Accession 2010.030, 2012.011 (filed with 2012.035), 2012.035 (filed separately) and 2022.017 (filed with 2010.030), 2023.011 (filed separately).
Title and Physical Description
Coaldale Mennonite Brethren Church collection. — 1949-1986. — 8 cm of textual records
Administrative History
Coaldale Mennonite Brethren Church was founded in 1926 in Coaldale, Alberta. The first church was built in 1928, and it was enlarged in 1929 and 1932. By 1939 it was replaced by a larger structure with a seating capacity of 1000. The congregation declined in size in the 1950s and 1960s and moved into a new building in 1971. The 1939 church building was used by a business from 1973 to 1995, and it then became the Gem of the West Museum, operated by volunteers under the supervision of the Town of Coaldale. At its peak, the congregation was an important institution in the town. Its members founded the Coaldale Bible School in 1929, Coaldale Hospital in 1934, and Alberta Mennonite High School in 1946. The language of worship transitioned from German to English in the 1960s.
Custorial History
The records were collected by Helen Toews, a member of Coaldale Mennonite Brethren Church and a volunteer with the Gem of the West Museum. There was a gap (between 1956 and 1971) in the collection of annual reports. A similar collection of official church records was collected by Isaac I. Regehr, also a member of the Coaldale Mennonite Brethren Church. These were donated by Ted Regehr, son of Isaac Regehr, and merged with the earlieir collection to provide a more complete set of the church’s annual reports.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of the congregation’s self-produced hymn book (1949-1951), yearbooks (195o-1985), constitutions, and a one-page history of Coaldale Mennonite Cemetery.
Source of Acquisition
Gift of Helen Toews, 2010-2012, and Ted Regehr, 2022.017
Notes
Accession 2010.030, 2012.011 (filed with 2012.035), 2012.035 (filed separately) and 2022.017 (filed with 2010.030), 2023.011 (filed separately).
The material is in German and English.
Last updated March 2023 by Jim Bowman and Ted Regehr
File list
Accession, 2010.030
1-1 Yearbook, 1955; Membership lists and financial reports, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955. The 1950 Yearbook was received as part of Accession 2022.017.
1-1a Yearbooks, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1964. These were received as part of Accession 2022.017.
1-1b Yearbooks, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974. These were received as part of Accession 2022.17.
1-2 Yearbooks, 1972-1973, 1974, 1975, 1976,1977, 1978, 1979.
1-3 Yearbooks, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985.
1-4 Constitution and By-Laws, several, undated
1-5 History of the Coaldale Cemetery.
1-6 Translation of the minutes of business meetings, May 23, 1926 to December 1930.
1-7 Coaldale Mennonite Brethren Church Pictorial Directory, 1991.
Accession 2012.011 (filed as 1-1 of Accession 2012.035)
Accession 2012.035
1-1 Copy of church music transcribed to numbers (Ziffern)
1-2 “Kinderharfe”, hymn book with numbers (Ziffern) that belonged to Jacob Friesen.
1-3 Hymnbook of copied material with numbers that belonged to Jacob Friesen, Slawgorod
1-4 “Missionscantate” by Etzenmueller – modifed by Peter Wiebe and performed in the Coaldale Mennonite Brethren Church in 1931.
Accession 2022.017
Items selected from Accession 2022.017 to fill in gaps in Accession 2010.030 and filed with Accession 2010.030 are listed in files 1.1, 1.1a and 1.1b above.