View source for Weavertown Amish Mennonite Church (Bird in Hand, Pennsylvania, USA)

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The Weaverton Amish Mennonite Church in Ronks, [[Pennsylvania (USA)|Pennsylvania]], USA was established in 1909.  It was the result of a schism which took place due to a controversy concerning ''Meidung'' ([[Avoidance (1953)|shunning]]). 

Moses Hartz (18l9-1916) was ordained to the ministry in the Lower Pequea district of the [[Old Order Amish]] church in 1855. Moses Hart's son, also named Moses, was a millwright and worked in a plant which used machinery. This caused dissatisfaction in the church, so Moses Jr. withdrew from the Amish church and joined the Mennonites for which he was [[Excommunication|excommunicated]] by the Amish Church. Moses Hartz Sr. refused to shun his son, thus his office as minister was revoked. After several years, Moses Sr. and his wife joined the [[Conestoga Mennonite Church (Morgantown, Pennsylvania, USA)|Conestoga Mennonite Church]]. They were then shunned by the Old Order Amish church. 

A group of about 35 persons dissatisfied lay people, led by Christian Beiler, withdrew in 1909 to form their own group. They began holding meetings every three or four weeks with singing, Bible reading, in informal exhortations by the leaders. Three ministers from a like-minded group in Belleville, Pennsylvania--Bishop John P. Zook and ministers S. W. Peachey and C. D. Peachey--helped the dissidents in Lancaster County to organize. Initially the group was known as the Peachey Church. In 1911 John P. Zook ordained Christian L. King and [[Stoltzfus, John A. (1870-1957)|John A. Stoltzfus]] as ministers. King later became the bishop in 1913.

The congregation continued to worship in homes for over 20 years. In 1928 a former Church of the Brethren meetinghouse was purchased, and was used for worship beginning on 6 April 1930. The congregation then became known as the Weaverton Amish Mennonite Church.

The use of [[Automobile|cars]] was approved in October 1928. Telephones and electricity never became church issues. These things gradually came into use as they became practical parts of everyday life. English gradually replaced German in church services during the 1960s.

The congregation grew from 85 members in 1910 to over 330 in 1960.

In 2017 the church was a member of the [[Beachy Amish Mennonite Fellowship]] and had a membership of 280. The bishop was David Stoltzfoos, and the ministers were Nathan Bange and Norman Kauffman..
= Bibliography =
"Amish Mennonite Churches in Pennsylvania." The Beachy Amish Mennonites. 2013. Web. 20 March 2018. http://www.beachyam.org/churches/pa.htm.

Anderson, Cory. ''The Amish-Mennonites of North America: a portrait of our people.'' Medina, New York: Ridgeway Publishing, 2012: 5.

Beiler, Rosalie. "History." Weavertown Amish Mennonite Church. April 2017. Web. 20 March 2018. http://www.weavertown.org/about/. 

Lapp, Aaron, Jr. ''Weavertown Church history: memoirs of an Amish Mennonite church.'' Morgantown, Pa.: Masthof Press, 2003.

Lapp, Barbara Ann. "The History of the Weavertown Amish-Mennonite Church Building." Unpublished paper. 1960. Available in full electronic text at: http://www.beachyam.org/librarybooks/Lapp(1960)_History.pdf.

Lapp, Ferne Eileen. "History of Weavertown Amish-Mennonite Congregation." Unpublished undergraduate paper. 1963. Available in full electronic text at: http://www.beachyam.org/librarybooks/Lapp(1963)_History.pdf.

''Mennonite Church directory'' (2017): 48.

Yoder, Elmer S. ''The Beachy Amish Mennonite Fellowship Churches.'' Hartville, Ohio: Diakonia Ministries, 1987: 108-112, 351-352.
= Additional Information =
'''Address''': 2900 Church Road, Bird in Hand, Pennsylvania

'''Phone''': 717-768-3828

'''Website''': http://www.weavertown.org/

'''Denominational Affiliation''':

[[Beachy Amish Mennonite Fellowship]]
= Map =
[[Map:Weavertown Amish Mennonite Church (Bird in Hand, Pennsylvania, USA)|Weavertown Amish Mennonite Church]]
= Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article =

By Ira D. Landis. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from ''Mennonite Encyclopedia'', Vol. 4, pp. 905-906. All rights reserved.

Weavertown Amish Church ([[Beachy Amish Mennonite Fellowship|Beachy Amish]]), located in central and east-central, [[Lancaster County (Pennsylvania, USA)|Lancaster County]], Pennsylvania, was organized in 1910 with about 35 families by John P. Zook and Samuel Beachey of the [[Kishacoquillas Valley (Mifflin County, Pennylvania, USA)|Kishacoquillas Valley]]. The main issue was on [[Avoidance (1953)|avoidance]] and the [[ban]]. Christian L. King was the first bishop, followed by [[Stoltzfus, John A. (1870-1957)|John A. Stoltzfus]] and George W. Beiler. Elam L. Kauffman and Aaron S. Glick were the ministers in 1957. 

In 1928 the group acquired the Molasses Hill Brethren meetinghouse near Bird-in-Hand on Route 1, and remodeled it for their own use. During the late 1950s the services were mostly in German. Sunday school without helps was held all forenoon on every second Sunday, and young people's meeting was held Sunday evenings once a month. On Ascension Day in 1958 the Beachy Amish young people of the [[United States of America|United States]] held an all-day conference with Weavertown as the host. In conjunction with the Norfolk (Virginia) Beachy Amish, Elam L. Kauffman, as the Weavertown representative, opened a mission in [[Berlin (Germany)|Berlin]], [[Germany]]. Kauffman also was the conferee on the [[Mennonite Central Committee United States|Mennonite Central Committee]]. The membership in 1958 was 275.
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[[Category:Churches]]
[[Category:Beachy Amish Mennonite Fellowship Congregations]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania Congregations]]
[[Category:United States Congregations]]