Crossroads Community Church (Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA)
Crossroads Community Church (formerly Weaver Mennonite Church), (Mennonite Church USA), located on State Route 56, two miles east of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in Cambria County just across the border from Somerset County, a member of the Allegheny Mennonite Conference, had its beginning before 1800 when the Weaver, Baumgardner, Keim, Blough, and other families, including some Amish and some Dunkers, settled in this fertile region under-laid with good coal. The first services were held (date unknown) in a log schoolhouse deeded on 7 May 1817, to Christian Lehman and Jacob Whetstone as trustees. In 1855 a log meetinghouse (30 x 36 ft.) was erected beside the schoolhouse, replaced in 1878 by the present frame meetinghouse (40 x 50 ft.), which has been remodeled twice.
For many years the congregation had no resident minister, and was served once in four weeks by a minister from the Blough church in Somerset County, 10 miles to the south. In 1854 Samuel Blough was ordained as the first resident minister, who also served from 1878-1883 as the third bishop of the Johnstown District. In 1879-80 Sunday school was begun. The first sewing circle in the Johnstown district was established here in 1910. Alexander Weaver was long a minister here, 1893-1952.
In 1900 William C. Hershberger was ordained, but later moved to Spring and in 1912 was serving at the Stahl Mennonite Church. He returned to serve again from 1945 to 1951. Daniel S. Yoder was ordained minister in 1907. 1914 saw Hiram Wingard ordained minister, serving until 1952. Clarence Alwine was ordained here in 1947, but by 1952 was serving at Headricks, north of Johnstown. Harold E. Thomas (1911-2001) served as pastor (ordained to the ministry in 1950) and Hiram Wingard (b. 1914) as assistant. Men who served here as deacons: Tobias Weaver, ?-1896?; Tobias Lehman, 1871-1906; John Henry Blough, 1882-1885?; Daniel S. Yoder, 1900-1907; John F Harshberger, 1909-1913?; Levi H. Weaver, 1911-1952; and Mervin Hostetler, 1952-1971?.
In 1957 the membership was 51, with Harold E. Thomas (1911-2001) as pastor (ordained to the ministry in 1950) and Hiram Wingard (b. 1914) as assistant.
The congregation reorganized in 2000 as Crossroads Community Church and had 50 members in 2007.
Bibliography
Kaufman, Ammon. "Weaver Church." Southwestern-Pennsylvania Conference News VI (November-December 1947): 3.
| Author(s) | Harold S. Bender |
|---|---|
| Richard D. Thiessen | |
| Date Published | July 2007 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Bender, Harold S. and Richard D. Thiessen. "Crossroads Community Church (Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. July 2007. Web. 24 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Crossroads_Community_Church_(Johnstown,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=133418.
APA style
Bender, Harold S. and Richard D. Thiessen. (July 2007). Crossroads Community Church (Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Crossroads_Community_Church_(Johnstown,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=133418.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 904. All rights reserved.
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