A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

fer-.-nce Offices — Board of Foreign Missions. Board of General Welfare and Public Relations, and Board of Trustees — located in Hillsboro in later years similarly benefited the local congregation. Pastors J. W. Vogt (1936-1948). Waldo Hiebert ' 19-19-1959) and Marvin Hein (1959 to the present) have given effective leadership to this large congregation. Congregations Rise and Fall Not all the M.B. churches that were established in the early decades liave survived. Several examples will show how congregations may rise and flourish, and then decline and become extinct or be absorbed by others. The Goessel M.B. Church, earlier known as the Alexanderwohl M.B. Church, was begun in 1880 and for some time was an influential congregation in the conference. Although the church had a membership of seventy in 1896, it decreased steadily until the congregation was dissolved in 1926.™ The Woodson County M.B. Church, about one MKNNONITK BRETHREN COME TO THE UNITED STATES 137 hundred miles east of Marion County, was established in 1877 by a number of families coming from the Chortitza Colony. In the fall of 1878 Bernard Pauls and David Dyck were elected as ministers. This congregation became known in the conference for its strong support of missions. Here the example of the leading ministers seems to have influenced the church members. Dyck moved to Lehigh in 1884 as did Pauls a year later. Although the congregation still had a membership of 1'ifly-two in 1888. by 1892 most of them had moved to other localities und the church was dissolved. The Lehigh M.B. Church was organized in 1884 under the leadership of David Dyck, who had moved here from Woodson County. The membership of this congregation fluctuated greatly through the years: one hundred in 1890. twenty-three in 1892, one hundred in 1928, and fifty-two in 1953. In 1955 the Lehigh congregation was amalga- mated with the Gnadenau (now Parkview) M.B. Church." The Dorrance Mennonite Brethren Church in Russell County was organized in 1913 with thirty members under the leadership of the elders Johann Foth and M. M. Just. Through the years it was also known for its interest in missions. Membership remained small however, and by 1960 t he church was extinct. The Ingalls Mennonite Brethren Church in Gray County, Western Kansas, was an outgrowth of an original mission church founded in 1923. Among its early ministers were D. W. Siemens and B. C. Willems. In ihe late 1950's the church relocated to Cimarron and is known under l hat name at presenl. Other M. B. churches in Western Kansas have been established at Ulysses and Garden City. The Olathe Church has been established in Eastern Kansas near Kansas City. In Kansas the move to the cities began during World War II. In Wichita the First Mennonite Brethren Church was organized in 1943 with Estil Schale as its first minister. In the 1950"s a second congregation, the Open Bible M.B. Church, was established.