South Colon Mennonite Church (Colon, Michigan, USA)
The Locust Grove Mennonite Church began the South Colon Mennonite Church in Colon Township, St. Joseph County, Michigan, as an outpost in 1954. It began with a Sunday school, Young People's Bible Meetings, and midweek services.
In 1955, the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Mission Board licensed William Wickey as the first local pastor of the group.
Locust Grove purchased and initially held services in the former 1871 St. Paul Reformed Church, which had been unused for more than 20 years. In 1960, the South Colon Mennonite congregation purchased the school building across the road from the church for its meetinghouse. It used that facility as its meetinghouse and hoped to use the older building for larger activities like Summer Bible School.
In 1986, the South Colon Mennonite Church helped to launch the Christian Fellowship Center in Sturgis, Michigan.
In 2000, the South Colon Mennonite Church withdrew from the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference of the Mennonite Church (MC). It subsequently changed its name to New Covenant Christian Fellowship and, in the 2010s, to Covenant Church. The Colon location of the Covenant Church appeared to close in the 2010s, though the Covenant Church had other campuses. Initially, the New Covenant Christian Fellowship retained some Mennonite identity, but this changed over time.
Bibliography
"Attendance has been as high as 130...." Gospel Herald 80, no. 8 (24 February 1987): 138.
Preheim, Rich. In Pursuit of Faithfulness: Conviction, Conflict, and Compromise in Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference. Harrisonburg, Va.: Herald Press, 2016: 312.
"The South Colon Church,..." Gospel Herald 54, no. 4 (24 January 1961): 90.
Wenger, John Christian. The Mennonites in Indiana and Michigan. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1961: 245.
Additional Information
Address: 32969 Custer Road, Burr Oak, Michigan 49030
Telephone:
Website:
Denominational Affiliations:
Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference (Until 2000)
Pastoral Leaders at South Colon Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Locust Grove ministers | 1954-1955 |
| William A. Wickey (1929-2022) | 1955-1963 |
| Harold L. Mast (1935-2021) | 1960-1964 |
| Ora D. Schrock (1910-1996) (Bishop) |
1964-1969 1969-1974 |
| Thomas Miller | 1969-1973? |
| Landis C. Martin (1917-1990) | 1974-1988 |
| Edward "Ike" Porter (Interim) | 1988-1991 |
| Clint Zehr | 1991-2010s? |
| Matt Jones | 2010s?-2010s? |
South Colon Mennonite Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 47 |
| 1970 | 66 |
| 1980 | 66 |
| 1990 | 105 |
| 2000 | 103 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Melvin Gingerich. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 585. All rights reserved.
South Colon Mennonite Church, Colon, Michigan, was established in 1954 by members from Locust Grove. It had 41 members in 1957, William Wickey serving as minister.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | August 2024 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "South Colon Mennonite Church (Colon, Michigan, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. August 2024. Web. 12 Aug 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=South_Colon_Mennonite_Church_(Colon,_Michigan,_USA)&oldid=179440.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (August 2024). South Colon Mennonite Church (Colon, Michigan, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 12 August 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=South_Colon_Mennonite_Church_(Colon,_Michigan,_USA)&oldid=179440.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.