Parkview celebrates 150 years
Staff writer
The congregation of Parkview Mennonite Brethren Church in Hillsboro spent three days last weekend celebrating its 150th anniversary.
Festivities began Friday evening with a gathering of members and friends of the church, during which former pastors shared memories of their time at Parkview.
On Saturday, 75 people visited the original Gnadenau site and church cemetery south of Hillsboro. That evening, the crowd dined on a German meal of zwiebach, German sausage, green beans, and cherry mousse in the church fellowship hall.
Sunday morning worship service included a full hour of joyful singing of worship songs and hymns. Before the pastor’s sermon, everyone in attendance was asked to come to the front for a group picture.
Pastor Tom Byford reiterated that the church’s message of salvation by grace through faith will continue into the future.
A potluck was after the service.
Memorabilia from the church’s early years included wooden communion trays and a wooden folding chair that escaped a fire because members had taken them home.
An adobe brick and small samples of Turkey Red wheat also were on display.
A timeline of the church was posted. T-shirts, mugs, historical books, and other celebration keepsakes were available.
The first church was built in 1874 in the newly established Gnadenau village a few miles southeast of Hillsboro.
Villagers were a part of many Mennonites who came to America from southern Russia to escape military conscription. The original congregation came from Crimea and was first known as the Crimean Mennonite Brethren Church.
In 1894, they built a church two miles south of Hillsboro. It was destroyed by a Christmas Eve fire in 1956. The congregation decided to rebuild in Hillsboro on S. Main St.
The church was renamed Parkview M.B. Church in 1963. By that time, Krimmer Mennonites had decided to join the Mennonite Brethren conference.
The congregation of 250 in 1900 began to grow after a new church was built in Hillsboro. Lehigh M.B. Church had joined Gnadenau in 1956. Springfield church south, of Lehigh, and Tampa M.B. Church merged with the congregation in the early 1960s.
The church has seen many changes in its history, such as the transition from German to English and the beginning of instrumental music and parts singing during church services.
Several building additions have been made as the church continues its outreach ministry in the Hillsboro community and the world.