Peter J. Dyck (December 4, 1914 – January 4, 2010) was a Canadian Mennonite relief worker and pastor best known for his work resettling Russian Mennonite refugees after World War II.
Personal history
Peter Dyck was born on December 4, 1914, in the Am Trakt Mennonite Settlement in
Russia. He married Elfrieda Klassen on October 14, 1944, and they had two daughters, Ruth and Rebecca.
He emigrated from the
Soviet Union in 1927 with his family. They eventually settled in
Tiefengrund, Saskatchewan. He was baptized in the Tiefengrund Rosenort Mennonite Church in 1934. He graduated from
Rosthern Junior College and attended the
University of Saskatchewan, but dropped out to pastor several struggling local churches. In 1949 he finished his education, studying at
Goshen College,
Bethel College,
Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries, and
Bethel Theological Seminary in Chicago, where he earned a
Master of Divinity
For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divi ...
degree in 1968.
He was called by
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in 1941 to serve in
England. There he assisted victims of
World War II and met his future wife, who was serving as a nurse. Together they were asked to begin an MCC relief program for Mennonites fleeing the
Soviet Union. The program was based in the
Netherlands and escorted most of the refugees to
Paraguay. In 1947, he was ordained as a minister of the Gospel, to give him authority in his spiritual guidance of Russian Refugees.
Upon returning to the United States, Elfrieda and Peter embarked on a speaking tour, where they presented their story and films they had made to over 100,000 people. For many Mennonites it was the first time they viewed a film in a religious setting.
Audiences were thrilled by their modern day exodus of Mennonite refugees from
Berlin to the American zone of Germany, through the Soviet Occupied Zone.
He served as a pastor, alongside his wife, at
Eden Mennonite Church in
Kansas and
Kingview Mennonite Church in
Pennsylvania. He held dual membership with the
Mennonite church and the
General Conference Mennonite Church.
Peter served as MCC Director of
Europe and
North Africa from 1957 to 1967. Upon returning to the
United States, Peter was the administrator of the MCC headquarters until 1981.
Awards and honors
Peter was knighted by
Queen Juliana of the
Netherlands in 1950 for his relief work with refugees. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the
University of Waterloo in
Ontario in 1974. He received Goshen College's Culture for Service Alumni Award in 1993.
Peter Dyck's personal papers are kept at the
Mennonite Church USA Archives The Mennonite Church USA Archives was founded in 2001 under the denominational merger of the (old) Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church. Prior to 2001, the two largest Mennonite denominations maintained separate archives: t ...
in
Goshen, IN
Goshen ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. It is the smaller of the two principal cities of the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawak ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dyck, Peter
1914 births
2010 deaths
Canadian Mennonites