A small church seating 70 people
was built on 105th Avenue.

By the early seventies a larger structure was built accommodating 250.

In 1980 a much larger church opened its doors in the northwest corner of the city.

Again, in 2001 this facility is struggling with adequate seating.
Throughout the 40 year history of the church six men have served as senior pastors. For 20 years the church has had a pastoral staff of 2 or 3. The church has been blessed with long-term ministry pastors
In the early years the church had a fairly pronounced "farmer" segment. However, in the early 70's most of these left when a rural church was established in Rose Prairie to the north. Then in the late 80's another large segment left when a ministry was begun in Charlie Lake. This was followed by the planting of a daughter church in the eastern part of the city. All of the above were healthy developments in a growing church.
Fort St. John has a very transient population. Every decade has about a 50% turnover. For the churches of the community this always presents a challenge.
The church has a very healthy cross section of age groups. The dominant group, however, would be young couples with children. In terms of employment, there is no dominant profession or career represented. The denominational background of the folks in the church also shows great variation. By no means can we say that "Mennonitism" is a common thread that binds people together. Rather, we trust that it is the mutual fellowship in Christ that gives us a bond that creates unity of purpose.

-- Ernie Reimer

North Peace MB Church,  10816 106th Street,  Ft. St. John, British Columbia, Canada  V1J 5V2
~ Phone (250) 785 3869 ~ Fax (250) 785 5497 ~ E-Mail: office@npmbchurch.com

Oil and gas. Canola and wheat. Hinterland and frontier. Dams and
hydro. Roughnecks and rednecks. Optimism and economic boom.
Gateway to Alaska and the Yukon. These words describe the time
and activities of the late 50's and early 60's.

This rush for economic gain also resulted in a mad influx of people where, not unlike the Yukon Gold Rush, sanity and reason often were forgotten. The result? Workaholics and alcoholics. Building booms. Shortage of workers. Opportunity for the skilled and unskilled. Young families everywhere.
In the late fifties the Western Children's Mission, a ministry of the Mennonite Brethren Churches of BC, began a summer program for children in the Fort St. John area. The daily Bible instructions brought positive results and the need for an adult ministry became very apparent. Irwin and Amanda Klassen were encouraged to begin Bible studies in the Aennofield area of town in 1960. As the town grew rapidly the BC Conference established a church in 1962 with Peter & Betty Boschman leading as the first pastor couple.
The Fort St. John ministry was never intended to be a collecting point for the spiritual ministry of "Mennonites" who had moved into the area. Rather, since day one the goal was to bring Christ to the unchurched of the community. The church consistently emphasizes children's ministries through which many adults have been reached with the gospel. Similarly, youth work and home based Bible studies were emphasized.