Randolph CMC

Randolph CMC

The Randolph Chortitzer Mennonite Church was a Mennonite congregation located in the postal district of Randolph, Manitoba (originally known as Chortitz). Established in 1876 by Mennonite immigrants arriving from the Bergthal Colony in Russia, it was one of the first Mennonite churches in western Canada.

As the Bergthal Mennonites spread out throughout the region and built more churches, they became known as the Die Mennonitische Gemeinde zu Chortitz, later renamed the Chortitzer Mennonite Conference (CMC). The Randolph church was the central church of the conference for many years, as it was the home church of the bishops. It was the last of the conference's churches to still use the traditional format in its worship services, using only the German language and no musical instruments for singing.

The aging congregation's dwindling numbers forced the closure of the Sunday School in the 1990s and in 2010, the CMC closed the church. The conference has turned the adjacent cemetery into a heritage cemetery to preserve the site for future generations.