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Garbers Mennonite Fellowship, 2016.
Source: Lester M. Burkholder

Garber Mennonite Church, originally of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference, is located five miles (eight km) northeast of Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania. By 1814 the scattered members had a church-schoolhouse built in the village of Menges Mills. By 1889 the present house was built. The membership in 1953 was 30, with William H. Martin as pastor, and John L. Ruppert as deacon. Joseph Hershey, at least by 1806, was a resident minister in this district, which also included Hershey and Bair's Codorus until the mid-20th century date. Others who served as ministers at Garbers include Joseph Hershey, Jr. (ordained 1849), Benjamin Hershey (1853), Samuel Roth (1869), Harry Loose (1894).

In 1975 it was part of a group of congregations that withdrew from the Lancaster Mennonite Conference to form the Conservative Mennonite Churches of York and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania (YA). ‏‏Garbers withdrew from the YA churches in 1985 and was an unaffiliated Mennonite congregation until 1992 when it, consisting of only 12 members, became part of Hope Mennonite Fellowship, (HMF). It was with this change of affiliation that the congregational name was changed from Garbers Mennonite Church to Garbers Mennonite Fellowship.

Donald Stelfox was ordained as minister in 1966 to assist William H. Martin. In 1998, at the age of 65, Donald Stelfox was ordained bishop in HMF for Garbers and Muddy Creek. When his health failed in 2007, his oversight of the Muddy Creek congregation returned to Elvin Horst and his son, James Stelfox, was ordained bishop to succeed him as bishop at Garbers. Others who have served in the ministry at Garbers are listed in the table below.

Garbers Mennonite School, 2016.
Source: Lester M. Burkholder

Because of congregational growth under HMF, the Garbers congregation has been instrumental in the establishment of two other HMF congregations: Allegheny Valley in 2008 and Living Springs in 2016. Summer Bible School has been held since 1951, with a record attendance of 235.

Garbers has operated the Garbers Mennonite School on land adjoining the church property. In the 2015-2016 school year the school had 52 students in grades one through twelve.

As of 1 January 2016, membership of Garbers was 91 including those attending services at Living Springs (a daughter congregation formed from Garbers) at York Springs, Pennsylvania. Since February 2016, Jeffrey Weaver and Justin Martin have served at Living Springs as ministers and Roy Diem as deacon.

Bibliography

Author(s)	Lester M. Burkholder
	Ira D. Landis
Date Published	June 2016

Burkholder, Lester M., compiler. History of Hope Mennonite Fellowship 1981-2015. Myerstown, Pa.: Little Mountain Printing, 2016.

Additional Information

Address: 6082 Old Hanover Road, Spring Grove, Pa.

Phone: (717) 225-3722

Website:

Denominational Affiliations: Hope Mennonite Fellowship

Garbers Mennonite Fellowship Pastoral Leaders

Name	Years of Service
Joseph Hershey (Minister)	1806-?
Joseph Hershey, Jr. (Minister)	1849-?
Benjamin Hershey (Minister)	1853-?
Samuel Roth (Minister)	1869-?
Harry Loose (Minister)	1894-?
Noah H. Mack (Bishop)	1926-1948
William H. Martin (Minister)	1931-1982
Richard Danner (Bishop)	1935-1985
John Ruppert (Deacon)	1949-1960
Leroy H. Bair (Deacon)	1961-1971
Donald Stelfox (Minister) (Bishop)	1966-1998 1998-2007
Paul E. Miller (Deacon)	1979-1989
Roy Diem (Deacon)	1994-present
Joseph Lehman (Minister)	1999-present
James Stelfox (Minister) (Bishop)	2003-2007 2007-present
Jeffrey Weaver (Minister)	2009-present
Jonathan Ogburn (Deacon)	2011-2014
Justin Martin (Deacon) (Minister)	2014-2015 2015-present
Gregory Sensenig (Deacon)	2016-present

Map

Map:Garbers Mennonite Fellowship (Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, USA)

Original Article (1953) from Mennonite Encyclopedia

By Ira D. Landis. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 439. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

Garber Mennonite Church (MC), of Lancaster Mennonite Conference, is located five miles northeast of Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania, in Richard Danner’s bishop district. By 1814 the scattered members had a church-schoolhouse built in the village of Menges Mills. By 1889 the present house was built. The membership in 1953 was 30, with William H. Martin as pastor, and John L. Ruppert as deacon. Joseph Hershey, at least by 1806, was a resident minister in the middle district, which also included Hershey and Bair’s Codorus until a recent date. Summer Bible School has been held since 1951, with 235 in attendance.

Cite This Article

MLA style

Burkholder, Lester M. and Ira D. Landis. "Garbers Mennonite Fellowship (Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. June 2016. Web. 23 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Garbers_Mennonite_Fellowship_(Spring_Grove,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=134318.

APA style

Burkholder, Lester M. and Ira D. Landis. (June 2016). Garbers Mennonite Fellowship (Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Garbers_Mennonite_Fellowship_(Spring_Grove,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=134318.

Garbers Mennonite Fellowship (Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, USA)

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