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Abbotsford, B.C.
Bakerview MB Church celebrates 35 years

Former pastor couples Harry and Margaret Heidebrecht, Ben and Esther Zerbe, Jacob and Annie Quiring and Kathy and John Neufeld and current pastor couple Eleanor and Michael Dick. Photos by Walter Altenmeuller

Former pastors, members and friends of Bakerview Mennonite Brethren Church in Abbotsford, B.C., gathered October 7 and 8 – the Thanksgiving weekend – to celebrate God’s goodness over the past 35 years. Of the 104 charter members of the church, 40 are still at the church today. Guests came from as far as Minnesota, some from Calgary, but most were from British Columbia.

“Celebrating the gifts” was the theme woven throughout the anniversary weekend. The first scheduled event was a barbecue dinner Saturday night. The gym was filled to capacity. David Giesbrecht, quoting Psalm 103:2, said, “We want to acknowledge the gifts God has given us as a congregation.”

Music

Members from the Pacific Mennonite Children’s Choir, a choir begun in the 1970s at Bakerview MB Church by Nancy Dyck, sang. She is still the leading force of the choir with support coming from her husband Frank. Dayspring, a group of women that frequently sang together in church services 1972-89, came together for this occasion to sing a number of favourite songs. The inter-generation choir, led by Rudy Baerg, performed “Alleluia” and “By His Grace”. Baerg was the first choir director at Bakerview MB Church. He has been active in the music ministry as a volunteer musician all of these years. As Ray Harris came on stream as music minister, he established the Bakerview Quartet and the Abbotsford Three Tenors – all are of whom are members of the church. Holda Fast Redekopp, the first paid minister of music at the church, was instrumental in establishing “Vespers” evening services.

Quartet Dave Spenst, Paul Heidebrecht, John Thiessen and Ray Harris share in song at Bakerview MB Church’s 35th anniversary.

Speakers

Harry Heidebrecht, pastor of the Church 1981-94, gave the message entitled, “A trilogy of praise”. He presented three doxologies: 1) God’s ability to establish us (Romans 16:25-27); 2) God’s ability to answer prayer (Ephesians 3:21); and 3) God’s ability to complete our salvation (Jude 24-25).

John Neufeld, pastor of the church 1995-99, gave the evening meditation, speaking on Ephesians 1:3-8, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ”. He challenged the audience to concentrate on what they have in Christ in the heavenly realms instead of focusing on the earthly realm. A children’s feature by former associate pastor Ron van Akker captured the attention of both young and old.

Memories

Ben Zerbe, who pastored the church 1975-81, shared some of his memories. He guided the young church through transitions such as dual services. He was thankful to the church that he was allowed to “stretch and grow”.

Margaret Klassen, reflecting on the past 35 years, was thankful for the pastors’ teaching. She stressed that the gifts of music and friendship were highly valued, and challenged the audience to “spread everywhere the fragrance”, to be the “salt of the earth” and to shine brightly as a lampstand for Christ.

Sunday morning began with a social and coffee time where old acquaintances fellowshipped and shared while perusing the bulletin boards filled with nostalgic photos and information from the last 35 years.

Jacob Quiring, the church’s first pastor, reflected on the church’s past. He came to the church at age 53 by invitation. He was not given a job description and was the only one on staff. He typed the church bulletins himself. His salary was $6,000 annually at that time.

Dennis and Rene Neumann gave a word of witness, reminiscing back to 1965 when they helped with mission work handing out gospel tracts in Sumas, Wash. They lived through the hippie era, the English-German language issue at Clearbrook MB Church and the early days of teen life at Bakerview MB Church. They also shared about the blessings they are currently experiencing at Lithuanian Christian College.

Sunday afternoon was a time of reminiscing with Peter Enns, Eric Ratzlaff and David Giesbrecht. They gave many details of early business meetings and interesting trivia, such as the colour of the cover of the first hymnals, whether to install a telephone and that guest speakers would be paid an honorarium of five dollars. A slide presentation depicting life in the last 35 years at the church concluded the weekend.

Dave Neumann, the initial organizer of Bakerview MB Church, was presented with a plaque for his dedicated leadership. He was the negotiator who presented a 10-point plan to the Clearbrook MB Church for forming a new congregation. On April 11, 1965, the new group met at Columbia Bible Institute for its first Sunday morning worship service, with blessings from the mother church.

 – Erica Suderman

Charter members of Bakerview MB Church present at the 35th reunion.

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Last modified December 11, 2000.

© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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