenching processes, Eben-Ezer decided to offer separate German and English services. The occasional joint services had a distinctly bilingual flavor.

The children of the 1980s became parents at the turn of the 21st century. A reluctance or a failure to learn from the experiences of 1978, complicated by personalities and diverse understanding of the nature and governance of Eben-Ezer as well as the emphasis on local mission generated internal tensions. When in 2003 the English Ministries Pastor was not asked to serve another term, many felt thwarted and most of the families with children, including some grandparents, saw no choice but to go. They started the East Abbotsford Community Church.

In the late 1970s refugees from Indochina came to Canada. Eben-Ezer sponsored about a dozen Laotian families (48 people). Members of the congregation offered to help materially, socially, and spiritually. Some of these Laotians eventually formed the Lao Christian Church which is still using Eben-Ezer’s facilities to this day. Refugees from other countries have also been sponsored by the congregation.

In 2013 Eben-Ezer Mennonite Church celebrated its 50th anniversary.

On 29 November 2016, the congregation voted to no longer affiliate with Mennonite Church Canada after the national church passed the Being a Faithful Church 7 recommendation earlier that year.

Eben-Ezer has been a strong supporter of Mennonite organizations such as Conferences, Mennonite Central Committee, the Mennonite Benevolent Society, Columbia Bible College, and, until a few years ago, Mennonite Educational Institute. Eben-Ezer Mennonite continues to be a dynamic, bilingual church in the truest and literal sense of the word.

Bibliography

Canadian Mennonite (6 August 1963): 9.

Churches in Profile. Clearbrook, BC: Conference of Mennonites in British Columbia, 1978: 41-45.

Eben-Ezer – 1963-1988. Abbotsford, BC: Eben-Ezer Mennonite Church, 1988.

Eben-Ezer Mennoniten Gemeinde. Abbotsford, B.C.: Eben-Ezer Mennonite Church, 1978, 79 pp.

Mennonite Reporter (31 May 1976): 14.

Unpublished history, 1978, 36 pp. Mennonite Heritage Centre.

Additional Information

Address: 2051 Windsor St., Abbotsford, BC  V2T 6L9

Phone: 604-850-8422

Website: Eben-Ezer Mennonite Church

Denominational Affiliations:

Conference of Mennonites in British Columbia / Mennonite Church British Columbia (1964-present)

Conference of Mennonites in Canada / Mennonite Church Canada (1964-2016)

General Conference Mennonite Church (1965-1999).

Eben-Ezer Mennonite Church Leading Ministers

Minister	Years
Jacob Tilitzky	1963-1977
Bruno Epp	1977-1981
Arnold Fast (interim)	1981-1982
Jacob Tilitzky	1982-1991
Abe Buhler (interim)	1991-1992
Henry Dueck	1992-1996
John Unrau	1996-1999
Abe Buhler (interim)	1999
David Hobson	2000-2003
Artur Bergen	2003-present

Eben-Ezer Mennonite Church Membership

Years	Members
1963	146
1965	189
1970	287
1975	379
1980	505
1985	419
1990	467
1995	500
2000	467
2005	411
2010	375
2015	293

Maps

Map:Eben-Ezer Mennonite Church, Abbotsford, BC

Author(s)	Peter Sawatzky
Date Published	February 2016

Cite This Article

MLA style

Sawatzky, Peter. "Eben-Ezer Mennonite Church (Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. February 2016. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Eben-Ezer_Mennonite_Church_(Abbotsford,_British_Columbia,_Canada)&oldid=142408.

APA style

Sawatzky, Peter. (February 2016). Eben-Ezer Mennonite Church (Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Eben-Ezer_Mennonite_Church_(Abbotsford,_British_Columbia,_Canada)&oldid=142408.

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