Fonds 52 - Oliver Mennonite Brethren Church fonds

Prior to 1944, Mennonite Brethren Church members had moved into the Okanagan Valley with some settling in the Oliver area but often maintaining membership in the Kelowna Mennonite Brethren Church. In 1944 the West Coast Children’s Mission sent Peter P. Neufeldt and Abe J. Sawatzky to Oliver to conduct summer Bible school with these efforts continuing during the ensuing summers. In May 1950 the British Columbia Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches accepted the Oliver group as a mission station under the auspices of the West Coast Children's Mission (WCCM), and named it the Oliver Gospel Chapel. The first leader of this group was Jake A. Froese and they met in a building that had been purchased one-half mile south of Oliver. The early work involved an emphasis on Sunday School, which had an attendance of 50 children, and Summer Bible School with around 100 children in 1954.

Eventually the congregation purchased a different building which was renovated and dedicated in 1956. In 1964, the mission became the Oliver Mennonite Brethren Church. The church decided to dissolve in February 1970. (GAMEO)