Administrative History

Between the years 1930 and 1949, many Mennonites settled on small farms in the Fraser Valley area. At this time, the South Abbotsford Mennonite Brethren Church was established. By the end of the 1940s, however, membership at South Abbotsford increased to over 500, and the existing building allowed little room for additional growth. To solve this problem, two options were considered: one, build a bigger church, and, two, divide existing members into two distinct churches. Eventually, members settled on option two, establishing a daughter church, which was then called the Abbotsford Mennonite Brethren Church, later named Central Heights MB Church (1966), and, subsequently, Central Heights Church (1991). Organization of the new church took place in January of 1950, when 197 members transferred from South Abbotsford to the new congregation.

Jacob Martens and Henry Krahn planned the new building. Land was acquired from Henry Hooge and in the summer of 1949 construction began. Since then, the church increased in number continually, and in April 1981, the congregation decided that it was time to buy additional land for a new sanctuary. Construction of a 1578 seat sanctuary began on March 1, 1985.

On the evening of 25 April 2008, the floor at the front of the sanctuary collapsed during a concert. During the following two years, the church gathered in Nikkel Hall, holding three services a week. The sanctuary was eventually repaired and on 27 June 2010 the congregation held a special thanksgiving service to mark their return to worshiping in the main sanctuary.

In 2010, the congregation had 1,023 members and an average weekly attendance of 843. In 2015, the congregation had 805 members and an average weekly attendance of 698.

Over the years the church has been served by the following pastors: Henry H. Nikkel (1950–1960), Abram H. Wieler (1960–1962), Nick J. Dyck (1962–1973, 1989), Rudy Boschman (1973–1985), Herb Neufeld (1986–1988), Al McVety (1990), Peter Unrau (1991–1996), Christopher Douglas (1998–2010), Bruce Gordon (2011–2013), Tim Klassen (2014– ).

The language of worship is English.  The transition from German occurred in 1950.