Old Colony Church in Manitoba, 1875-2000

by Rev. Abraham E. Rempel

Editor's Note:

The Old Colony Mennonites who came to Manitoba from Russia in the 1870s were mostly from the Chortitza and Fürstenland Colonies. They were members of the Chortitza Flemish Church, whose Fürstenland affiliate had its own Ältester in Johann Wiebe. In church affiliation they were thus distinct from the Kleine Gemeinde (which had separated in the Molotschna Colony in 1812) and the Bergthaler, who had become a separate colony and Gemeinde in Russia in 1836.

In the 1920s the Reinländer (Old Colony) Church, with groups in Manitoba, Hague, and Swift Current) emigrated to Mexico. For a variety of reasons (such as the education question) not all went because some were willing to accommodate their thinking and compromise and so were able to justify staying in Manitoba. The group that remained in Manitoba took some time to reorganize. In the meantime many joined another local group, usually the Sommerfelder. The following article describes that new beginning.

Since the 1940s there has been much inter-Mennonite activity among many of the Manitoba groups, including the Old Colony Church. They have worked together with MCC, senior homes, hospitals, and local services. Few divisions have occurred. The Old Colony group has made an impact in Manitoba that is to be remembered.

Today there are seven Old Colony Congregations or Gemeinden in Canada. At the time of migration to Mexico in the 1920s there were three - one in Manitoba and two in Saskatchewan. Prior to the 1920s they were known as the Reinländer. The reorganized Gemeinde in 1936 was officially then the Old Colony Church.

The original Gemeinden prior to the 1920s were founded when the Mennonites migrated from New Russia to Manitoba in the 1870s. The Gemeinde in Manitoba was founded in 1875 under Ältester Johann Wiebe. The Hague-Osler Reserve Gemeinde as established in 1895 and the Swift Current Reserve Gemeinde in 1905. After the migration to Mexico in the 1920s only the Hague-Osler Reserve Gemeinde continued to officially exist. With the assistance of Ältester Hamm of the Bergthaler Church, Johann Loeppky of the Osler area was elected as their Ältester. This Gemeinde then became officially the Old Colony Mennonite Church.

In Manitoba the Old Colony meeting house in Reinland was sold to the Russländer Gemeinde as were most of the others. The only one remaining as an Old Colony meeting house was in the street village of Chortitz on the West Reserve. Only one third of the Old Colony members from Manitoba remained after the 1920s migration. There was tension between the Mexican and Manitoba groups. The Manitoba group did not have an Ältester.

Many Old Colony members in Manitoba worshipped with the Sommerfelder. Some ministers and Ältester returned from Mexico to hold services, serve communion, and urge them to migrate to Mexico as well. They also received visits from Ältester Johann Loeppky from Saskatchewan who held baptismal, wedding, and communion services in Manitoba. During these years meetings were held to explore reorganizing the church in Manitoba. On 25 June 1936 the first elections were held for church leaders in Manitoba presided by Ältester Johann Loeppky. Jacob Froese was ordained as minister and Peter Friesen as deacon Further elections were held in November 1936, June 1937, November 1937, January 1939, and March 1939. This reorganized Gemeinde was officially known as the Old Colony Mennonite Church of Manitoba.

There are four meeting houses in Manitoba. The original building in Chortitz, built in 1881 was used until 1967 when in was replaced. The original building was moved to the Steinbach Heritage Village. The other three meeting houses are in Rosetown, Blumenfeld, and Reinfeld.

The relations with the Gemeinde in Mexico remained difficult. The Manitoba Gemeinde was willing to work with the Mexican group but the Mexico group was not as interested. Mexico members who moved back to Manitoba were not released from membership so that they could transfer their membership to the Manitoba Gemeinde. The Manitoba Gemeinde accepted these individuals on the basis of their faith confession. Often these individuals were "im Utschluss" because they had used rubber tires. The Manitoba Gemeinde did not recognize this as valid. Letters were written to Mexico on the matter but no response was forthcoming. Since then some colonies in Mexico have become more understanding, have allowed the use of rubber tires, and so relations have improved with the Gemeinde in Manitoba. To date no Old Colony minister from Manitoba has preached in an Old Colony meeting house in Mexico. However, on an individual basis, relations have improved. I have sat with the ministers at funerals in Mexico and have held several services in the Altenheim by Cuahtemoc.

In closing I would like to say that I think we must give credit to our forefathers. They endured hardships and trials in their efforts to keep the faith, and to stay separate from the world.

May God grant that as we look at the past we may see the good that has been done, that we may treasure the heritage left to us and build on these foundations that other have laid.

125^th West Reserve Celebration Acknowledgements

by Lawrence Klippenstein

The main events of the 125^th anniversary celebrations for the West Reserve have now been completed. These events would not have happened without the help of a large number of supporters and volunteers, and we want to acknowledge them for the readers of this newsletter. A list of those giving special assistance follows below.

The Fort Dufferin event, 16 July 2000

The KOA Camp near Fort Dufferin for providing picnic tables, Sun Valley Co-op for helping with seating in the tent, CBC and especially CFAM/CHSM for giving air time, the Chortitz Christian Academy for the tent, the town of Emerson with Mayor Wayne Arseny and the Post Road Heritage Society with Dick Remus for helping to prepare the grounds, Jerry Friesen of Neubergthal for offering platform facilities, the Altona Male Quartet for bringing a piano, Wilmer Penner for scripting the drama, Ken Braun for bringing some extra tents, all those who took part in the programme, especially the drama group led by Henry G. Ens and Wes Hamm, Mary Sawatzky for bringing out a catering group from Lowe Farm to provide a faspa (light lunch), the ushers in the tent and on the grounds directed by Corny Driedger and Dick Hildebrand, and many volunteers to fill in the gaps.

The Post Road Memorial Trail Inaugural Tour

The brochure text written by Conrad Stoesz, designing and art work by Olga Krahn (OK Signs and Art), of Altona, Ens Farms Limited for mounting posts, Bill Rempel fo Winkler for helping to build the lecterns, Bill Reimer (RM of Stanley Councillor) and John Falk (RM of Rhineland Reeve) for helping to locate lectern sites and establish a trail route, Sun Valley Co-op and Canadian Lumber (Morden, Winkler, and Altona) for donating posts, Chris Werner of Winnipeg for providing a map for the brochure, Dick Janzen (Southman Printing) of Winkler for printing the brochures and the lectern texts, Bob Marshall and Bernie Neufeld of Beaver Bus Lines for driving our buses, the women's group of Reinland for serving a delicious noon meal, Henry G. Ens of Reinland for supervising facilities maintenance, etc. all along the tour, Martha Martens for delicious cookies to end with a snack, and again, many volunteers to add what was still needed.

A warm thanks to you all. We hope it was worth your while. Tell others about what you experienced and bring them int the programmes of the Society!