Shenk, John M. (1848-1935)
John M. Shenk, (1848-1935) a bishop in the Ohio Mennonite Conference, was born in Hocking County, Ohio, 19 January 1848. His grandfather, Jacob Shank, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and moved to Rockingham County, Virginia. There his eldest son Henry, father of John M., was born. Henry Shank left Harrisonburg, and married Susanna, sister of John M. Brenneman, whom they followed to Allen County, Ohio, about 1855. At the Salem Church at the age of nineteen John M. Shenk was baptized and at once took an active part in the Sunday school. At twenty-one he married Frances Good; ten of their eleven children grew to maturity. At Salem he was chosen by lot and ordained to the ministry in 1874 by George Brenneman, his bishop uncle. Ten years later he was ordained bishop by Abraham Shank of Virginia. From 1920 to 1927, when the Ohio Mennonite Conference merged with the Eastern Amish Mennonite Conference to form the Ohio and Eastern Amish Mennonite Conference, he was the only Mennonite bishop in the western half of the state. He was much interested in the missionary and charitable activities of the church. He seldom missed a meeting of General Conference or of the state conference and long worked for the union of the Amish Mennonite and Mennonite Conferences.
| Author(s) | John S Umble |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Umble, John S. "Shenk, John M. (1848-1935)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Shenk,_John_M._(1848-1935)&oldid=113636.
APA style
Umble, John S. (1959). Shenk, John M. (1848-1935). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Shenk,_John_M._(1848-1935)&oldid=113636.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 514. All rights reserved.
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