First Mennonite Church (Summerfield, Illinois, USA)
First Mennonite Church (General Conference Mennonite Church) at Summerfield, Saint Clair County, Illinois, a member of the Middle District Conference, was founded by immigrants who came from the Palatinate, Germany, about the middle of the 19th century. The first regular church service of the group was held at the home of John Kraemer, 4 miles southeast of Summerfield, on 30 November 1856. A church building at the southern outskirts of Summerfield was dedicated on 23 January 1859. Daniel Hege of Lee County, Iowabecame the first pastor of the church. More than a dozen families came with him into the community. The church aligned itself at once with the General Conference Mennonite movement, and in 1863 the third session of the conference was held at Summerfield, in which it was decided to establish the first Mennonite school at Wadsworth, Ohio. In 1910 the congregation bought the abandoned Methodist church in Summerfield, and with some changes and renovations has used it as the place of worship ever since. The membership in 1957 was 92, with Ernest W. Neufeld serving as pastor.
| Author(s) | Elmer Bazinger |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Bazinger, Elmer. "First Mennonite Church (Summerfield, Illinois, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 29 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=First_Mennonite_Church_(Summerfield,_Illinois,_USA)&oldid=85448.
APA style
Bazinger, Elmer. (1959). First Mennonite Church (Summerfield, Illinois, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 29 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=First_Mennonite_Church_(Summerfield,_Illinois,_USA)&oldid=85448.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 656. All rights reserved.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.