Ninth Street Community Church (Saginaw, Michigan, USA)
The Saginaw Mennonite Church in Saginaw, Michigan began through a Voluntary Service unit initiated in 1949 under LeRoy Bechler's leadership. The volunteers organized a Summer Bible School for the African American community that enrolled 500 students. This led the Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities to purchase a house on North Eighth Street that later became a parsonage. LeRoy Bechler became the founding pastor of the first African American congregation in the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference of the Mennonite Church (MC).
The Board purchased a lot on Ninth Street in 1951 and built a meetinghouse, which was dedicated in November 1951. The church then became Ninth Street Mennonite Church.
The first baptismal class at Ninth Street posed a difficulty for the congregation's bishop, Tobe Schrock. One of the candidates was divorced and not eligible for baptism according to conference polity. Bishop Schrock arranged for the baptism to be administered by a bishop from another conference, preserving the letter of the law while allowing some flexibility.
In 1955, Ninth Street planted another Saginaw congregation, Grace Chapel. In 1970, Ninth Street became fully self-supporting.
In the early 1960s, Ninth Street Mennonite generated another issue within the Indiana-Michigan Conference. Marvin Sweigart, the new pastor, found requiring female members to wear a prayer veil was a hindrance to outreach and declined to require it. This postponed his ordination for several years, but as opinions began to shift in the Mennonite Church (MC), he was finally ordained.
In about 2005, the congregation changed its name to Ninth Street Community Church after it decided to remain in its location when new homes for low-income families were constructed nearby. It envisioned becoming more of a community church rather than a drive-in church in a city that had suffered significantly from the exodus of automobile manufacturing. One of its programs provided space for neighborhood youth on Friday nights for pizza and games or a movie.
Bibliography
"Church becomes self-supporting." Gospel Herald 63, no. 50 (29 December 1970): 1080.
Gary, Heather Grennan. "Ninth Street Community Church, Saginaw Mich." Gospel Evangel 88, no. 5 (September 2007): 5, 8.
Preheim, Rich. In Pursuit of Faithfulness: Conviction, Conflict, and Compromise in Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference. Harrisonburg, Va.: Herald Press, 2016: 179, 209, 243-244, 311.
Scott, Bill. "Ninth Street Community." Gospel Evangel 87, no. 5 (September 2006): 7.
Wenger, John Christian. The Mennonites in Indiana and Michigan. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1961: 248-249.
Additional Information
Address: 1118 North 9th Street, Saginaw, Michigan 48601
Telephone: 989-752-7366
Website:
Denominational Affiliations:
Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference
Pastoral Leaders at Ninth Street Community Churchh
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| LeRoy Bechler (1925-2023) | 1949-1957 1958-1961 |
| Galen I. Johns (1920-2012)(Interim) | 1957-1958 |
| Marvin R. Sweigart (1930-2017) | 1961-1973 |
| Lee A. Lowery | 1967-1981 |
| Bens Sandaire | 1982-1986 |
| Timothy Atwood | 1987-1991 |
| William L. "Bill" Scott (1941-2019) | 1991-2019 |
| Rex A. Jones (1951-2020) | 2010-2020 |
| Lay Leadership | 2020- |
Ninth Street Community Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 58 |
| 1970 | 49 |
| 1980 | 67 |
| 1990 | 60 |
| 2000 | 42 |
| 2009 | 40 |
| 2020 | 40 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Harold S. Bender. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 888. All rights reserved.
The Ninth Street Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church (MC)), Saginaw, Michigan, was begun in 1950 as a mission for the African American people of the city and operated under the Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities, with partial support from the Board, though organized as a congregation. In 1956 the membership was 58, with LeRoy Bechler as pastor.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | July 2024 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Ninth Street Community Church (Saginaw, Michigan, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. July 2024. Web. 24 Jul 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Ninth_Street_Community_Church_(Saginaw,_Michigan,_USA)&oldid=179286.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (July 2024). Ninth Street Community Church (Saginaw, Michigan, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 July 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Ninth_Street_Community_Church_(Saginaw,_Michigan,_USA)&oldid=179286.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.