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Beaverdam Mennonite Church in Corry, Pennsylvania in 1947.
Source: Mennonite Community Photograph Collection, The Congregation (HM4-134 Box 1 photo 010.1-1).
Mennonite Church USA Archives, Goshen, Indiana.

Beaverdam Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church USA) is located near Corry, Erie County, Pennsylvania. In the fall of 1940, members of Britton Run Mennonite Church (later called Britton Run congregation), 15 miles (25 km) south, organized a Sunday school in the village of Beaverdam, where they rented the unused Methodist Church building. A group of Mennonites were beginning a settlement in Beaverdam on account of soil and atmospheric conditions favorable for growing potatoes. Ivan W. Miller, extensive potato grower from Wayne County, Ohio, had a prominent part in the development of the settlement.

The church's first pastor was Lewis Kletzley, a lay minister who also assisted in the leadership of Britton Run Mennonite Church, followed by Jacob Weirich. In the early years, the congregation began a two week Summer Bible School for the children and youth of the surrounding communities.

Between 1957 and 1967, many of the church's youth served in Voluntary Service projects and many special spiritual renewal meetings were held with a variety of guest evangelists. In May 1985 the church assisted Mennonite Disaster Service, which used their church building as their base of operations, in the repair and rebuilding of the community after seven tornadoes tore through the area. The church has continued to support the work of Mennonite Disaster Service.

Over the years the church has hosted a free dinner on Thanksgiving Day for anyone who wanted or needed it, and has worked closely with Love INC and other churches in both Corry and Union City with many different social service projects. An International Gift Festival has been hosted for several decades, raising funds for Ten Thousand Villages. The congregation has supported several missionary families and also gathered supplies for Mennonite Central Committee.

In 2016 the congregation was a member of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. It also became a member of the Evana Network.

The 1953 membership was 95; in 2003 it was 134.

Bibliography

"Beaverdam Mennonite Church: History & Today." Beaverdam Mennonite Church. 2016. Web. 29 November 2016. http://beaverdammennonitechurch.org/about-us/history-today/.

Additional Information

Author(s)	John S. Umble
	Richard D. Thiessen
Date Published	November 2016

Address: 17721 Route 89, Corry, PA 16407

Phone: 814-665-5465

Website: Beaverdam Mennonite Church

Denominational/Network Affiliations:

Lancaster Mennonite Conference

Mennonite Church USA

Evana Network

Beaverdam Mennonite Church Ministers

Minister	Years of service
Lewis Kletzley	1940-1943
Jacob F. Weirich	1943-1952
Kenneth E. Snyder	1952-1957
Richard Hostetler	1957-1966
Leonard Adams (interim)	1966-1967
Donald Nofziger	1967-1973
Dale Hilty (summers)	1973-1976
Gerald Martin	1976-1978
Leonard Adams (interim)	1978-1980
James Hershberger	1980-1984
James Powers	1985
Herman F. Myers	1986-1995
Philip Clemens	1995-2004
George Kennedy (interim)	2004-2005
Jay Conn	2005-2012
Deb Horst (interim)	2012-2013
Dale Francis (interim)	2014
Randy Carr	2014-present

Maps

Beaverdam Mennonite Church (Corry, Pennsylvania)

Cite This Article

MLA style

Umble, John S. and Richard D. Thiessen. "Crossroads Fellowship (Corry, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. November 2016. Web. 24 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Crossroads_Fellowship_(Corry,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=148737.

APA style

Umble, John S. and Richard D. Thiessen. (November 2016). Crossroads Fellowship (Corry, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Crossroads_Fellowship_(Corry,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=148737.

Crossroads Fellowship (Corry, Pennsylvania, USA)

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