Those Places Thursday -- Bergthal Mennonite Church, a final visit

A few weeks ago I posted about this church as a “SentimentalSunday” post and mentioned that I would be attending the memorial service for the church on May 26. I did attend that service and want to share some of that with you.

Sunday morning I arrived early and was able to walk around the church admiring the beautiful woodwork and windows but also noting that the building was suffering from mold damage.  There were two rooms full of things being auctioned off in a silent auction. Shelves, pictures, offering plates, windows, dishes.  Great photos can be found on a blog called Life in Claremont.

There were also quite a few books that were free for the taking. I was excited to find a German hymnal and also a shape-note hymnal.  I bid on several things but at the end of the day, I ended up with a small box and one of 7 large stained glass windows! I must say I am very excited to get it later in the summer.

Published by:
Mennoniten von Nord-Amerika 1893

The church filled up quickly and even to overflowing.  The Bergthal Facebook page says about 350 people were there. The service began with singing.  Beautiful harmonies of familiar hymns.  But it was hard not to feel the pain in knowing that it had been sometime since this many voices rang in these walls. And it will not ever be so again.

Charlotte (Life in Claremont blog) also made a great video that includes singing and put it on YouTube. 

But one of the most beautiful moments of the day was the message that Pastor Lynn Schlosser gave. I have spent many hours trying to write about her sermon and find myself quoting nearly the entire sermon.  Her words seem to echo all our feelings and answer all our questions.  Lynn seemed to know the questions everyone was asking themselves.

“If it feels like you’ve come to a funeral today, well you have, kind of. People often talk about how given the choice they hope their loved ones might come to see them one more time while they’re still living rather than wait and come for the funeral. That’s what we’re doing here today. I am thankful so many of you have come home, one more time, to tell this people, this place, this church how much you have loved her and what she has meant to you. . . .

And as is often the case at funerals, I want to talk about resurrection this morning. . . .  Resurrection is woven into the very structure of who we are and how we are. Resurrection is the very essence of life. . . .

Look around you and see evidence of resurrection. . . . And know this. We represent but a drop in the ocean of lives Bergthal Mennonite Church has reached out and touched in her 138 years. Our brothers and sisters circle this globe. Bergthal’s influence ripples out, with a never-ending gentle touch that shapes and nurtures.”

She goes on to give a touching recount of the final events of the movie “Les Miserables” and how the story impacted her as she thought about her beloved church, Bergthal Mennonite. She reads the lyrics of the triumphant song “When Tomorrow Comes” and then comments:

“In a similar way, I can hear those original founding ancestors from 1875, their children and grandchildren, your parents and grandparents, I can hear them singing.

We’ve dealt with such a mix of emotions these last few years - grief, anger, shame, disappointment, relief, confusion. In the book of Philippians Paul says, “ I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” This sounds like truth. We take it on faith. But sometimes it’s hard to really believe it. How can a church’s death be a victory? How do we celebrate the loss of someone so dear. Surely we’ve let all those good people who labored hard to build this church, surely we’ve let them down. We see through a mirror but dimly.

But if we listen closely, we might just hear their voices raised in a song of triumph. I believe they stand together this day singing a song of hope and faith. They see what we can only intuit. They are enfolded by a resurrection we long for, their vision unhindered. I believe they see Bergthal’s good, long life, the many ways in which God’s Kingdom has been revealed in our midst. They see also the many ways in which Bergthal will continue to move and live, there in the realm of resurrection.”

Yes, I realize I quoted almost her entire message. But not quite. I am putting it all on a page "Pastor Schlosser's Message." It is worth reading in it's entirety. She gave me permission to use it "however you see fit."

Tombstone Tuesday -- Cemetery Marker for Bergthal Mennonite Church 1875-2013

This isn't really a tombstone but at first glance in the cemetery, it looks like one. It is a memorial marker to commemorate the Bergthal Mennonite Church that will soon be torn down as I wrote in a previous post. After it is torn down, they will use the cornerstone and some of the bricks to build a base for this marker.

This is what it says:

DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THE BERGTHAL* MENNONITE CHURCH, 1875-2013

In 1874, Mennonite immigrants from Karlswalde, Russia, seeking religious freedom and military exemption from service, settled on land in the Dundee area which was obtained through the Homestead Act and from the Sante Fe Railroad. The only shelters available to the immigrants that first winter were railroad box cars. The first buildings, including a church, were erected in 1875. This first church, a limestone building, was used as a school. Education was afforded a high value throughout the lifetime of the congregation. A larger wooden church was built in 1897. The final building, a brick church dedicated in 1915, was situated one mile north of this cemetery. Like thousands of rural churches across the country, the membership declined rapidly in its later years. Bergthal Mennonite was known for its emphasis on peace and service and was an active member of the Western District Conference until it officially disbanded in 2013.

*Hill and Valley

Bergthal Mennonite Church, Pawnee Rock, Barton County, Kansas

Sentimental Sunday - Goodbye to an Old Church - Bergthal Mennonite

Church dedication 1915

This almost feels like it should read "Sunday's Obituary." It makes me sad. Some of my cousins called me today because they saw an article in USA Today and the Wichita Eagle about a small church closing in Kansas.

It was the church that our Mennonite ancestors helped start in Pawnee Rock, Kansas.

I looked the article up online and then followed the link to the original article that was in the Great Bend Tribune.

"Landmark Bergthal Mennonite Church closing its doors"
[this link now requires a subscription to see all of it but you can still see a photo as of May 22]

You can read some of the story there - it has some great photos -  but let me just add to it.

I did not grow up in Pawnee Rock. My grandfather, Harvey Schmidt, was born there. His parents grew up there. His father immigrated when he was a year old and they settled in this area with a group of immigrant Mennonites from Russia.

I never attended the church in this story - Bergthal Mennonite. But it has always been a part of the family story. When we lived in Kansas, it was a frequent road trip to go to Pawnee Rock for an afternoon of family history.

The first church was the stone church:

The old stone church that my ancestor Benjamin Schmidt helped build.

In later years, a monument to this church was built and placed at the side of the highway. It was a small model of the building made from the stones of the original building.

Plaque on the monument naming the immigrant settlers

Aunt Judi at the monument around 1960

Arlin and Nancy by the monument - around 1960

Later the roadside monument was damaged by vandals and moved to the basement of the church building.

The congregation built a frame church in 1899 and then a brick building in 1915.

Frame church 1899

 The brick structure won't make it to it's centennial year. Like many rural congregations it has been dwindling in size and currently only 14 people regularly attend. They have decided to close and to tear down the building.

A few years ago - 2004 I believe - I went to Pawnee Rock and met with the church historian and distant cousin of mine by marriage, Ruth Deckert. Ruth had many stories to tell and gave me a tour of the church and the town of Pawnee Rock. The church is a ways outside of town - to say it is a rural church is more than accurate. It has a cemetery with it and I think I am related to almost everyone in it! I took lots of pictures and lots of notes. Ruth was a great guide. She has since passed away and I know the community of Pawnee Rock misses her.

I do know that small rural churches have a difficult time. It makes me sad that it will be torn down but I understand their decision. Watching it fall down would be even harder.

Perhaps I will be able to make it to their memorial service on May 26 - or sometime in June before it is torn down. I have a feeling that the history shared in these last days will be worth the trip.

June update: [See the new memorial marker here and my follow-up blog here, regarding the memorial service in May.]

Those Places Thursday - Calvary Mennonite Church

In the 1930's Calvary Mennonite Church in Greensburg, Kansas, was meeting in a small basement structure that they did not have the resources to complete. But the growing congregation needed more room. So in 1937 when the opportunity came up to purchase the old North Grade School building, they decided it was the right move and acquired the building.

 
North Grade School

They decided to remove the second story. They used jacks to hold up the roof while they tore out the story, but when the jacks were lowered there was still a ways to go to get the large roof lowered in one piece.  I was told that a man named Folsom Wheeler, who was known as an inventive genius, came up with a way to get the old roof down onto the first floor when he had a dream about it. They placed large ice blocks between the roof and first floor, removed the jacks and waited as the ice melted and slowly lowered the roof onto the first floor.

remodeling in process

I wish someone had taken a picture of that!

This church is the church I remember as a small child. I remember my Aunt Judi's wedding here, sitting on those big front steps, church dinners in the basement, watching the ladies quilt.  I remember my parents let my siblings and I play quietly beside them during Wednesday night prayer meetings. I also remember that if we weren't good in church we were carried out of the building and disciplined. We learned how to sit still at an early age.

The church in 1953

In 1974 the Calvary Mennonite Church changed it's name to the Greensburg Mennonite Church and in 1978 a new church was built next to this one. In 1981 the old school/church building was torn down.

Greensburg Mennonite Church in 1995

On May 4, 2007 an F5 tornado came through Greensburg destroying everything, including every church in town.

Greensburg Mennonite Church site, summer 2007

But in the years since, every church has rebuilt including Greensburg Mennonite. You can see the new church by looking them up on their Facebook page.



Sources:
"The Greensburg Mennonite Church History" compiled from "Church History" a term paper by Wallace Jantz and past records of the church.

Personal notes and photos of Kenneth Schmidt.

2007 photo copyright RMartin

*If link does not work, find Folsom Wheeler at: Find A Grave Memorial # 19676248