Accession 2015.011
Title and Physical Description
Tofield Gospel Church fonds. — 1927-1995. — 8 cm of textual records
Administrative History
In 1928 a group of 8 Mennonite Brethren families from Russia settled on a tract of land northeast of Tofield, Alberta known as the Trent Ranch. They established a Mennonite Brethren church which met in members’ homes. In 1936 the Trent Ranch colony dissolved, but a number of Mennonite Brethren families migrating from Crowfoot and other communities in Alberta contributed to the growth of the congregation. In 1940 it constructed a church building in the Lindbrook locality, 5 miles west of the town of Tofield, named Lindbrook Mennonite Brethren Church. In the 1940s a congregation of Evangelical Mennonite Brethren from nearby Ryley joined the church. In 1963 the congregation built a new church at Tofield and was renamed Tofield Mennonite Brethren Church. In 1977 the church was renamed Tofield Gospel Church, and in 1983 it moved again to a larger meeting house. By the mid-2000s the church was struggling and in 2006 it was released from membership in the Alberta Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.
Custodial History
The fonds was in the possession of Corney Warkentin of Tofield, Alberta. He transferred it to H.E. Dueck.
Scope & Content
The fonds includes a history of the M.B. Church of Tofield (ca. 1984), congregational and Council minutes (1950-1991), and family registers (membership accreditation, 1927-1959).
Source of Acquisition
Gift of H.E. Dueck, Edmonton, 2015.
Notes
Accession 2015.011
Language: German, English
Last updated 2 February 2017 Jim Bowman
Files Inventory
1-1 History of the M.B. Church of Tofield. — [ca. 1984]
1-2 Minutes, correspondence. — 1950-1959
1-3 Congregational minutes : Book No. 2. — 1951-1956
1-4 Minutes. — 1957-1959
1-5 Minutes. — 1959-1962
1-6 Minutes. — 1960-1961
1-7 Minutes. — 1960-1961
1-8 Notebook : accounts of fundraising, Tofield. — [ca. 1942-ca. 1945]
1-9 Family registers (membership). — 1927-1959
1-10 The Auto Repair Shop, Coaldale, Alta. — [ca. 1940s]. – Advertising blotter.
1-11 Council meetings. — 1983-1987
1-12 Business meetings. — 1982-1991
1-13 Statement of principles. — [ca. 1980s]
1-14 Land titles, legal correspondence. —1982-1995
1-15 Historical Commission, Mennonite Brethren Church. — 1995
1-16 Registration of Marriages, Peter Rempel officiated. — 1961-2004.