Central District Conference (Mennonite Church USA)

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The Central District Conference was the second largest district of the General Conference Mennonite Church in the United States It was created by a merger of the Central Conference Mennonite Church and the Middle District (GCM) at a joint session in Normal, IL, 27 April 1957. It had 41 congregations from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri, and a membership of 8,361. Its original purpose, to promote unity, offer guidance, and provide a channel for the united mission efforts among its constituent churches, continued to be a focus of the conference in the late 1980s.

Each member congregation had one delegate vote for every 30 members. Delegates met yearly for a three-day session of business, worship, seminars, and fellowship at various locations around the district. An elected president, president-elect, treasurer, secretary, and two members-at-large made up the board of directors. Forty other elected people made up the standing committees: Ministerial; Program; Historical; Missions; Education and Publication; Camp Friedenswald ; and Peace, Service, and Justice. A nominating committee was appointed. The district also elected six Bluffton College board members, three General Conference commission members, and five board members of the Chicago Mennonite Learning Center. The district board and committees guided ministries in church planting and evangelism, prison and law offenders, youth, Christian camping, teacher training, marriage and family, leadership development, worship and music, and peace education. The budget for 1987 was $242,000. The Reporter, the monthly conference paper, was published 11 times each year.

The following have served as conference ministers: Raymond L. Hartzler, 1957-64; Gordon Dyck, 1964-69; Jacob T. Friesen, 1970-75; Stanley Bohn, 1975-79; and Mark Weidner, 1980-. Membership in 1987 was 62 congregations with 8,247 members. Twenty-six of the congregations were also affiliated with other conferences, primarily those of the Mennonite Church (MC).

In 2002 the Central District became part of Mennonite Church USA as a result of the merger of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church.

In 2016 the following congregations were members of the Central District Conference:

Congregation City State
Agora Christian Fellowship Columbus Ohio
Ames Mennonite Church  Ames Iowa
Ann Arbor Mennonite Church  Ann Arbor Michigan
Asian Mennonite Community Church  Lombard Illinois
Assembly Mennonite Church  Goshen Indiana
Atlanta Mennonite Fellowship  Atlanta Georgia
Chicago Community Mennonite Church  Chicago Illinois
Cincinnati Mennonite Fellowship  Cincinnati Ohio
Columbus Mennonite Church  Columbus Ohio
Community Mennonite Church  Markham Illinois
Covenant Mennonite Fellowship Sarasota Florida
Eighth Street Mennonite Church  Goshen Indiana
Emmaus Road Mennonite Fellowship  Berne Indiana
Evanston Mennonite Church  Evanston Illinois
Faith Mennonite Church  Goshen Indiana
First Mennonite Church  Sugarcreek Ohio
First Mennonite Church  Wadsworth Ohio
First Mennonite Church  Bluffton Ohio
First Mennonite Church  Chicago Illinois
First Mennonite Church of Champaign-Urbana  Urbana Illinois
Florence Church of the Brethren-Mennonite  Constantine Michigan
Grace Mennonite Church  Pandora Ohio
Hively Avenue Mennonite Church  Elkhart Indiana
Joy Fellowship Mennonite Church  Peoria Illinois
Lima Mennonite Church  Lima Ohio
Madison Mennonite Church  Madison Wisconsin
Maplewood Mennonite Church  Fort Wayne Indiana
Mennonite Church of Normal  Normal Illinois
Milwaukee Mennonite Church  Greenfield Wisconsin
Morning Star Church  Muncie Indiana
MSU Mennonite Fellowship  East Lansing Michigan
North Danvers Mennonite Church  Danvers Illinois
Oak Grove Mennonite Church  Smithville Ohio
Open Table Mennonite Fellowship  Goshen Indiana
Paoli Mennonite Fellowship  Paoli Indiana
Shalom Community Church  Ann Arbor Michigan
Shalom Mennonite Congregation  Harrisonburg Virginia
Silverwood Mennonite Church  Goshen Indiana
Southside Fellowship  Elkhart Indiana
St. Paul Mennonite Fellowship St. Paul Minnesota
Trenton Mennonite Church  Trenton Ohio

Bibliography

Central District Yearbook, annual reports, conference minutes, directory, and statistics.

Handbook of Information, General Conference Mennonite Church (1988): 111-12, 139-40.

Pannabecker, Samuel F. Faith and Ferment: The History of the Central District Conference. Newton, KS, 1968.

Archival Records

Minutes, correspondence, records, etc., are retained in the Bluffton College Archives, Bluffton, Ohio.

Additional Information

Address: 1015 Division Street, Goshen, Indiana 46528

Phone: 574-534-1485

Website: https://mcusacdc.org/

Denominational Affiliations:

Mennonite Church USA


Author(s) Mark Weidner
Date Published July 2010

Cite This Article

MLA style

Weidner, Mark. "Central District Conference (Mennonite Church USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. July 2010. Web. 31 Oct 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Central_District_Conference_(Mennonite_Church_USA)&oldid=173636.

APA style

Weidner, Mark. (July 2010). Central District Conference (Mennonite Church USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 31 October 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Central_District_Conference_(Mennonite_Church_USA)&oldid=173636.




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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, pp. 130-131. All rights reserved.


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