Killarney Mennonite Church
1961 - 2011 "Celebrating 50 years of God's Faithfulness"
The Killarney Mennonite Church on 66 Bay Avenue was dedicated to the Lord on January 1st, 1961 with Rev. G. G. Neufeld of Boissevain officiating the dedication ceremony. The groundwork for this was laid in the fall of 1960 when the Whitewater Church in Ninga closed to join together with the Whitewater Church in Boissevain. This left a large distance for some people to travel to attend church either in Boissevain or south of Lena and as a result meetings were held to decide whether or not to start a new church in Killarney. After an initial vote that decided against starting a new church, another meeting was called on October 19th when it was heard that a small church building was for sale by tender in the town of Wingham. After determining what they believed it would cost to buy, move, and renovate the structure they decided to take pledges from those present to see if they would have the finances to continue. When the amount of the pledges had been tallied they found the amount of pledges to be nearly identical to the number they had estimated with pledges only being short five dollars of the estimated cost! This was prayerfully received as God’s signal to go ahead with the project and with that the planning moved swiftly ahead.
In the years that followed the church steadily grew and even though many people had little or no experience everyone was willing to try to do what they could in service to God. The first ministers of the church were Rev. Frank Peters and Rev. Peter Harms with Rev. G. G. Neufeld from the Whitewater Church in Boissevain assisting with baptism and communion services until 1965. The church continued to grow and in October 1965 pledges were again gathered to determine whether or not to go ahead and build a new structure. When the sum exceeded thirty-six thousand dollars this was again prayerfully received as God’s sign to continue and in 1966 the new church (the present day sanctuary) was constructed. Another expansion project was undertaken in the fall of 1980 and the addition (the present day foyer and balcony area) was dedicated on June 14th, 1981 and church went on to celebrate its 25th anniversary in 1986.
Since that time, the church has gone through some ups and downs, but in spite of having gone through periods of difficulty the one thing that has never changed is that God has faithfully continued to see fit to use His church to call people to Himself, minister to others, support His work around the world, equip believers, and as a place to worship Him. The churches mission statement reads: Serving with our hands – Loving with our hearts – Showing Christ’s love – Growing God’s family. These are the things that embody our mission in serving Killarney and the world as we follow Christ. The church currently has vibrant Jr. Youth (ages 11-13) and Sr. Youth (ages 14-18) programs that meet on Friday and Saturday night respectively. There are various ladies groups as well as small group Bible study and a prayer group that meet weekly. As well, there are Sunday School programs for all ages as well as various other group ministries within the church that run throughout the week in addition to the Sunday morning worship service.
In 2011 we celebrated this church’s 50th anniversary, but ultimately this celebration was not for any human achievement, but was instead a celebration of how God has powerfully and graciously seen fit to use flawed but redeemed people to accomplish His purposes, build His Kingdom, and change lives. He continues to do so as we celebrated yet another baptism service that took place this past November. God is so good!
In the years that followed the church steadily grew and even though many people had little or no experience everyone was willing to try to do what they could in service to God. The first ministers of the church were Rev. Frank Peters and Rev. Peter Harms with Rev. G. G. Neufeld from the Whitewater Church in Boissevain assisting with baptism and communion services until 1965. The church continued to grow and in October 1965 pledges were again gathered to determine whether or not to go ahead and build a new structure. When the sum exceeded thirty-six thousand dollars this was again prayerfully received as God’s sign to continue and in 1966 the new church (the present day sanctuary) was constructed. Another expansion project was undertaken in the fall of 1980 and the addition (the present day foyer and balcony area) was dedicated on June 14th, 1981 and church went on to celebrate its 25th anniversary in 1986.
Since that time, the church has gone through some ups and downs, but in spite of having gone through periods of difficulty the one thing that has never changed is that God has faithfully continued to see fit to use His church to call people to Himself, minister to others, support His work around the world, equip believers, and as a place to worship Him. The churches mission statement reads: Serving with our hands – Loving with our hearts – Showing Christ’s love – Growing God’s family. These are the things that embody our mission in serving Killarney and the world as we follow Christ. The church currently has vibrant Jr. Youth (ages 11-13) and Sr. Youth (ages 14-18) programs that meet on Friday and Saturday night respectively. There are various ladies groups as well as small group Bible study and a prayer group that meet weekly. As well, there are Sunday School programs for all ages as well as various other group ministries within the church that run throughout the week in addition to the Sunday morning worship service.
In 2011 we celebrated this church’s 50th anniversary, but ultimately this celebration was not for any human achievement, but was instead a celebration of how God has powerfully and graciously seen fit to use flawed but redeemed people to accomplish His purposes, build His Kingdom, and change lives. He continues to do so as we celebrated yet another baptism service that took place this past November. God is so good!