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Elder David Dyck (1846-1933) and wife, Helene Rempel (1849-1941)
Elder David Dyck was born in Chortitza in 1846 and came to Marion County, KS, in 1876. Dyck studied at Rochester Theological Seminary (Baptist) in 1883 and then moved back to Kansas. In 1890 he was ordained by Elder Abram Schellenberg. After a brief period in Colorado (ca. 1892-1895), Dyck was commissioned to work in southern Manitoba and moved to the Winkler area in 1895 where he remained approximately eleven years. But as an itinerant evangelist he was actively helping the new Mennonite Brethren settlements in northern Saskatchewan and in 1910 he bought a farm in Brotherfeld, SK.
Elder David Dyck was the first moderator of the Northern (Canadian) District Conference and served in that capacity for 13 years.
A.D.
Anniversary of Saskatchewan Mennonite Brethren
This year marks the 100th anniversary of organized activity of Mennonite Brethren in Saskatchewan. On March 12 and 13, 1999 the Saskatchewan Mennonite Brethren celebrated the anniversary at their provincial convention at Waldheim, Saskatchewan. One hundred years ago, on 8 June, 1899, the first Mennonite Brethren Church was organized near Laird. The Laird congregation joined Waldheim when their own church was permanently closed in 1970. In 1988 the Brotherfield Mennonite Brethren Church also closed to join the Waldheim Church.
Mennonite Brethren began settling in the Laird area by around 1895. Some came from the United States, others from Manitoba, and still others directly from Russia. In 1897 Elder David Dyck, who had come to the Winkler-Gretna area from the United States around 1895, moved to Saskatchewan and devoted himself to organizing the scattered Mennonite Brethren families in the area. As a result a group organized in 1899 and immediately decided to build a church at a cost of $583.00 on land one mile south and 31/2 miles east of Laird. The building was dedicated in December and was called the
Ebenfeld Mennonite Brethren Church. It was apparently named after the Ebenfeld, Kansas Mennonite Brethren Church. Jacob Wiens was elected as the first leading minister of the congregation.
Before long (1902) the Bruderfeld (Brotherfield) congregation was organized about six miles west of Waldheim and in 1918 the Waldheim Church was begun. In 1909 the Ebenfeld Church was relocated to the town of Laird. Then, on December 18, 1909 the incorporation of the Mennonite Brethren of Saskatchewan received formal assent by the Saskatchewan Legislature. The first Saskatchewan convention after formal incorporation took place at the Ebenfeld Church on June 4, 1910. Coincidentally, that was also the first year of the Northern District Conference (which later became the Canadian Conference), and it met in Herbert on July 1 and 2, 1910. The next two conventions were also held in Saskatchewan – 1911 in Brotherfield and 1912 in Herbert.
A.D.
Mennonite Brethren Choir?
Can you help identify the date, the place, the group and the individuals in this choir photo taken between 1905-1915? At least two people are identified. In the second row, third from the left, a young man with a moustache, is Isaac Steingard (1883-1969), then of Lichtfelde, Molotschna and in the second row standing first on the right in a long white dress is Susan Klassen (later a Mrs. Harder).
Lichtfelde had a very prominent Mennonite Brethren Choir founded by Isaak Born (1853-1905), who compiled and published the series called Liederperlen, Is this photo from Lichtfelde? Please contact: CMBS, 169 Riverton Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R2L 2E5.
A.R.
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Last modified October 31, 2000.
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