Coming events

May 10, 3 pm.  Celebrating the Contributions of Der Bote and Die Mennonitische Rundschau.
 Eben-Ezer Mennonite Church, 2051 Windsor St.  Abbotsford.  See article below.

May 16, 3pm.  Annual General Meeting.  Garden Park Tower, 2825 Clearbrook Rd.

October 18 & 19.  “Sixty Years of Peace and Plenty: Mennonite Refugees Remember.”
 Emmanuel Mennonite Church, 3471 Clearbrook Rd., Abbotsford.
  Saturday afternoon from 2 pm.  Visiting, photo and artifact exhibits, author book signings,
   music, drama, film: The Great Trek.
  Saturday evening 6 pm.  Annual Fundraising Banquet with Dr. Harry Loewen.
 Topic:  The experiences of post-WWII Mennonites who came to North and South America, and those who were sent back East against their will to suffer in the Gulag of the Soviet Union. The lecture will conclude with experiences of the Mennonite "Aussiedler" (resettlers) living in Germany today.
  Sunday afternoon at 2:30 pm.  Festival of thanksgiving in story and song.
 
 
Celebrating the Contributions of Der Bote and Die Mennonitische Rundschau
by Helen Rose Pauls
 
 On May 10 guest speakers Helen Franz and David Ewert will explore the significant contributions of  two German Mennonite papers, Der Bote, and Die Mennonitische Rundschau.  Ingrid Janzen Lamp, the last editor of Der Bote, will be at our meeting.  In addition, some of our constituents will offer personal responses to the papers.

 Der Bote began in 1923 as Der Mennonitische Immigrantenbote, edited by Dietrich H. Epp, who had emigrated from Russia to Rosthern, Saskatchewan the year before, and perceived a need for a paper to establish connections among Mennonite immigrants. He invited the immigrants to share their hopes and joys, and extended the common bond of friendship towards the established Mennonite community in western Canada, which had exemplified Christian charity in their aid to the immigrants.

 Together with his wife, Dietrich Epp produced the papers, printed by Rosthern Valley News Printing Service, folded them, pasted on addresses and one cent stamps and sent them to an ever wider audience. David Toews encouraged Epp to use the paper to unite the scattered Mennonite communities.

 In 1947, Der Bote merged with U.S. based Christlicher Bundesbote and became the weekly paper for the General Conference Mennonite Church. Over the years, it provided news, spiritual food and important information to Mennonites in United States, Canada, Mexico, South America and Europe. Later it was produced bi-weekly.

 As German speaking elderly folk in Canada and the United States passed on, and newer papers emerged to serve Mennonite communities in Mexico, Europe and South America, the need for Der Bote dwindled. In March 2008, publication ceased.  Many mourn its loss and the sense of connection it provided.

 Die Mennonitische Rundschau began in Nebraska in 1880, much earlier than Der Bote, and did not have  a particularly Mennonite Brethren slant until it was bought by editor Hermann Neufeld, who moved it to Winnipeg in 1923. In 1945, an MB group bought Christian Press and took over publishing the paper. The MB conference made it the official German publication of the Mennonite Brethren Conference in 1960.

 The Zionsbote, founded in 1884, was the first MB publication in North America, and also had a readership in Russia of 1,000 subscribers. However, it was discontinued in 1964, and the Mennonitische Rundschau was recommended to all those who still wished a German language newspaper.

 The Mennonitische Rundschau filled a significant need for immigrants who entered Canada in the 1920s and the late 1940s and who preferred a German newspaper.  The Rundschau ceased publication on January 2007.  It is greatly missed by many who especially liked to read the historic and detailed obituaries of old friends and relatives.

           Adapted from reports in Mennonite Historian.