A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

hing a mem- bership of over 100 in 1924. In the thirties and forties membership de- clined so that in 1950 it stood at seventy-six. In recent years the church has experienced a remarkable growth so that its present membership is Waldo Wiebe, who served as conference evangelist for many years, is the present (1971) pastor. Texas It was perhaps in the "logic of history" that Mennonite Brethren would also move still farther south and settle in the largest state of the Union — Texas. At Little field the brethren organized a congregation and dedicated an attractive church building in 1916." The congregation flourished for a number of years, reaching a membership of about one hundred. The loss of leadership when A. L. Schellenberg returned to the Publishing House in Hillsboro (1922), contributed to the disintegration of the church at Littlefield. 146 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH Somewhat later, in 1927, Mennonite Brethren organized a congregation in the Premont area, about fifty miles southwest of Corpus Christi. This church has survived to the present (1972) but the membership is small. Of special historical interest in this state is the emergence of the Latin American M.B. Conference — a result of conference missionary activities in which the Harry Neufelds have played a prominent part. Between Laredo and Brownsville a chain of seven mission churches has been established: Donna M.B. at Donna; Lull M.B. at Edinburg, La Casita M.B. at Garciasville: La Grulla M.B. at La Grulla: La Joya M.B. at La Joya; Mission M.B. at Mission; and Open Bible M.B. at Pharr. 4 * Spanish is the main language in the worship services in all these Mexican-American congregations. A. Toward the Far West Allhough a number of Mennonite and a few scattered families of Mennonite Brethren had moved to Oregon and California in the last decade of the nineteenth century, a mass-movement from the prairies of Kansas and Nebraska to the San Joaquin Valley and other areas of the Pacific Coast took place in the first two decades of the twentieth century. Oregon seems to have attracted the first M. B. families moving westward,'" but California soon became the "promised land" for most Mennonite Brethren, and here also the first permanent congregations on the west coast were located. The strong concentration of Mennonite Brethren in the "Pacific District" 50 and especially in the state of California, has been of great significance in the development of conference organization and activities. California The Mennonite Brethren, who presently constitute the largest Mennonite group in California both in terms of total membership (over 5,800) as well as in number of active congregations (thirty-three) 1 ' first settled in Fresno County in the fertile San Joaquin Valley around 1904. The first church to be organized was the Reediey congregation in 1905. This church, beginning with fourteen charter members, has grown to be