Hopewell Mennonite Church (Kouts, Indiana, USA)

Amish Mennonites from Hopedale, Illinois, began to settle near Kouts, Indiana, in 1916. In April 1918, Bishop John C. Birky organized a Sunday school at Kouts and helped the group choose the name Hopewell. Initially, the group briefly affiliated with the Western District Amish Mennonite Conference with 18 charter members. In September 1918, bishop oversight switched to Jacob K. Bixler of the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference, thus changing the congregation's affiliation.

Initially, the Hopewell congregation met in the Cook schoolhouse south of Kouts. On 4 February 1919, the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Mission Board purchased land south of Kouts and built a meetinghouse that summer. The new church was dedicated on 28 September 1919. The congregation became independent of the mission board in 1922.

During World War II, the Hopewell congregation supported its men in Civilian Public Service with an annual allowance of $120.

In 1952, the congregation built a new church at the north edge of Kouts. It added a fellowship hall in 1977, and in 1994, added to the sanctuary with a nursery, library, offices, and classrooms. Easy-access washrooms were added in 2014.

The congregation started a small mission at English Lake, Indiana in 1949, with Summer Bible School and Sunday school services first held in a rented schoolhouse. Eventually, a new church was built, and the English Lake congregation became independent in 1972. In the early 1950s, four families from the Hopewell congregation moved to Blountstown, Florida. They helped to start the Oak Terrace Mennonite Church. Members from Hopewell who lived in the Valparaiso area also began a new congregation in 1966, and the church became independent from Hopewell in 1969 (Valparaiso Mennonite Church).

By 2006, Hopewell Mennonite Church had produced 22 pastors from within the congregation who have pastored elsewhere.

Bibliography

Beck, Bill. "Hopewell Mennonite." Gospel Evangel 87, no. 1 (January/February 2006): 2.

"History of Hopewell Mennonite Church." Hopewell Mennonite Church. 2020? Web. 4 June 2024. https://www.hopewellmc.org/history.html.

Preheim, Rich. In Pursuit of Faithfulness: Conviction, Conflict, and Compromise in Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference. Harrisonburg, Va.: Herald Press, 2016: 169, 183, 309.

Wenger, John Christian. The Mennonites in Indiana and Michigan. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1961: 209-210.

Additional Information

Address: 805 North Main Street, Kouts, Indiana 46347

Telephone: 219-766-2184

Website: https://www.hopewellmc.org/

Denominational Affiliations:

Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference

Mennonite Church USA

Pastoral Leaders at Hopewell Mennonite Church

Name	Years of Service
Visiting ministers	1918-1920
James Bucher (1887-1982)	1920-1923
Jacob D. "J. D." Birky (1855-1926)(Bishop)	1920-1926
Visiting ministers	1926-1928
Dean Birky (1894-1979)	1926-1942
Paul Erb (1894-1984)(Supply)	1942-1944
Millard C. Lind (1918-2015)	1944-1947
Chester C. Osborne (1913-1998)	1947-1952
Paul E. Mininger (1908-1997)(Supply)	1952-1954
Samuel S. Miller (1908-1991) (Bishop)	1954-1955 1955-1983
John F. Murray (1932-2024) (Interim)	1961-1991? 1995-1997
Jerry Kandel	1989-1995
Bill Beck	1997-2008
Chris Birky	1997-2008
Joel A. Short	2009-

Hopewell Mennonite Church Membership

Year	Members
1918	18
1925	60
1930	81
1940	173
1950	226
1960	266
1970	266
1980	269
1990	226
2000	198
2009	188
2020	188

Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article

By John C. Wenger. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 810. All rights reserved.

Hopewell Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church USA), located in the village of Kouts, Porter County, Indiana, is a member of the Indiana-Michigan Conference. The original Mennonite settlers in this area came largely from Hopedale, Illinois, and Nebraska, beginning in 1916. They built their first meetinghouse in 1919, just south of the village, and in 1952 a new house of worship at the northern edge of the village. The most outstanding leader of the church was Bishop Jacob Z. Birky (1855-1926), who was born at Morton, Illinois, and ordained preacher in Nebraska in 1895, and bishop in 1902. He located at Kouts, Indiana, in 1920. He was a brother of Bishop John C. Birky (1849-1920); of Hopedale, Illinois. The membership in 1954 was 207, with pastor Samuel S. Miller.

Author(s)	Samuel J Steiner
Date Published	June 2024

Cite This Article

MLA style

Steiner, Samuel J. "Hopewell Mennonite Church (Kouts, Indiana, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. June 2024. Web. 24 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hopewell_Mennonite_Church_(Kouts,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=179469.

APA style

Steiner, Samuel J. (June 2024). Hopewell Mennonite Church (Kouts, Indiana, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hopewell_Mennonite_Church_(Kouts,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=179469.

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