Good's Mennonite Church (Clarence Center, New York, USA)
Good's Mennonite (Mennonite Church) Church was established in Clarence Center, New York in 1824 by Mennonites from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, among them the Leibs, Lehmans, Sherers, Martins. The first minister was Jacob Lapp, who (according to the Hartzler-Kauffman Mennonite Church History) came in 1828. John Martin was the first deacon (according to Cassel's History of the Mennonites, p. 169). In 1831 Jacob Krehbiel, a Mennonite minister, moved in from Germany. He became bishop in 1839. His son Frederick and Abraham Leib were ordained deacons with the growth of the congregation. They soon built a stone church a few miles west of Clarence Center known as the Good's Church. The congregation prospered both by immigration and by accessions. John Lapp (1798-1878) was ordained as minister in 1828 and as bishop about 10 years later. Peter Lehman and Abram Lapp were also ordained ministers. Jacob Krehbiel, Jr., became minister at this place in 1872 but withdrew about 1875, becoming affiliated with the General Conference of Mennonites by the time of their 1884 conference. Jacob Hahn became minister in 1866; he was the father of Sarah Lapp, missionary to India. The Herald of Truth in 1872 reported German Sunday school and preaching held every Sunday. John Strickler of the Miller Church near Clarence later identified himself with this flock. Following the active years of Bishop John Lapp the church dwindled, and with the loss of the Krehbiel followers became very weak. The Ontario Conference supplied the ministers for a number of years until about 1920. New families moving in from various states gave rise to a revived congregation in a more easterly location (see Clarence Center). The Good cemetery is still the burying grounds for the Clarence Center congregation.
| Author(s) | Joseph C Fretz |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1956 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Fretz, Joseph C. "Good's Mennonite Church (Clarence Center, New York, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Good%27s_Mennonite_Church_(Clarence_Center,_New_York,_USA)&oldid=94866.
APA style
Fretz, Joseph C. (1956). Good's Mennonite Church (Clarence Center, New York, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Good%27s_Mennonite_Church_(Clarence_Center,_New_York,_USA)&oldid=94866.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 541. All rights reserved.
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