Wildwood Mennonite Church (Engadine, Michigan, USA)
Wildwood Mennonite Church emerged from the mid-20th-century rural church planting movement of Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference (Mennonite Church).
In 1939, Bernice LaBar Dwyer (1905-1982), a resident of the Sandtown community located between the villages of Engadine and Curtis in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, invited Mennonites from the Fernland (later Germfask) Mennonite Church to hold a summer Bible school in her neighborhood. Fernland pastor Chester Osborne did so, beginning in June 1939, and asked the Indiana-Michigan Conference mission board to send workers to organize a church at Sandtown. In April 1940, the board ordained Clarence Troyer (1907-1997) of Howe, Indiana, for this purpose, and the next month Clarence and Wavia Troyer (1908-1987) and their four children moved to the Upper Peninsula.
By the end of 1940, Troyer had baptized nine individuals from the Dwyer, Gage, and Adams families. Within several years, additional households, including the Osterhout, Rupright, and Allen families, had joined the church.
In 1945, the conference mission board arranged for the purchase of an abandoned one-room school built in 1884, remodeled it, and renamed it Wildwood Mennonite Church.
In 1948, Clarence Troyer was ordained bishop for the Mennonite churches in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. By 1952 there would be ten such congregations scattered across more than 150 miles. The travel required by this role led Troyer to ask for ministerial assistance at Wildwood.
In 1952 Wildwood played a central role in planning the first Upper Peninsula Mennonite Youth Camp. That summer ministry continued annually for decades and was eventually located at Northwoods Christian Camp, Pickford, Michigan. Wildwood’s community-wide summer Bible school, often drawing 150 or more children from the Engadine and Curtis areas, was another staple of the congregation during its first decades.
In 1956 Wildwood became a self-supporting church, independent of the mission board.
During 1985-1986 the church building was more than doubled in size with the addition of a new auditorium and six basement classrooms.
In the 21st century, the constraints of the local economy meant many young adults left the area, and there were few employment options for potential bi-vocational pastors. In 2007 leadership shifted to a team of lay members that included both men and women. By 2024, Wildwood was the only Mennonite church in the Upper Peninsula affiliated with Mennonite Church USA.
Bibliography
Miller, Wendell. Personal email (22 May 2023).
Prater, Rosella. Mennonite Stirrings in “America's Playland'.” Naubinway, Mich.: the author, 1987.
Troyer, Clarence. The Mennonite Church in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Engadine, Mich.: the author, 1986.
Additional Information
Address: W15403 Sandtown Road, Engadine, Michigan 49827
Phone: 906-586-3336
Website: https://www.facebook.com/WildwoodMennoniteChurch/
Denominational Affiliations: Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference
Pastoral Leaders at Wildwood Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Clarence Troyer (1907-1997) | 1940-1977 |
| Lloyd R. Miller (1920-2011) | 1952-1965 |
| Marvin Ketcham | 1966-1971 |
| John L. Troyer (1938-2022) | 1975-2005 |
| Rufus Martin (1933-2013) | 1978-1979 |
| James L. Gerber (Interim) | 2005-2007 |
| Lay Ministry Team | 2007-present |
Wildwood Mennonite Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1945 | 22 |
| 1955 | 40 |
| 1965 | 42 |
| 1975 | 36 |
| 1985 | 42 |
| 1995 | 49 |
| 2005 | 40 |
| 2024 | 10 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Wavia I. Troyer. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 952. All rights reserved.
Wildwood Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church), located at Curtis, Michigan, began in 1939 as a mission under the Indiana-Michigan board until 1956, when it became an independent congregation, with a summer Bible school conducted by Chester Osborne. Clarence Troyer (1907-1997), a minister, came in the spring of 1940. The Beulah School was purchased in 1945 and converted into a meetinghouse. From this congregation the work at Naubinway and Brimley was started. Clarence Troyer was ordained bishop in 1948; in 1952 Lloyd R. Miller was ordained as assistant pastor of the congregation. They were still serving in 1959, when the membership was 32.
| Author(s) | Steven Nolt |
|---|---|
| Date Published | May 2024 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Nolt, Steven. "Wildwood Mennonite Church (Engadine, Michigan, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. May 2024. Web. 25 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Wildwood_Mennonite_Church_(Engadine,_Michigan,_USA)&oldid=179040.
APA style
Nolt, Steven. (May 2024). Wildwood Mennonite Church (Engadine, Michigan, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 25 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Wildwood_Mennonite_Church_(Engadine,_Michigan,_USA)&oldid=179040.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.