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[[File:Prairie Street 1901.jpg|300px|thumbnail|right|''Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.), after 1901.<br />
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Citation: Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.) Records, 1872-2001. III-14-002. Box 15, Folder 1.<br />
 +
Mennonite Church USA Archives - Goshen. Goshen, Indiana.<br />
 +
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mennonitechurchusa-archives/16403379435/in/dateposted/.]]''
 +
[[File:Prairie Street 1920.jpg|300px|thumbnail|right|''Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.), ca. 1920.<br />
 +
Citation: Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.) Records, 1872-2001. <br />
 +
III-14-002. Box 15, Folder 1. Mennonite Church USA Archives - Goshen. Goshen, Indiana.<br />
 +
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mennonitechurchusa-archives/15780904314/in/dateposted/.]]''
 +
[[File:Prairie Street 1935.jpg|300px|thumbnail|right|''Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.), after 1935.<br />
 +
Citation: Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.) Records, 1872-2001. <br />
 +
III-14-002. Box 15, Folder 1. Mennonite Church USA Archives - Goshen. Goshen, Indiana.<br />
 +
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mennonitechurchusa-archives/16402458602/in/dateposted/.]]''
 +
[[File:Prairie Street 1960.jpg|300px|thumbnail|right|''Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.), ca. 1960. <br />
 +
Citation: Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.) Records, 1872-2001. <br />
 +
III-14-002. Box 15, Folder 1. Mennonite Church USA Archives - Goshen. Goshen, Indiana.<br />
 +
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mennonitechurchusa-archives/16377397236/in/dateposted/.]]''
 
Prairie Street Mennonite Church ([[Mennonite Church (MC)|Mennonite Church]] [MC]), Elkhart, [[Indiana (USA)|Indiana]], a member of the [[Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference (Mennonite Church USA)|Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference]], was organized by [[Funk, John Fretz (1835-1930)|John F. Funk]], a minister who had moved into the city in 1867 and set up a publishing com­pany there. Preaching services had been held in the city every two weeks in the homes of the members since 4 December 1870. The meetinghouse was built at the present site in 1871 and the first service held in it on 26 November 1871. (Elkhart at that time had a pop­ulation of some 3,000.) The meetinghouse, a frame building, which was enlarged in 1895 and 1901, burned to the ground in 1935 and was replaced by a brick building seating 550. Its membership in 1957 was 288. Two daughter congregations have de­veloped in Elkhart out of mission outposts: [[Belmont Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Indiana, USA)|Belmont]] in 1929 and Roselawn in 1949, with (1957) mem­berships of 100 and 44 respectively, making a total membership in Elkhart of 492. The congregation was organized in 1871.
 
Prairie Street Mennonite Church ([[Mennonite Church (MC)|Mennonite Church]] [MC]), Elkhart, [[Indiana (USA)|Indiana]], a member of the [[Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference (Mennonite Church USA)|Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference]], was organized by [[Funk, John Fretz (1835-1930)|John F. Funk]], a minister who had moved into the city in 1867 and set up a publishing com­pany there. Preaching services had been held in the city every two weeks in the homes of the members since 4 December 1870. The meetinghouse was built at the present site in 1871 and the first service held in it on 26 November 1871. (Elkhart at that time had a pop­ulation of some 3,000.) The meetinghouse, a frame building, which was enlarged in 1895 and 1901, burned to the ground in 1935 and was replaced by a brick building seating 550. Its membership in 1957 was 288. Two daughter congregations have de­veloped in Elkhart out of mission outposts: [[Belmont Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Indiana, USA)|Belmont]] in 1929 and Roselawn in 1949, with (1957) mem­berships of 100 and 44 respectively, making a total membership in Elkhart of 492. The congregation was organized in 1871.
  
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The Prairie Street congregation has been one of the most progressive and active MC congregations, partly because of the presence of the [[Mennonite Publishing Company (Elkhart, Indiana, USA)|Mennonite Pub­lishing Company]] and the early progressive leadership of Funk, who was also bishop of the con­gregation from 1891 until his removal from that office in 1900. Here the [[Mennonite Aid Plan|Mennonite Aid Plan]] was organized in 1882, the [[Mennonite Evangelizing Committee (Mennonite Church) |Mennonite Evangelizing Committee]] in 1882, which developed into the [[Mennonite Board of Missions (Mennonite Church)|Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities]], which has always had its headquarters here, and the Elkhart Institute in 1894, which developed into [[Goshen College (Goshen, Indiana, USA)|Goshen College]] in 1903. The first [[Young People's Bible Meeting|Young Peo­ple's Meeting]] (MC) was started here in 1897, and the [[Mennonite Book and Tract Society|Mennonite Book and Tract Society]] was organized in 1894. In the Prairie Street church the first MC foreign missionaries were consecrated in 1899, namely, [[Page, Alice Thut (1872-1951) and William B. (1871-1945)|W. B. Page and his wife]] and [[Ressler, Jacob Andrews (1867-1936)|J. A. Ressler]]. Prairie Street was also one of the first MC con­gregations to engage a seminary-trained minister and adopt the one-pastor system, when it engaged J. E. Hartzler in 1910.
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The Prairie Street congregation has been one of the most progressive and active MC congregations, partly because of the presence of the [[Mennonite Publishing Company (Elkhart, Indiana, USA)|Mennonite Pub­lishing Company]] and the early progressive leadership of Funk, who was also bishop of the con­gregation from 1891 until his removal from that office in 1900. Here the [[Mennonite Aid Plan|Mennonite Aid Plan]] was organized in 1882, the [[Mennonite Evangelizing Committee (Mennonite Church) |Mennonite Evangelizing Committee]] in 1882, which developed into the [[Mennonite Board of Missions (Mennonite Church)|Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities]], which has always had its headquarters here, and the Elkhart Institute in 1894, which developed into [[Goshen College (Goshen, Indiana, USA)|Goshen College]] in 1903. The first [[Young People's Bible Meeting|Young Peo­ple's Meeting]] (MC) was started here in 1897, and the [[Mennonite Book and Tract Society|Mennonite Book and Tract Society]] was organized in 1894. In the Prairie Street church the first MC foreign missionaries were consecrated in 1899, namely, [[Page, Alice Thut (1872-1951) and William B. (1871-1945)|W. B. Page and his wife]] and [[Ressler, Jacob Andrews (1867-1936)|J. A. Ressler]]. Prairie Street was also one of the first MC con­gregations to engage a seminary-trained minister and adopt the one-pastor system when it engaged [[Hartzler, John Ellsworth (1879-1963)|J. E. Hartzler]] in 1910.
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In 1959-60, the church added an annex with a basement and improved the sanctuary. This was an important decision since the community around the church was changing. Prairie Street members decided to stay at their location. An addition in the 1990s on the east side of the building provided offices for pastors and the administrative assistant and a covered drive-through canopy. An elevator was installed to provide access to three floor levels.
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In 1969, the church made optional the former requirement that women members wear a prayer veil at church. This followed careful study within the congregation, and was approved by congregational vote.
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By 2006, the community around Prairie Street Mennonite had changed considerably. The community was a third African American, a third Hispanic, and a third Caucasian. The active membership at that time remained primarily Caucasian.
 
= Bibliography =
 
= Bibliography =
−
<em>Minutes of the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Confer­ence 1864-1929. </em>Scottdale, 1929: contains a brief histor­ical sketch of the congregation.
+
 
 +
Bender, John. "Our story." Prairie Street Mennonite Church. 28 July 2015. Web. 26 July 2024. https://www.prairiestreetmc.org/history/.
 +
 
 +
Graber, J. D. and John Bender. ''100 Years: Prairie Street Mennonite Church, 1871-1941''. Elkhart, IN: Prairie Street Mennonite Church, 1971. Available in full electronic text at: https://archive.org/details/100yearsprairies00grab.
 +
 
 +
Kreider, Andrew. "Prairie Street Mennonite." ''Gospel Evangel'' 87, no. 7 (November 2006): 8-9.
 +
 
 +
Mishler, Dorsa J. and Russell Krabill. ''The Prairie Street Mennonite Church Story: 1871-1996'', edited by John Bender. Elkhart, IN: Prairie Street Mennonite Church, 1996.
 +
 
 +
''Minutes of the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Confer­ence 1864-1929.'' Scottdale, 1929: contains a brief histor­ical sketch of the congregation.
 +
 
 +
"Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.) Historical Sketch." Mennonite Church USA Archives. Web. 26 October 2013. https://mla.bethelks.edu/archon/?p=creators/creator&id=288.
 +
 
 +
==Archival Records==
 +
 
 +
Mennonite Church USA Archives-Goshen: ID III/14-02.
 
= Additional Information =
 
= Additional Information =
−
Address: 1316 Prairie Street, Elkhart, IN 46516; Telephone: 574-293-0377
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'''Address''': 1316 Prairie Street, Elkhart, IN 46516
  
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Church website: [http://www.prairiestreetmc.org/ http://www.prairiestreetmc.org/]
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'''Telephone''': 574-293-0377
  
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Prairie Street Mennonite Church Leading Ministers (1871-1958)
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'''Website''': https://www.prairiestreetmc.org/
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'''Denominational Affiliations''':
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[https://www.im.mennonite.net/ Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference]
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[https://www.mennoniteusa.org/ Mennonite Church USA]
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=== Prairie Street Mennonite Church Leading Ministers ===
 
{| class="wikitable"
 
{| class="wikitable"
 
|-
 
|-
−
! Header text !! Header text
+
! Minister !! Years of Service
 +
|-
 +
| [[Funk, John Fretz (1835-1930)|John F. Funk]] (1835-1930) || 1871-1935
 +
|-
 +
| [[Coffman, John S. (1848-1899)|John S. Coffman]] (1848-1899) || 1879-1899
 +
|-
 +
| Joseph S. Lehman (1847-1936) || 1892-1904
 +
|-
 +
| [[Bender, George Lewis (1867-1921)|G. L. Bender]] (1867-1921)(deacon) || 1907-1921
 +
|-
 +
| [[Hartzler, John Ellsworth (1879-1963)|John E. Hartzler]] (1879-1963) || 1910-1913
 +
|-
 +
| William B. Weaver (1887-1963) || 1914-1920
 +
|-
 +
| [[Funk, John Fretz (1835-1930)|John F. Funk]], Samuel Yoder, and [[Bixler, Jacob K. (1877-1939)|Jacob K. Bixler]] (interim) || 1920-1923
 +
|-
 +
| [[Hartzler, Jonas S. (1857-1953)|J. S. Hartzler]] (1857-1953) || 1923-1940
 +
|-
 +
| John E. Gingrich (1900-1983) || 1940-1953
 +
|-
 +
| Jacob B. "J. B." Shenk (1927-2016) || 1953-1957
 +
|-
 +
| Howard J. Zehr (1916-1977) || 1958-1964
 +
|-
 +
| Russell R. Krabill (1917-2005) || 1965-1977
 +
|-
 +
| Philip S. Bedsworth (1950-1993) || 1978-1984
 +
|-
 +
| Dorsa J. Mishler (1916-2005)(Assistant)<br />(Interim) || 1979-1984<br />1988-1990
 +
|-
 +
| Charles Cooper || 1985-1988
 +
|-
 +
| Harold Yoder (Co-pastor) || 1990-1996
 +
|-
 +
| Ruth Yoder (Co-pastor) || 1990-1995
 +
|-
 +
| Daniel Z. Miller (Interim) || 1997-1998
 +
|-
 +
| Andrew Kreider || 1998-2009
 +
|-
 +
| Paula Snyder Belousek (Associate) || 2005-2008
 +
|-
 +
| M. Frances Ringenberg (Associate) || 2010-2019
 +
|-
 +
| J. Nelson Kraybill || 2010-2018
 +
|-
 +
| Carolyn Hunt (Associate) || 2014-2019
 +
|-
 +
| Steve Thomas (Transitional) || 2018-2019
 +
|-
 +
| Quinn Brenneke (co-pastor) || 2019-
 +
|-
 +
| Cyneatha Millsaps (co-pastor) || 2020-2023
 +
|}
 +
=== Prairie Street Mennonite Church Membership ===
 +
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
 
|-
 
|-
−
| [[Funk, John Fretz (1835-1930)|John F. Funk]] || align="right" | 1871-1935
+
! Year !! Members
 
|-
 
|-
−
| [[Coffman, John S. (1848-1899)|John S. Coffman]] || align="right" | 1879-1899
+
| 1905 || 90
 
|-
 
|-
−
| J. S. Lehman || align="right" | 1892-1904
+
| 1915 || 210
 
|-
 
|-
−
| [[Bender, George Lewis (1867-1921)|G. L. Bender]] (deacon) || align="right" | 1907-1921
+
| 1940 || 350
 
|-
 
|-
−
| [[Hartzler, John Ellsworth (1879-1963)|J. E. Hartzler]] || align="right" | 1910-1914
+
| 1955 || 290
 
|-
 
|-
−
| W. B. Weaver || align="right" | 1914-1923
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| 1975 || 370
 
|-
 
|-
−
| [[Hartzler, Jonas S. (1857-1953)|J. S. Hartzler]] || align="right" | 1923-1933
+
| 1995 || 230
 
|-
 
|-
−
| J. E. Gingrich || align="right" | 1933-1953
+
| 2000 || 203
 
|-
 
|-
−
| J. B. Shenk || align="right" | 1953-1957
+
| 2009 || 132
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Howard Zehr || align="right" | 1958-
+
| 2020 || 90
 
|}
 
|}
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{{GAMEO_footer|hp=Vol. 4, p. 209|date=1959|a1_last=Bender|a1_first=Harold S|a2_last=|a2_first=}}
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{{GAMEO_footer|hp=Vol. 4, p. 209|date=July 2024|a1_last=Bender|a1_first=Harold S.|a2_last=Steiner|a2_first=Samuel J.}}
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[[Category:Churches]]
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[[Category:Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference Congregations]]
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[[Category:Mennonite Church (MC) Congregations]]
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[[Category:Mennonite Church USA Congregations]]
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[[Category:Indiana Congregations]]
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[[Category:United States Congregations]]

Latest revision as of 14:52, 27 July 2024

Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.), after 1901.
Citation: Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.) Records, 1872-2001. III-14-002. Box 15, Folder 1.
Mennonite Church USA Archives - Goshen. Goshen, Indiana.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mennonitechurchusa-archives/16403379435/in/dateposted/.

Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.), ca. 1920.
Citation: Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.) Records, 1872-2001.
III-14-002. Box 15, Folder 1. Mennonite Church USA Archives - Goshen. Goshen, Indiana.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mennonitechurchusa-archives/15780904314/in/dateposted/.

Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.), after 1935.
Citation: Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.) Records, 1872-2001.
III-14-002. Box 15, Folder 1. Mennonite Church USA Archives - Goshen. Goshen, Indiana.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mennonitechurchusa-archives/16402458602/in/dateposted/.

Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.), ca. 1960.
Citation: Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.) Records, 1872-2001.
III-14-002. Box 15, Folder 1. Mennonite Church USA Archives - Goshen. Goshen, Indiana.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mennonitechurchusa-archives/16377397236/in/dateposted/.

Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church [MC]), Elkhart, Indiana, a member of the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference, was organized by John F. Funk, a minister who had moved into the city in 1867 and set up a publishing com­pany there. Preaching services had been held in the city every two weeks in the homes of the members since 4 December 1870. The meetinghouse was built at the present site in 1871 and the first service held in it on 26 November 1871. (Elkhart at that time had a pop­ulation of some 3,000.) The meetinghouse, a frame building, which was enlarged in 1895 and 1901, burned to the ground in 1935 and was replaced by a brick building seating 550. Its membership in 1957 was 288. Two daughter congregations have de­veloped in Elkhart out of mission outposts: Belmont in 1929 and Roselawn in 1949, with (1957) mem­berships of 100 and 44 respectively, making a total membership in Elkhart of 492. The congregation was organized in 1871.

The Prairie Street congregation has been one of the most progressive and active MC congregations, partly because of the presence of the Mennonite Pub­lishing Company and the early progressive leadership of Funk, who was also bishop of the con­gregation from 1891 until his removal from that office in 1900. Here the Mennonite Aid Plan was organized in 1882, the Mennonite Evangelizing Committee in 1882, which developed into the Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities, which has always had its headquarters here, and the Elkhart Institute in 1894, which developed into Goshen College in 1903. The first Young Peo­ple's Meeting (MC) was started here in 1897, and the Mennonite Book and Tract Society was organized in 1894. In the Prairie Street church the first MC foreign missionaries were consecrated in 1899, namely, W. B. Page and his wife and J. A. Ressler. Prairie Street was also one of the first MC con­gregations to engage a seminary-trained minister and adopt the one-pastor system when it engaged J. E. Hartzler in 1910.

In 1959-60, the church added an annex with a basement and improved the sanctuary. This was an important decision since the community around the church was changing. Prairie Street members decided to stay at their location. An addition in the 1990s on the east side of the building provided offices for pastors and the administrative assistant and a covered drive-through canopy. An elevator was installed to provide access to three floor levels.

In 1969, the church made optional the former requirement that women members wear a prayer veil at church. This followed careful study within the congregation, and was approved by congregational vote.

By 2006, the community around Prairie Street Mennonite had changed considerably. The community was a third African American, a third Hispanic, and a third Caucasian. The active membership at that time remained primarily Caucasian.

Bibliography

Bender, John. "Our story." Prairie Street Mennonite Church. 28 July 2015. Web. 26 July 2024. https://www.prairiestreetmc.org/history/.

Graber, J. D. and John Bender. 100 Years: Prairie Street Mennonite Church, 1871-1941. Elkhart, IN: Prairie Street Mennonite Church, 1971. Available in full electronic text at: https://archive.org/details/100yearsprairies00grab.

Kreider, Andrew. "Prairie Street Mennonite." Gospel Evangel 87, no. 7 (November 2006): 8-9.

Mishler, Dorsa J. and Russell Krabill. The Prairie Street Mennonite Church Story: 1871-1996, edited by John Bender. Elkhart, IN: Prairie Street Mennonite Church, 1996.

Minutes of the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Confer­ence 1864-1929. Scottdale, 1929: contains a brief histor­ical sketch of the congregation.

"Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.) Historical Sketch." Mennonite Church USA Archives. Web. 26 October 2013. https://mla.bethelks.edu/archon/?p=creators/creator&id=288.

Archival Records

Mennonite Church USA Archives-Goshen: ID III/14-02.

Additional Information

Address: 1316 Prairie Street, Elkhart, IN 46516

Telephone: 574-293-0377

Website: https://www.prairiestreetmc.org/

Denominational Affiliations:

Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference

Mennonite Church USA

Prairie Street Mennonite Church Leading Ministers

Minister Years of Service
John F. Funk (1835-1930) 1871-1935
John S. Coffman (1848-1899) 1879-1899
Joseph S. Lehman (1847-1936) 1892-1904
G. L. Bender (1867-1921)(deacon) 1907-1921
John E. Hartzler (1879-1963) 1910-1913
William B. Weaver (1887-1963) 1914-1920
John F. Funk, Samuel Yoder, and Jacob K. Bixler (interim) 1920-1923
J. S. Hartzler (1857-1953) 1923-1940
John E. Gingrich (1900-1983) 1940-1953
Jacob B. "J. B." Shenk (1927-2016) 1953-1957
Howard J. Zehr (1916-1977) 1958-1964
Russell R. Krabill (1917-2005) 1965-1977
Philip S. Bedsworth (1950-1993) 1978-1984
Dorsa J. Mishler (1916-2005)(Assistant)
(Interim)		 1979-1984
1988-1990
Charles Cooper 1985-1988
Harold Yoder (Co-pastor) 1990-1996
Ruth Yoder (Co-pastor) 1990-1995
Daniel Z. Miller (Interim) 1997-1998
Andrew Kreider 1998-2009
Paula Snyder Belousek (Associate) 2005-2008
M. Frances Ringenberg (Associate) 2010-2019
J. Nelson Kraybill 2010-2018
Carolyn Hunt (Associate) 2014-2019
Steve Thomas (Transitional) 2018-2019
Quinn Brenneke (co-pastor) 2019-
Cyneatha Millsaps (co-pastor) 2020-2023

Prairie Street Mennonite Church Membership

Year Members
1905 90
1915 210
1940 350
1955 290
1975 370
1995 230
2000 203
2009 132
2020 90


Author(s) Harold S. Bender
Samuel J. Steiner
Date Published July 2024

Cite This Article

MLA style

Bender, Harold S. and Samuel J. Steiner. "Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Indiana, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. July 2024. Web. 27 Jul 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Prairie_Street_Mennonite_Church_(Elkhart,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=179358.

APA style

Bender, Harold S. and Samuel J. Steiner. (July 2024). Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Indiana, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 27 July 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Prairie_Street_Mennonite_Church_(Elkhart,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=179358.



Hpbuttns.png

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 209. All rights reserved.


©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.

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