2024 and 2025 marked the 150th anniversaries of Mennonite communities in Manitoba and in this season of Still Speaking, host Conrad Stoesz from the Mennonite Heritage Archives is sharing true historical stories around this theme.
Episode 8 of Still Speaking season three covers the construction of the first ever "Reinland Mennonite Church", it was the second thing Mennonites built after their initial shelters, enjoy the story below:
“The second building they built was a church. For the Mennonites who landed at Fort Dufferin in 1875 a mile north of Emerson, the first concern was shelter. They built huts called “Semlins” out of the prairie sod and grasses. They next decided to construct a church.
This group called themselves the Reinland Mennonite Church and Johan Wiebe was the Bishop, and Isaac Mueller was the “Oberschulz” or Reeve of the area. Building a central place to gather and worship was important. The leadership described this move to Manitoba as a religious renewal movement. It was decided that the first church we built in the central village of Reinland, solidifying the importance of this village in the Mennonite community. The immigrants had a renewed focus on the importance of community and would be the community that would come together to build the church. On January the 24th, 1876, about six months after arriving in Manitoba, leaders gathered in the home of Peter Wiens in Reinland and agreed to build a church. Six days later, Reeve Isaac Mueller sent a letter to all village mayors with instructions.”
Listen to the rest of the story on Episode 8 of Sill Speaking, season three:
Still Speaking airs every Tuesday and Thursday at 9:15am during the Morning Show, and every Saturday afternoon at 12:15pm.
