Mount Pleasant Mennonite Church (Paradise, Pennsylvania, USA)
The Mid-Atlantic Mennonite Fellowship (MAMF) congregation of Mount Pleasant Mennonite Church, Paradise, Pennsylvania, USA, began as the Refton Mennonite Church.
The New Haven congregation was overflowing in 1985 and opened a new outreach in Refton to relieve the congestion. The Refton building, located along Main Street in Refton, Pennsylvania, was constructed by the United Brethren Church (today United Methodist) in 1883. It was purchased at public auction in 1985 for $20,000.00 and settlement was made on 12 November 1985.
The first service was held on Sunday evening, 24 November 1985. The first regular Sunday morning service was held 20 April 1986, with 53 persons in attendance. Elmer Bauman had been ordained as deacon in 1965 at Herr Street Mennonite Church (Lancaster Conference) and transferred to New Haven Mennonite Church in 1983. As he was a deacon without charge, he was given initial leadership responsibilities at Refton. Services continued at this location until June 2004.
With 15 families and 45 children, the congregation needed more Sunday school rooms. The Mount Pleasant Mennonite Church (Lancaster Conference) had decided to dissolve but wanted their building to continue being used as a church. Early in 2004, they offered to sell the building to the Refton congregation for $15,000.00. On 6 June 2004, the incoming Refton (MAMF) and departing Mount Pleasant (Lancaster Conference) congregations held a joint Sunday afternoon service for a “Passing the Torch Service.”
The final morning and evening services at the Refton location were held Sunday, 20 June 2004. The congregation's first service at the Mount Pleasant location was held on Sunday morning, 27 June 2004. The name of the MAMF congregation was changed from Refton to Mount Pleasant Mennonite Church to give the name continuity with the building, which had carried the name since 1898.
In 2013, the ministerial team consisted of Larry Weaver (bishop from Pleasant Valley), Larry Garman and Cleason Sensenig (ministers) and Vernon Fox (deacon). As of 1 January 2013, membership was 58.
For the original Mount Pleasant congregation see the article below.
Bibliography
Stauffer, Romaine, ed. Mid-Atlantic Mennonite Fellowship 1972-2013. Myerstown, Pa.: Little Mountain Printing, 2014.
Additional Information
Address: Corner of Mt. Pleasant & White Oak Road, Paradise, Pa. 17562
Phone: (717) 687-6679
Website
Denominational Affiliations: Mid-Atlantic Mennonite Fellowship
Mount Pleasant Mennonite Church Pastoral Leaders
| Ministers | Years of Service |
| John Michael Nolt | 1987-1990 |
| Nelson Weaver | 1989-1995 |
| John Hochstetler | 1993-2010 |
| Larry Garman | 2003-present |
| Cleason Sensenig | 2012-present |
Map
Map:Mount Pleasant Mennonite Church (Paradise, Pennsylvania, USA)
Original Article from Mennonite Encyclopedia
By Ira D. Landis. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 759. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.
Mount Pleasant Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church USA), located at the corner of White Oak and Mount Pleasant Roads, Paradise in the northern tip of Bart Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, was begun as a mission in 1898 in a former United Brethren meetinghouse by the Sunday School Mission, under the leadership of B. F. Book and Christian M. Neff. A congregation emerged, which in 1956 numbered 78 with Amos W. Weaver and C. Marvin Eshleman as ministers and G. Parke Book as bishop. A Christian day school for the community adjoined the meetinghouse. Mount Pleasant was a member of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference.
The congregation closed 6 June 2004.
Bibliography
Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society. "Finding Aid - LMC Congs." 12 May 2013. Web. 18 March 2014. http://www.lmhs.org/:/HTML/Home/Research/Archives/Church%20Records/Lancaster%20Conference/LMC%20Congregations-201312.PDF: 142.
| Author(s) | Romaine Stauffer |
|---|---|
| Date Published | May 2014 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Stauffer, Romaine. "Mount Pleasant Mennonite Church (Paradise, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. May 2014. Web. 22 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mount_Pleasant_Mennonite_Church_(Paradise,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=122673.
APA style
Stauffer, Romaine. (May 2014). Mount Pleasant Mennonite Church (Paradise, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 22 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mount_Pleasant_Mennonite_Church_(Paradise,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=122673.
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