Forks Mennonite Church (Middlebury, Indiana, USA)
The Forks Amish Mennonite Church emerged from a movement led by Bishop Jonas D. Troyer, who relaxed the Amish Ordnung requirements and began to build meetinghouses. In Indiana, the division of the Amish Mennonites from the other Amish (later called Old Order Amish) began in 1854. The Indiana Amish Mennonites held less strict dress standards, baptized converts in a flowing stream, accepted political offices that didn't require force, encouraged more education, and soon adopted Sunday schools and high school education.
The first service of the Forks Amish Mennonite group took place in 1857 in Joseph Hershberger's home.
In the spring of 1864, the congregation bought an acre of land on 4 May 1864 on which to build a meetinghouse, though it may have already been built in 1863. The land was at the Little Elkhart River and the Emma Creek, thus accounting for its name. The first building was replaced in 1893 by a larger structure. The original building was moved to a nearby farm. The congregation remodeled the 1893 building in 1915 and put a basement under it. In 1927, the meetinghouse was destroyed by a fire started by a lightning strike but was replaced by a new building in January 1928.
Forks Amish Mennonite began a Sunday school in 1871. Perhaps this and other liberalizing actions led Minister Joseph J. Bontrager to withdraw with other like-minded members to form the Townline Amish Mennonite Church. That congregation affiliated with the Conservative Amish Mennonite Conference. In 1901, some members of Forks worked together with the Shore Mennonite Church to begin the Emma Mennonite Church.
It also nurtured many missionaries, including William B. and Alice Page, Ernest E. Miller, and Sylvan and Ida Hostetler.
Forks also launched many mission outposts, including the Middlebury Mennonite Church and Sunday schools in White Pigeon, Fawn River, and California, Michigan.
When the Amish Mennonites and Mennonites in Indiana and Michigan merged into the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference in 1916, Forks Amish Mennonite Church dropped the "Amish" from its name.
During World War II, the congregation supported its men serving in Civilian Public Service by providing annual allowances of $120.
On 24 April 1949, the Forks church building again burned, probably from an overheated furnace. A new meetinghouse was dedicated on 22 January 1950. In 1966, the congregation added a lobby and Sunday school rooms to the building, and in 1977, added a fellowship hall and education wing.
The Palm Sunday tornadoes in 1965 took the lives of four Forks Mennonite Church members.
By 2006, average Sunday morning attendance had dropped to 89. The congregation closed in December 2016. Several reasons influenced the decision to close, including the changing community and the loss of youth in the church in the rural area. Pastor Philip Yoder said, "Almost everybody who comes here drives in, they’re not really from this community anymore," Yoder said. "The age of the people in the congregation was another factor."
In 2024, the Middlebury Community Church of the Nazarene occupied the former Forks Mennonite building.
Bibliography
Augsburger, A. "History of the Forks Congregation." Mennonite Historical Bulletin 4, no. 3-4 (September 1943-December 1943).
Preheim, Rich. In Pursuit of Faithfulness: Conviction, Conflict, and Compromise in Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference. Harrisonburg, Va.: Herald Press, 2016: 96, 149, 169, 256, 309.
Stoltzfus, Eldon. "Forks Mennonite." Gospel Evangel 87, no. 7 (November 2006): 6.
Wenger, John Christian. The Mennonites in Indiana and Michigan. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1961: 171-175.
_____. The Story of the Forks Mennonite Church: a 125th Anniversary History. Middlebury, Ind.: The Church, 1982.
Young, Jay. "After 159 years, Forks Mennonite Church closes its doors on Christmas Day." Goshen News. 26 December 2016. Web. 5 June 2017. http://www.goshennews.com/news/local_news/after-years-forks-mennonite-church-closes-its-doors-on-christmas/article_f7519ca7-a0c6-58ee-b6d5-be37e7042157.html.
Additional Information
Address: 11435 W 025 S, Middlebury, Indiana
Phone:
Website:
Denominational Affiliations: Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference
Pastoral Leaders at Forks Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Jonas D. Troyer (1811-1897)(Bishop) | 1857-1864? 1885?-1897 |
| Christian S. Plank (1819-1887) | 1857-1860s |
| Christian C. Miller (1818-1891) | 1857-1860s |
| John Smiley (1822-1879) | 1857-1866 |
| Emanuel Hostetler (1817-1897) | 1857-1870s |
| Joseph J. Bontrager (1830-1921) | 1867-1876 |
| Eli S. Miller (1821-1917)(Deacon-Bishop) | 1870-1917 |
| Seth Troyer (1835-1910) | ca. 1880-1890s? |
| Joseph D. Miller (1858-1901) | 1886-1901 |
| Edward Gegax (1857-1947) | 1887-1890 |
| Daniel D. "D. D." Miller (1864-1955) (Bishop) |
1891-1906 1906-1944 |
| Andrew J. Hostetler (1858-1925) | 1898-1904 |
| Samuel E. "S. E." Weaver (1880-1935) | 1904-1916 |
| William "Wilbur" Miller (1899-1991) | 1921-1924 |
| Earley C. "E. C." Bontrager (1888-1979) (Bishop) |
1932-1945 1945-1962 1964-1967 |
| Donald E. Yoder (1930-1998) (Bishop) |
1953-1961 1961-1964 |
| Sylvester R. Haarer (1916-2001) (Bishop) |
1964-1967 1967-1976 |
| John J. Yoder (1919-2001)(Bishop) | 1976-1984 |
| David R. Helmuth (1935-2020) | 1978-1979? |
| Bruce W. Lyndaker (Associate) | 1983-1985? |
| Eugene Bontrager | 1985-1998? |
| Theodore M. "Ted" Eash (1936-2009)(Associate) | 1995?-1998? |
| Philip W. Yoder (Associate) | 1993-1999 2012?-2016 |
| Mahlon Miller (Interim) | 1999-2000 |
| Wes P. Yoder | 2000-2003 |
| Mervin Miller (Intentional Interim) | 2003-2005 |
| Eldon R. Stoltzfus (1948-2021 | 2005-2011 |
| Randall C. Miller (Interim) | 2015 |
Forks Mennonite Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1890 | 180 |
| 1908 | 208 |
| 1920 | 295 |
| 1930 | 269 |
| 1940 | 245 |
| 1950 | 214 |
| 1960 | 225 |
| 1970 | 239 |
| 1980 | 215 |
| 1990 | 189 |
| 2000 | 176 |
| 2009 | 151 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Floyd L. Rheinheimer. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 354. All rights reserved.
Forks Mennonite Church, located six miles southeast of Middlebury, in Newbury Township, Lagrange County, Indiana, is a member of the Indiana-Michigan Conference. The first Amish settlers came to Elkhart and Lagrange counties in 1841-1842. A group broke away from the Amish in 1854 to form the Amish Mennonite Forks Church. Christian Plank and Christian Miller were the first ministers. The first known bishop was Jonas Troyer. D. J. Johns then retained oversight until D. D. Miller was ordained bishop in 1906. Miller, who died in 1955, was ordained deacon in 1890, minister in 1891, and bishop in 1906, all three times by D. J. Johns. In 1953 Earley C. Bontrager was the bishop, Donald E. Yoder the minister, and Malvin P. Miller the deacon; the 1953 membership was 213. The first church, built in 1864, was replaced in 1893 by a larger structure, which was remodeled in 1915. In 1927 the house was destroyed by fire but was soon replaced. Missionaries from this congregation include Dr. and Mrs. W. B. Page, Ernest E. and Ruth Miller, S. Jay and Ida Hostetler, Wilbur and Velma Hostetler, and Amsa and Nona Kauffman. Forks was also the home congregation of Orie O. Miller, executive secretary of the Mennonite Central Committee.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | May 2024 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Forks Mennonite Church (Middlebury, Indiana, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. May 2024. Web. 3 Dec 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Forks_Mennonite_Church_(Middlebury,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=179051.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (May 2024). Forks Mennonite Church (Middlebury, Indiana, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 3 December 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Forks_Mennonite_Church_(Middlebury,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=179051.
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