First Mennonite Church (Hutchinson, Kansas, USA)

First Mennonite Church (FMC) began in conversations at the Western District Conference (WDC) 1912 session. Church leaders noted several Mennonite families and single women had moved to Hutchinson for employment. Rev. H. P. Krehbiel advocated Hutchison be considered a promising field and an attempt be made to establish a mission there. The delegates agreed and asked Krehbiel to take charge along with leading the Mennonite Church at Burrton, Kansas. In April 1913, Krehbiel spent two days in Hutchinson and located 14 Mennonite families. Most stated their desire to attend if meetings could be arranged. The first Mennonite religious service was held in Hutchison on 20 April 1913, at Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Sawatzky’s home at 507 East 5th Street.

Beginning in late 1914, the congregation held services over Blooms Drug Store at 305 North Main. Rev. Krehbiel wrote the following in his diary on October 18, 1914:

It is now 10:17 a.m. and I am sitting at the window of the Labor Hall in the second story. No one here yet. Will anyone come today? Multitudes of autos are going by. Will there ever be a larger representation of the Mennonite Church in Hutchinson? Surely it takes faith, courage, and endurance to achieve that end. The Lord can so guide and direct and he can also make the heart string to stand the strain of suspense. Lord help us this day. Give us enthusiasm which will persist under the time of indifference of those who should attend.

By 10:40, there were 20 people in attendance. Eventually, the group moved to the Seventh Day Adventist Church at 6th and Pershing.

WDC transferred the church’s sponsorship to the Home Mission Board in 1917. The group met once or twice a month over the next several years with WDC pastors and Bethel College students providing leadership. By 1919, the church had collected funds to construct a building at 4th and Cleveland on land owned by WDC. "The Mission," as it was known, dedicated its new building on 28 March 1920. On 9 April 1922, a constitution was approved, and the congregation became formally known as Hutchinson Mennonite Church. John J. Plenert was the pastor, and charter members included 13 transfers from Burrton Mennonite Church.

In the first 8 1/2 years, the congregation grew from 23 to 118 and improved its church building, enlarging the sanctuary’s capacity to 250. At the 1935 General Conference sessions, the congregation requested and received independence from the Home Mission Board. "Hutchinson Mennonite Church" became "First Mennonite Church" in 1939.

As membership increased, FMC pursued plans to construct a new church building on six lots given to it at 21st and Rambler in northeastern Hutchinson, still surrounded by wheat fields. FMC dedicated the new building on 29 November 1959. FMC continues to worship at this site, which it expanded in 1997 following FMC’s 75th-anniversary celebration.

FMC was instrumental in establishing the Friendship Day Care and a Voluntary Service Unit in the early 1970s, which existed for approximately 25 years. FMC’s community outreach also included ministries with inmates at what is now the Hutchinson Correctional Facility. FMC also supported the Mennonite Central Committee Relief Sale, and in the early 1990s, FMC helped begin Interfaith Housing Services and the New Beginnings Homeless Shelter.

English has always been the primary language of the congregation, and in 2021 FMC conducted its worship services in a semi-formal style with traditional music. FMC has welcomed women in leadership positions since the 1970s, and since the late 1990s, laypersons have assisted in worship services.

In 2021 FMC supported The EtCetera Shop, which began in 1978, and the adjacent Ten Thousand Villages store (which includes “Villages Tea Room – Etc Eats”), as well as Builders Bargains (a collaborative venture with Interfaith Housing). Members prepared and served meals at the Soup Kitchen. FMC also engaged in a local program to help meet the basic needs of high school students, so they could stay in school and be successful. FMC provided support for refugees in the area and helped with home repairs and accessibility renovations for community members.

As a part of a church building renovation project in the 1990s, FMC designed and installed stained glass windows in the sanctuary. Each window depicted some aspect of FMC’s deeply held Anabaptist tenents, including baptism, communion, servanthood, and peace. FMC has nurtured a peace witness by encouraging its high school seniors to engage the topic and present a Peace Essay on a Sunday morning.

Bibliography

“The History of The First Mennonite Church” presented on the 75th anniversary, 11 & 12 October 1997. Unpublished paper.

Congregation History Stories. Western District Conference. Web. 18 May 2021. https://mennowdc.org/congregation-history-stories/.

Martens, Delon and Tonya Ramer Wenger. Unpublished information provided to Western District Conference, 2021.

Additional Information

Address: 52 Rambler Rd., Hutchinson, Kansas 67502

Phone: 620-662-9385

Website: http://www.hutchfmc.org/

Denominational Affiliations: Western District Conference

Mennonite Church USA

Pastoral Leaders at First Mennonite Church

Name	Years of Service
Henry Peter Krehbiel (1862-1940)	1913-1914
H. J. Dyck (1880-1970)	1914-1916
William C. Voth (1888-1962)	1916-1917
Henry T. Unruh (1885-1976)	1917-1921
John J. Plenert (1893-1953)	1921-1925 1927-1936
T. Alvin van der Smissen (1897-1974)	1925-1926
P. J. Wiens (1877-1945)	1926-1927
Clyde H. Dirks (1907-1969)	1936-1945
Victor Sawatzky (1914-1999)	1946-1953
H. Leonard Metzker (1917-1993)	1954-1963
Wendell Rempel	1963-1967
Arnold E. Funk (1900-1987)	1967-1968
Richard Ratzlaff (1923-2020)	1968-1984
Ralph Graber (1927-2002)	1984-1986
Marlin & Betta Kym	1986-1995
Debbie Schmidt	1995 1996-2009
Royce Vogt	1995-1997
LaVerle Schrag	1998-2004
Miles Reimer	2005-2012
June Thomsen	2009-2010
Tonya Ramer Wenger	2010-present
Nathan Koontz	2013-2019
Jim Unruh	2020-present

Membership at the First Mennonite Church

Year	Membership
1923	23
1930	56
1935	118
1940	122
1945	145
1950	195
1955	186
1960	220
1965	325
1970	333
1975	284
1980	326
1985	333
1990	249
1995	251
2000	245
2005	241
2010	246
2915	241
2020	240

Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article

By Victor Sawatzky. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 850. All rights reserved.

Hutchinson First Mennonite Church (General Conference Mennonite) at 725 E. 7th Street, Hutchinson, Kansas, is a member of the Western District Conference. The first service was held on 20 April 1913, and a site was purchased in 1914. Sponsorship of the church was transferred to the Home Mission Board in 1917. A church was dedicated on 28 March 1920, and a congregation organized in 1922. The congregation became independent in March 1936. In 1955 the membership was 192, with Leonard Metzker as pastor.

Author(s)	Tonya Ramer Wenger
	Delon Martens
	Kent Moore
Date Published	May 2021

Cite This Article

MLA style

Wenger, Tonya Ramer, Delon Martens and Kent Moore. "First Mennonite Church (Hutchinson, Kansas, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. May 2021. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=First_Mennonite_Church_(Hutchinson,_Kansas,_USA)&oldid=171509.

APA style

Wenger, Tonya Ramer, Delon Martens and Kent Moore. (May 2021). First Mennonite Church (Hutchinson, Kansas, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=First_Mennonite_Church_(Hutchinson,_Kansas,_USA)&oldid=171509.

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