Conestoga Mennonite Church (Morgantown, Pennsylvania, USA)

Conestoga Mennonite Church in Morgantown, Pennsylvania in 1946.
Source: Mennonite Community Photograph Collection, The Congregation (HM4-134 Box 1 photo 010.0-21).
Mennonite Church USA Archives, Goshen, Indiana.

Conestoga Mennonite Church in Morgantown, Pennsylvania in July 1949.
Source: Mennonite Community Photograph Collection, The Congregation (HM4-134 Box 1 photo 010.0-18).
Mennonite Church USA Archives, Goshen, Indiana.

The Conestoga Mennonite Church (former Conestoga Amish Mennonite Church) is a member of Mennonite Church USA. It is located west of Morgantown, in Caernarvon Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Its members, most of whom were farmers in the 1950s, are located in the three adjoining counties of Lancaster, Berks, and Chester.

The church was founded in 1760 and is therefore the first permanent Amish Mennonite congregation in North America. Among the first settlers were those having the family names of Mast, Hoelley, Hertzler, and Lapp. Jacob Mast served as the first resident minister of the congregation and was elected its bishop in 1788. The following bishops served this church into the 1950s: Jacob Hertzler, 1760-1786; Jacob Mast, 1788-1808; Peter Plank, 1808-1831; John Plank, 1831-1835; John Stoltzfus, 1835-1837; David Beiler, 1837-1845; John K. Stoltzfus, 1845-1854; Christian Umble, 1854-1877; John P. Mast, 1877-1888; Gideon Stoltzfus, 1888-1908; John S. Mast, 1908-51; and Ira A. Kurtz, 1944-    .

About 1869 differences of opinion arose within the congregation concerning the adoption of more progressive forms of worship. The most conservative minority withdrew from the congregation in 1877, thus establishing an Old Order Amish group in the community. The larger group soon after this built its first church, dedicating it in June 1882. A subsequent church edifice was erected in 1923, and another new facility in 2001. The church experienced a major fire in June 2008, but subsequently rebuilt.

In 1850 the membership of the church was 30, by 1882 it had grown to 80, by 1923 the number had increased to 225, and by 1952 the total was 380. The Conestoga Church had in the early 1950s planted three organized churches under its bishop jurisdiction. The Rock Amish Mennonite Church was organized in 1936, the Oley Church in 1942, and the Zions Church in 1951. The three are situated in Berks County, within a radius of 25 miles.

In 2013, the membership was 169; the pastor was Robert L. Petersheim and the youth pastor was Rachel Elizabeth Mast.

Bibliography

Mast, C. Z. and Robert E. Simpson. Annals of the Conestoga Valley in Lancaster, Berits, and Chester Counties, Pennsylvania. Elverson, Pennsylvania, 1942.

Stauffer, Cindy. "Out of the ashes." Lancaster New Era (16 June 2008). Web. 8 September 2012.http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/223173_Out-of-the-ashes.html

Additional Information

Address: 2779 Main Street, Morgantown, Pennsylvania 19543

Phone: 610-286-9124

Website: Conestoga Mennonite Church

Denominational Affiliations:

Ohio and Eastern Mennonite Conference (MC)

Atlantic Coast Conference

Mennonite Church USA

Author(s)	C. Z Mast
Date Published	1953

Cite This Article

MLA style

Mast, C. Z. "Conestoga Mennonite Church (Morgantown, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1953. Web. 23 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Conestoga_Mennonite_Church_(Morgantown,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=117216.

APA style

Mast, C. Z. (1953). Conestoga Mennonite Church (Morgantown, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Conestoga_Mennonite_Church_(Morgantown,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=117216.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 668. All rights reserved.

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