Emma Church (Topeka, Indiana, USA)
Emma Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church), five miles (eight km) north of Topeka, Lagrange County, Indiana, was organized in 1901, with 40 charter members formerly belonging to the Shore and Forks congregations. The church was a member of the Indiana-Michigan Conference. The first minister was O. S. Hostetler and the first deacon Menno J. Yoder, both ordained 15 October 1902. Hostetler served as bishop starting in 1923, and Yoder as minister starting in 1923. On 29 June 1924, Amos O. Hostetler was ordained to serve as deacon and on 3 September 1944 he was ordained minister. On 1 April 1945, Ivan Miller was ordained deacon and March 1954, bishop. The membership in 1953 was 205. A new church was built in the Plato community five miles (eight km) east of Lagrange, where a number of the members were located and organized a separate congregation. In 2008 the membership was 186; the pastor was Gene A. Hartman.
In 2016/17 the Emma Mennonite Church left the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference. This move was part of a larger realignment of Mennonite congregations in the 2010s that were formerly part of Mennonite Church USA. These congregations were unhappy with Mennonite Church USA's failure to take stronger disciplinary actions against area conferences and congregations who expressed openness to inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. The Emma congregation became part of the Evana Network.
Additional Information
Address: 1900 S 600 W, Topeka, Indiana
Phone: 260-593-2036
Website: http://www.emmamc.org/
Denominational/Network Affiliations
| Author(s) | Amos O Hostetler |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1956 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Hostetler, Amos O. "Emma Church (Topeka, Indiana, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Emma_Church_(Topeka,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=161041.
APA style
Hostetler, Amos O. (1956). Emma Church (Topeka, Indiana, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Emma_Church_(Topeka,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=161041.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 203. All rights reserved.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.