View source for Mennonite Congregation of Boston (Boston, Massachusetts, USA)

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The Mennonite Congregation of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, began formally on 20 April 1962 by Mennonites of the greater Boston area who had been meeting informally for three years. There were 19 charters members. The group selected [[Burkholder, John Lawrence (1917-2010)|J. Lawrence Burkholder]], a faculty member at the Harvard Divinity School, as the initial leader. Other early leaders included Robert Jungas, J. R. Burkholder, and Owen Gingerich. Leaders listed a few years later included [[Kaufman, Gordon D. (1925-2011)|Gordon D. Kaufman]] and Marvin Dirks.

In 1966 the Mennonite Congregation of Boston joined both the [[Eastern District Conference (Mennonite Church USA)|Eastern District Conference]] of the [[General Conference Mennonite Church (GCM)|General Conference Mennonite Church]] and the [[Ohio and Eastern Mennonite Conference (MC)|Ohio and Eastern Conference]] of the [[Mennonite Church (MC)]]. It was an early "dual-conference" congregation because members came from diverse backgrounds.

For many years the congregation had a tradition of volunteer pastors or co-pastors, often lay members. Pastors served for one year and worked with the church council, a group of regular participants headed by a chair or co-chairpersons who volunteered to provide leadership and plan weekly meetings throughout the year.

After initially meeting in homes, in 1963, the congregation began to meet in the chapel of the First Congregational Church of Cambridge, though it's unclear how long it met there. Then, in December 1985, the congregation moved permanently to the Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church in Somerville, Massachusetts. Finally, beginning in September 2003, it moved to the Harvard Epworth United Methodist Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where it was still located in 2022.

In 2021 the congregation was part of the [[Atlantic Coast Conference of Mennonite Church USA]]. That conference was formerly the eastern part of the Ohio and Eastern Conference before it became a separate conference in 1978.
= Bibliography =
"A brief introduction." Mennonite Congregation of Boston. 2021. Web. 22 December 2021. https://mennonitecongregationofboston.org/history/.

"New church organized." ''Gospel Herald'' 56, no. 6 (5 February 1963): 120.	

"A new congregation...." ''Gospel Herald'' 55, no. 19 (8 May 1962): 434.

= Additional Information =

'''Meeting Address''': 1555 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138-2903

'''Phone''': 617-868-7784

'''Website''': https://mennonitecongregationofboston.org/

'''Denominational Affiliations''':
[https://atlanticcoastconference.net/ Atlantic Coast Conference]

[https://www.mennoniteusa.org/ Mennonite Church USA]
== Pastoral Leaders at Mennonite Congregation of Boston ==
{| class="wikitable" 
|-
! Name !! Years<br/>of Service
|-
| Volunteer leadership || 1962-2009
|-
| Earl Sears (Interim) || 2003-2006
|-
| Nancy Frey || 2009-2012
|-
| Bruce Bradshaw || 2012-present
|}
== Membership at Mennonite Congregation of Boston ==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right;"
|-
! year!! Membership
|-
| 1962 || 19
|-
| 1970 || 28
|-
| 1980 || 43
|-
| 1990 || 33
|-
| 2000 || 52
|-
| 2007 || 49
|-
| 2020 || 49
|}
{{GAMEO_footer|hp=|date=December 2021|a1_last=Steiner|a1_first=Samuel J|a2_last=|a2_first=}}
[[Category:Churches]]
[[Category:Mennonite Church USA Congregations]]
[[Category:Atlantic Coast Conference of Mennonite Church USA Congregations]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania Congregations]]
[[Category:United States Congregations]]