By TERRY PUGH
Long-time Neuanlage resident Tena Neudorf remembers Thanksgiving celebrations during the 1930s at the little church she and her family attended faithfully every week.
“We always had a display at Thanksgiving,” said Tena Neudorf. “There was a food basket that included all the plants that nourished us; and the basket always included Russian Thistle because that’s what kept the cows alive. That’s all the cattle had to eat during those dry years.”
A lot has changed over the past nine decades, but the Neuanlage church, originally a small satellite congregation of the Rosenorter Mennonite Church in Hague and now one of the largest Christian evangelical churches in the area, still holds a traditional Thanksgiving celebration every fall.
Add to that the Sunday services that attract an estimated 450 people regularly, Christmas and Easter special events, summer picnics, family carnivals, and even adults’ pickleball and children’s floor hockey every week, the Neuanlage Grace Mennonite Church is always prepared to welcome whoever happens to drop in.
And this summer, they’re expecting a pretty good-size crowd for the church’s 100th anniversary celebration on Saturday, July 4 and Sunday, July 5.
“We’re planning it not just for church members, but also as a ‘homecoming’ in a sense for people who grew up in this area and have moved away,” said retired Neuanlage Grace Church Pastor Henry Janzen, a member of the 100th anniversary committee. “We also are inviting the wider community to come and help us celebrate.”
The event kicks off on July 4 with a time of fellowship and children’s activities, followed by a traditional Mennonite ‘Faspa’ meal and a program in the church sanctuary featuring historic displays and photos, as well as a time for people to share memories of the church over the decades. A worship service Sunday morning followed by a farmer sausage noon meal caps off the festivities.
Founded in 1926 by Mennonite immigrants fleeing Bolshevik oppression in the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution. This “second wave” of Mennonite immigration in the early 1920s followed in the footsteps of the first wave of Mennonites from Russia who came over starting in the 1870s. Many of the immigrants in the 1920s settled in communities like Neunlage in the ‘Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve’.
“At the time when these people arrived here in Neuanlage in the early 1920s, there was only the Old Colony church here,” said Ivy Krahn, a member of the church’s 100th anniversary committee. “While these recent immigrants shared many common traditions with the first wave of Mennonites, there were also differences.”
“They weren’t part of the old colony,” said Henry Janzen. “So they joined a church in Hague that had been going for about 20 years already. But they soon realized they needed a church here, because Hague was just too far to travel on Sundays. The horses were tired from working all week, and in winter, storms and cold weather limited travel. So they started meeting in private homes here in Neuanlage.”
Tena Neudorf’s parents were among the group who founded the church in 1926. Originally services were held in people’s homes and also the Pembroke School in Neuanlage. It wasn’t until 1937 that a house was purchased and renovated to serve as a church.
“The house where they held services was located on the spot where the present church is,” said Neudorf.
Crystal Ens, a member of the 100th anniversary committee who has compiled a comprehensive history of the church, said the first minister was Johann H. Janzen (Ivy Krahn’s grandfather). He began his duties in 1930 and was officially ordained in 1934.
In 1945, the congregation purchased the Lutheran Church building in Hague and moved it to Neuanlage, where it was renovated to make it larger and include a basement. The original house on the property that had served as the first church was moved elsewhere.
In 1949, Johann Janzen passed away. His son John J. Janzen (Ivy Krahn’s uncle) took over as the ordained minister in 1952, replacing John Pauls, a teacher at Pembroke School who had filled as minister from 1949 to 1951.
In 1962, the Neuanlage Grace Mennonite Church became a self-governing body following the dissolution of the Rosenorter Mennonite Church of Saskatchewan, an umbrella organization for several churches across the province.
In 1964, a building addition and renovation was completed, followed by another renovation in 1967. In 1978, construction began on the present building, which was in turn added onto in 1995 and renovated again in 2000.
Henry J. Janzen took on the role of lead minister in 1985 following the retirement of John J. Janzen. Henry Janzen retired in 2019, and his successor, Darryl Neudorf (Tena Neudorf’s son), took over the reins.
“We have a history of raising our own pastors,” said Henry Janzen. “I think that’s part of the reason for the stability of the church here. The sanctuary is full of so many young families.”
Ivy Krahn said many families worked hard to keep the church going.
“In the early years, their faith was central to their whole lives,” she said. “They went through some very hard times, but they persevered. It’s encouraging to see that dedication and commitment in the present generation.”
“The Lord is good,” said Tena Neudorf. “In my family we’ve had five generations attend this church. My parents were part of the original founding group. I was the second generation, my three sons are the third generation, their kids are the fourth and now I have great grandchildren coming to this church.”