Linden celebrates 75th Anniversary

How do we celebrate when in the midst of much joy we have disagreed, suffered pain and experienced deep valleys of grief and sorrow?

As the Linden MB Church thought about this question and their 75th anniversary, God led them to Psalm 89, where the writer Ethan proclaims God’s love and faithfulness in the midst of both the joyful and painful moments of life. They chose Psalm 89:1 (“I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all the generations.”) as the theme verse for their celebration weekend. In focussing on this psalm they were reminded that it is necessary to remember and talk about both the joyful and the difficult times in our lives for it is in both of these that God’s love and faithfulness are evident.

Family and friends of Linden MB Church gathered May 21–23 to sing of God’s love and faithfulness. Friday night was a worship and coffee house. Five former pastors – Bill Thiessen, David Epp, Arnie Neufeld, Ralph Klassen and Rudy Heidebrecht – shared of God’s faithfulness throughout the generations. Merv Boschman, Alberta MB Conference Executive Minister, who spent his youth in Linden while his father, Rudy Boschman, was pastor, challenged the congregation to keep their eyes on the future.

The Linden MB Church grew out of the Swallwell Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church. The group purchased a building and moved it to a site near the Linden rail station in 1933. In 1946/47 they joined the Alberta MB Conference. A new meeting house was completed in the town of Linden in 1963; the building was expanded in 1975.

—from report by Konrad Loewen, pastor