Howard-Miami Mennonite Church (Kokomo, Indiana, USA)
Source: Mennonite Community Photograph Collection, The Congregation (HM4-134 Box 5 Folder 1 photo 010.5-8).
Mennonite Church USA Archives, Goshen, Indiana.
The first Amish settlers came to Howard and Miami counties in Indiana in 1848, mostly from Holmes and Tuscarawas counties in Ohio. The first Amish ministers, ordained in 1851, were Benjamin Schrock and Hans Smucker.
As occurred elsewhere among the Amish in North America, there was a division in 1854. The more traditional Amish became known as Old Order Amish. The Amish, open to more assimilation, were called Amish Mennonites. Benjamin Schrock was the leader of the Amish Mennonites in the Howard-Miami community.
The congregation held its first Sunday school in 1869 in the Hostetler schoolhouse. It built its first meetinghouse in 1871, a frame building on the church's long-term property. It built a new frame meetinghouse in 1888, meeting there first on 3 August 1888. The congregation remodeled and expanded the meetinghouse in 1906 and constructed a basement. There was further enlargement and renovation in 1956. It added a fellowship hall in 1987 and remodeled the sanctuary in 1999.
In the mid-1880s conflict arose over requiring hooks and eyes for fastening men's vests; they had already been discarded for coats. After helpful intervention by John S. Coffman, the hooks and eyes were made optional.
About 1906 or 1907, the congregation formed a sewing circle to primarily help support the Mennonite Gospel Mission in Chicago.
After the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference and the Indiana-Michigan Amish Mennonite Conference merged in 1917, the Howard-Miami Amish Mennonite Church dropped the "Amish" from its name.
Some of Howard-Miami's rapid growth in the 1930s and 1940s came from local Old Order Amish members seeking access to automobiles and electricity.
In 1963, some more conservative members of the Howard-Miami congregation withdrew and formed the Rich Valley Mennonite Church.
By 2006, the Howard-Miami congregation still saw itself serving a primarily rural community.
In 2017/2018, the Howard-Miami congregation withdrew from the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference. This move was part of a larger realignment of Mennonite congregations in the 2010s that were formerly part of Mennonite Church USA. These congregations were unhappy with Mennonite Church USA's failure to take stronger disciplinary actions against area conferences and congregations that expressed openness to the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons. Howard-Miami became part of the Evana Network.
Bibliography
Detweiler, Randy. "Howard-Miami Mennonite." Gospel Evangel 87, no. 3 (May/June 2006): 3.
Mennonite Church History of Howard-Miami Counties, Indiana. Scottdale, Pa., 1916.
Preheim, Rich. In Pursuit of Faithfulness: Conviction, Conflict, and Compromise in Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference. Harrisonburg, Va.: Herald Press, 2016: 156, 309.
Wenger, John Christian. The Mennonites in Indiana and Michigan. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1961: 183-191.
Wikipedia contributors. "Howard-Miami Mennonite Church." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,, 3 February 2024. Web. 7 June 2024.
Additional Information
Address: 3976 E CR 1400 S, Kokomo, Indiana 46901-9365
Telephone: 765-395-7509
Website: https://www.howardmiami.org/
Denominational Affiliations: Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference (Until 2014)
Mennonite Church USA (Until 2015)
Evana Network (2015- )
Pastoral Leaders at Howard-Miami Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Benjamin Schrock (1819-1895)(Bishop) | 1854-1863? |
| Joseph Kennedy (1826-1906)(Deacon or Minister) | 1850s?-1860s? |
| Nobert Sproal (1830-1901) | 1866-1901 |
| Daniel C. Miller (1824-1902) (Bishop) |
1867-1873 1873-1902 |
| Benjamin Schrock (1829-1878) | 1869-1878 |
| Emanuel A. Mast (1856-1932) (Bishop) |
1879-1891 1891-1932 |
| Joseph S. Horner (1864-1945) | 1889-1903 1910-1945 |
| Nathaniel O. Troyer (1883-1943) | 1904-1905? |
| Niles M. Slabaugh (1876-1961) | 1904-1961? |
| Anson G. Horner (1895-1970) (Bishop) |
1935-1937 1937-1964 |
| Emanuel J. Hochstedler (1909-2006) | 1947-1962 |
| Harold L. Mast (1935-2021) | 1964-1970 |
| Ralph Stahly (1909- )(Bishop) | 1972-1981 |
| Thruman Lee "T. Lee" Miller (1947- ) | 1977-2010s |
| Keith A. Miller (Associate) | 1983-1987? |
| Michael Sommers (Associate) | 1988-1994? |
| Floyd Sneary (Associate) | 1996?-1998? |
| Randy Detweiler | 1999-2012 |
| Sarah Schlegel | 2006-2020? |
| Ben Schlegel | 2010-2020 |
| Randy Miller (Transitional) | 2012-2013 |
| Team Leadership | 2020- |
Howard-Miami Mennonite Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1906 | 210 |
| 1913 | 249 |
| 1920 | 265 |
| 1930 | 268 |
| 1940 | 328 |
| 1950 | 377 |
| 1960 | 325 |
| 1970 | 260 |
| 1980 | 236 |
| 1990 | 242 |
| 2000 | 280 |
| 2009 | 180 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Elaine Sommers Rich. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 824. All rights reserved.
The Howard-Miami Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church (MC)), located about 12 miles (20 km) northeast of Kokomo, Indiana, on the Howard-Miami county line, a member of the Indiana-Michigan Conference, was organized in 1848 by Amish settlers from Tuscarawas and Holmes counties in Ohio. The Sunday school was organized in 1869. The 1955 building was remodeled in 1917. In 1946 the congregation began a mission station in nearby Kokomo. The settlements at Fairview and Pleasant View, Michigan, were made by members from this congregation. In 1955 the total baptized membership of this congregation and its mission outpost was 422. The bishop at that time was Anson Horner; the ministers were Niles Slabaugh and Emanuel Hochstedler.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | June 2024 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Howard-Miami Mennonite Church (Kokomo, Indiana, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. June 2024. Web. 23 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Howard-Miami_Mennonite_Church_(Kokomo,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=179098.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (June 2024). Howard-Miami Mennonite Church (Kokomo, Indiana, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Howard-Miami_Mennonite_Church_(Kokomo,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=179098.
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