Broad Street Mennonite Church (Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA)
The Broad Street Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg, Virginia emerged from work begun among the African American people of Harrisonburg by the Young People's Christian Association of Eastern Mennonite College in 1937. A rented building on East Gay Street served as a center for this work until 1945 when a church was built on Broad Street. The first superintendent was Ernest Swartzentruber. He was followed by Ralph M. Shank, the pastor of the congregation in 1953. There are 17 members with an average Sunday-school attendance of 70.
In the church's early years, the Virginia Mennonite Mission Board had to deal with the common understandings on the separation of the races. A 1940 policy stipulated that feetwashing and the holy kiss would be conducted only within races, and that individual communion cups would be used instead of the more usual common cup.
In 2003 the congregation lost its membership in the Virginia Mennonite Conference because it hosted a same-sex commitment ceremony in early 2002. The membership at that time was 18. In 2009 there was an average attendance of 15.
In 2018 the congregation began to meet in homes, and donated its building to a local community association.
Bibliography
"2015 Directory of Anabaptists in Virginia." Shenandoah Mennonite Historian 23, no. 4 (Autumn 2015): 3.
Brunk, Harry Anthony. History of Mennonites in Virginia 1900-1960. Harrisonburg, Virginia: The Author, 1972.
Delea, Pete. "Members Donate Church To NENA." Daily News-Record (22 November 2018). Web. 9 April 2019. http://www.dnronline.com/news/harrisonburg/members-donate-church-to-nena/article_7280a914-5a63-5011-b802-d0e606b8736f.html.
Preheim, Rich. "Virginia Congregation Loses Membership." The Mennonite (18 February 2003).
Additional Information
Address:
Maps
Map:Broad Street Mennonite Church (Harrisonburg, Virgiania)
| Author(s) | Harry A. Brunk |
|---|---|
| Sam Steiner | |
| Date Published | April 2019 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Brunk, Harry A. and Sam Steiner. "Broad Street Mennonite Church (Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. April 2019. Web. 24 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Broad_Street_Mennonite_Church_(Harrisonburg,_Virginia,_USA)&oldid=163847.
APA style
Brunk, Harry A. and Sam Steiner. (April 2019). Broad Street Mennonite Church (Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Broad_Street_Mennonite_Church_(Harrisonburg,_Virginia,_USA)&oldid=163847.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 433. All rights reserved.
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