Administrative History

The Arnold Community Church (Arnold, BC) traces its roots to a small gathering in the home of Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Hamm in 1942. The Hamms were among several new settlers to the community that was then called Perrigo – named after John Joseph Perrigo who originally owned a large piece of land in the area. Mr. Perrigo divided up his property and invited the Mennonites to settle there, viewing them as a hardworking nationality. In these early years, about 20 people – most of whom were children – gathered in the Hamm household to worship and pray. The group was named the Perrigo MB Church and was affiliated with the Yarrow MB Church.

In 1945, the church was renamed Arnold MB Church, after a creek that runs through part of the property. Unfortunately, however, the name change annoyed Mr. Perrigo, who had originally donated the property to the church. As a result, Mr. Perrigo demanded the church pay him $600 for the once-donated land. Despite this setback, the church continued to grow, and, by the beginning of 1948, the Arnold church had 225 members. From that point on, however, membership slowly declined, as many of the young people moved away seeking opportunities outside the community.

It was not long before those who attended the first gatherings at the Hamm household began plans for a church building. Early in 1943, construction of a 30’ x 40’ basement began. Times were hard and getting the money was a challenge. Fortunately, many of the men of the church donated their labor. By July 1944, an additional structure at the east end of the church had to be erected to accommodate the congregation’s rapid growth. Several other construction projects followed, including an upper sanctuary in 1946, a front foyer and two washrooms in 1965, a remodeling of the interior in 1977, and another addition in 1987.

In 1988, Arnold MB Church was renamed to Arnold Community Church, underscoring a desire on the part of the church to reach out into the community, and consequently membership began to rebound in the 1990s.

In 2015, the congregation had 161 members and an average weekly attendance of 220.

Several ministers have served the congregation as leader, including Johann P. Braun (1943–1948), J.J. Klassen (1949–1952), Is. P. Görtzen (1953–1957), Gustav P. Ratzlaff (1958–1965), John J. Rempel (1967), Peter C. Penner (1968–1973), Harry R. Loewen (1974–1979), Wilfred Richert (1980–1983), Syl Dirks (1984–1987), Irvin Penner (1988–1990), Mark Burch (1991–1996), Douglas Braun (1997–2000), Robert Dyck (2002–2017), interim Terrance Froese (2017–2018), Cam Stuart (2018– ).

The language of worship is English. The transition from German occurred in 1967.