RiverTown Community Church (Blountstown, Florida, USA)
The Rivertown Community Church, Blountstown, Florida, USA, began as the Bethel Conservative Mennonite Church. The first Mennonites to settle in the Blountstown, Florida area came from Greenwood, Delaware and Hartville, Ohio in the fall of 1952. This was the result of a visit to the area by the Colonization Committee of the Conservative Mennonite Mission Board; thus Bethel was a church plant through colonization.
The congregation organized as a mission church on 11 April 1954, with Raymond Byler as the minister. Bethel built a meetinghouse in 1957 that was dedicated on 15 September. Bethel Conservative Mennonite Church, Blountstown, Florida, was first listed in the Mennonite Yearbook of 1955 as the Red Oak congregation, with 33 members. In 1958, the Yearbook listed it as Bethel.
Most of the growth of the Bethel Mennonite Church during the decades of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s resulted from biological growth and the influx of ethnic Mennonites from other states.
After Paul Smith became Senior Pastor in 1993, the congregation increased its effort to reach the unchurched in the community.
In 2001, Bethel Mennonite Church joined the Good News Fellowship while retaining its membership in the Conservative Mennonite Conference. In the early 2000s, Bethel Mennonite changed its name to RiverTown Community Church. It believed the "Mennonite" name was a barrier to outreach. It also dropped its affiliation with the Conservative Mennonite Conference at the same time.
After attending a conference on "doing church" in rural/small-town communities in 2008, Rivertown began to expand to other campuses in 2009, beginning with Marianna, followed by Chipley and Crawfordville.
The congregation's website no longer capitalized the "T" in its name on its website by 2023.
Bibliography
Landis, J. D. "Good News Fellowship gathering." The Good News Messenger (Winter 2005): [5].
Miller, Ivan J. History of the Conservative Mennonite Conference, 1910-1985. Grantsville, Md.: Ivan J. & Della Miller, 1985: 86-88.
"Our story." Rivertown Community Church. 2020. Web. 21 December 2023. https://rivertown.cc/our-story/.
"Regional Council meets." The Good News Messenger (March/April 2002): 3.
"Rivertown Community Church (RCC)...." The Good News Messenger (Winter 2009): 7.
Wester, Jarred. "Doing church in 'the sticks'" The Good News Messenger (Winter 2008): 5.
Yoder, Lisa. "A closer look ... at RiverTown Community Church." The Good News Messenger (Spring 2006): 2.
Additional Information
Blountstown Address: 19359 SR 71 North, Blountstown, Florida 32424
Chipley Address: 1317 State Park Road, Chipley, Florida 32428
Marianna Address: 4534 Lafayette Street, Marianna, Florida 32446
Crawfordville Address: 318 Shadeville Road, Crawfordville, Florida 32327
Blountstown Phone: 850-633-4633
Website: https://rivertown.cc/
Denominational Affiliations: Conservative Mennonite Conference
Pastoral Leaders at Rivertown Community Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Raymond J. Byler (1914-1993) | 1954-1973 |
| Harold J. Weldy | 1969-1980 |
| Oscar T. Schrock (1926-1989) | 1972-1989 |
| Ivan E. Nissley | 1976-1991 |
| Paul A. Smith | 1990- |
| Daniel E. Yoder | 1993-2007? |
| Doug Gingerich | 1998?-2007? |
| Darren Tucker (Marianna) | 2009- |
Rivertown Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1955 | 33 |
| 1960 | 64 |
| 1970 | 94 |
| 1980 | 84 |
| 1990 | 88 |
| 2000 | 102 |
Maps
RiverTown Community Church (Blountstown, Florida)
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | December 2023 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "RiverTown Community Church (Blountstown, Florida, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. December 2023. Web. 24 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=RiverTown_Community_Church_(Blountstown,_Florida,_USA)&oldid=177989.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (December 2023). RiverTown Community Church (Blountstown, Florida, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=RiverTown_Community_Church_(Blountstown,_Florida,_USA)&oldid=177989.
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