Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Sterling Mennonite Fellowship (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
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Description area
Dates of existence
1958-
History
The Sterling Mennonite Fellowship in Winnipeg, Manitoba began services in 1951, and formally organized in 1958. The first building was occupied in 1956, with subsequent building programs in 1969 and 1981. Frank J. Dyck is considered the founding leader of the group. The congregation originated through urbanization from rural Manitoba.
The group was known as St. Vital Mennonite Mission until its formal organization in 1958. It was a city mission begun as a joint effort of the Sommerfelder, Rudnerweider, and Bergthaler churches and with outreach of students from Canadian Mennonite Bible College. Two fellowship groups which met in the homes of Corny Derksen and Jake Derksen decided to rent the Greendale hall in St. Vital for the purpose of establishing a mission church. Ministers D. D. Schulz and D. D. Klassen helped advise and organize the group in 1952.
The congregation met in the church building at 18 Sterling Avenue until the end of March 1970, when a new building was completed at St. Mary's Road and Marvin Place. Their name was then changed to "Sterling Mennonite Fellowship", which it retained when it moved to yet another new building in 1980 at 1008 Dakota Street at Nova Vista Drive.
The language of worship is English and German; the transition from German occurred in the 1950s.
The leaders of the congregation were: Henry T. Klassen (1958-1963), Rev. Jacob W. Schmidt (1963-1968), Rev. David Letkemann (1968-1969), Rev. John F. Wiebe (1969-1973), Helmut Rauser (1975-1976), Gary Loewen (1977-1978), Don MacBurney (1979-1980), Gary Martens (1979-1984), Erwin Wiebe (1984-1986), and Norm Voth (1988-2000), John B. Wiebe (2001-2007), Ed Cornelson (2007-2009), Terry Goertzen (2009-2014), and Moses Falco (2015-).
Places
1008 Dakota St., Winnipeg, Manitoba Co-ordinates 49.82444 -97.1025
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Sterling Mennonite Fellowship (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
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Sources
Epp, Marlene. Sterling Mennonite Fellowship (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. February 1989. Web. 24 Mar 2020.