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Centre for MB Studies news
This year marks the 125th anniversary of the founding of the West Reserve in Manitoba. The first wave of migration of Russian Mennonites to southern Manitoba began in 1874, when a large group settled in the East Reserve (near present-day Steinbach), and a year later a settlement began west of the Red River (Altona-Winkler areas). A number of celebrations and other activities are scheduled for the West Reserve areas in the coming months.
Mennonite Brethren were not among the first settlers in Manitoba. The Mennonite Brethren Church had only begun in Russia a short period earlier (1860) and a relatively small number were among the first settlers in the mid-western states (Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, and the Dakotas). Thus this year’s anniversary does not relate directly to the Mennonite Brethren Church.
Many Mennonite Brethren in Manitoba do trace their family origins to this group of settlers even though they were not Mennonite Brethren at the time. In Russia Mennonite Brethren obviously sought to win converts to their church from their fellow Mennonites. Although this proselytization was understandably often deeply resented, the Mennonite Brethren believed that many members of other Mennonite groups were in need of spiritual awakening and felt an obligation to minister to them.
Not surprisingly, therefore, Mennonite Brethren in the United States soon began to look north to the Mennonite settlements in Manitoba as places for a potentially fruitful ministry. At the fourth annual convention in 1882 in Kansas a delegate raised the possibility of beginning a ministry in Canada. At the next convention in Nebraska, two ministers, Heinrich Voth from Minnesota and David Dyck from Kansas, were commissioned to
investigate the situation. The two ministers arrived in southern Manitoba in June, 1884, stopping in Reinland, Hoffnungsfeld, Blumstein and Burwalde. They met with believers and also conducted services in several homes.
After they reported to the convention in Minnesota in 1885, the Conference decided to establish an active missionary program in Manitoba. Voth was commissioned for the work. During the next three years Voth made numerous visits to the West Reserve and gradually won more and more followers. Among the first converts were Jacob and Anna Banman who were also soon baptized together with another couple. By 1888 Canada’s first Mennonite Brethren Church was organized at Burwalde and a church building was completed in 1889. The original church remained at Burwalde until 1897 when it was relocated to Winkler. But it had already become too small and in the same year a new structure was begun. The old Burwalde church continued to be used as a kitchen and dining hall adjacent to the new structure.
In addition to the Winkler congregation, two daughter congregations were organized in the early years – one at Grossweide north of Plum Coulee and one at Kronsgart, north-east of Winkler. The membership remained fairly small having reached only 324 by 1924. But then a large influx of new immigrants began to arrive from the Soviet Union which increased the Winkler membership dramatically and also led to the organization of many new congregations in southern Manitoba. A Bible school (Peniel, or Winkler Bible School) was founded in 1925. For the next decade or so Winkler was probably the leading Mennonite Brethren congregation in Canada.
Heinrich and Saara Voth Family Reunion
Coincidentally, with the West Reserve anniversary the Voth Family is celebrating a reunion at the Westside Community Church (MB) in Morden from June 30 to July 3, 2000. Extensive preparations for this event have been underway for some time. The latest newsletter indicates that there are about 500 “Grandkids” of Heinrich and Saara Voth, many of whom are actually “great-great-grandkids” and at least one a “great-great-great-great-grandkid.” A variety of activities are being planned and displays will include items from the Voth collection at CMBS (Voth’s glasses, clerical collar, etc.) and many photographs from CMBS and others held by members of the Voth family. The Centre also has one tape of a sermon by Heinrich S. Voth, the son of Elder Heinrich Voth, who was also a leader of the Winkler Mennonite Brethren Church.
Student Appointed for Summer Assistance
As in previous years, the Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies has appointed a student under the Career Placement program of Human Resources Development Canada. Sheila Wright began work on June 1 and will perform a variety of tasks, including entering the data for the statistics that are compiled annually for the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches. Sheila is a member of the Westwood Community Church (MB), a graduate of the Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute, and attended the School of Discipleship of Concord College in 1999-2000. She plans to enrol at Concord College as part of the Canadian Mennonite University in 2000-2001.
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Last modified October 30, 2000.
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