North Goshen Mennonite Church (Goshen, Indiana, USA)
The North Goshen Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana, began as a mission Sunday school run by Goshen College students in a rented house in the North Goshen community in 1935, with hopes already to build a small chapel. In the summer of 1936, the College Mennonite Church purchased the former Beulah Baptist Church near Wayland, Iowa for about $300, dismantled it with the aid of Iowa Mennonites and rebuilt it at the corner of North Eighth Street and Summit Street in Goshen. The reconstructed building was dedicated on 30 May 1937. The congregation enlarged the building in 1945/46 and again in 1952/53. On 31 May 1964 it dedicated a new fellowship and educational wing built after it purchased a neighboring house and lot.
The North Goshen congregation, which grew rapidly, helped to establish the East Goshen Mennonite Church in 1942. In 1956, it established the Walnut Hill Mennonite Church.
North Goshen outreach has evolved. In the early years, college students brought Sunday school to the Appalachian immigrant factory workers who lived in the North Goshen area. The congregation then became a magnet for Amish families seeking to leave the strict regulations common in Amish churches in the 1950s. As Hispanic people began arriving in North Goshen in the 1980s and 1990s to work in the local factories, North Goshen Mennonite began outreach to this new group that made up half of the community. This included providing mattresses to families sleeping on floors or holding a "Christmas store" for families of low incomes. This also led the church to worship in both Spanish and English.
Bibliography
Linsenmeyer, Dean. "North Goshen Mennonite." Gospel Evangel 87, no. 8 (December 2006): 10.
"Our history." North Goshen Mennonite Church. 2023. Web. 12 July 2024. https://www.northgoshenmc.org/about-us.
Preheim, Rich. In Pursuit of Faithfulness: Conviction, Conflict, and Compromise in Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference. Harrisonburg, Va.: Herald Press, 2016: 148, 246, 305, 311.
"The North Goshen Mennonite Church...." Gospel Herald 57, no. 17 (5 May 1964): 370.
Wenger, John Christian. The Mennonites in Indiana and Michigan. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1961: 215-216.
Yoder, Edward. "Goshen College." Gospel Herald 28, no. 37 (12 December 1935): 795-796.
_____. "Goshen College news." Gospel Herald 29, no. 29 (15 October 1936): 619.
Additional Information
Address: 501 North 8th Street, Goshen, Indiana 46528
Telephone: 574-533-4255
Website: https://www.northgoshenmc.org/
Denominational Affiliations:
Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference
Pastoral Leaders at North Goshen Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| College Church ministers | 1936-1937 |
| Paul E. Mininger (1908-1997) (Bishop) |
1937-1943 1943-1955 |
| John C. Wenger (1910-1995) | 1944-1949 |
| Russell R. Krabill (1917-2005) (Bishop) |
1948-1955 1955-1965 |
| Ralph M. Smucker (1937- )(Assistant) | 1962-1965 |
| Aaron Donald "Don" Augsburger (1925-2022)(Bishop) | 1965-1970 |
| Ronald Kennel (Assistant) | 1966-1967 |
| Richard Yoder (Assistant) | 1967-1970 |
| Timothy H. Brenneman (1905-1977)(Bishop) | 1969-1974 |
| Dean G. Slagel (1926-2019) | 1970-1973 |
| Donald L. Brenneman (1934-2017) | 1974-1982 |
| Local Leadership | 1982-1984 |
| Harvey Chupp (1937-2015) | 1984-1992 |
| Darrel M. Hostetler (1933-2024)(Assistant) | 1984-1989 |
| Jerry Wittrig (Assistant/Associate) | 1989-2006 |
| Rosemary Fry (1933-2019)(Assistant) | 1989-1995 |
| Delmar J. Glick (Interim) | 1993 |
| Arthur E. Smoker | 1993-2005 |
| Lisa Enns-Bogoya (Associate) | 1998?-2002? |
| Raul Bogoya (Hispanic) | 2000?-2002? |
| Dean A. Linsenmeyer | 2005-2011 |
| Marian Brendle Hostetler (Seniors) | 2006-2008 |
| Bek Linsenmeyer (Young Families) | 2008-2011 |
| Izaete R. Nafziger (Outreach) | 2008- |
| Mark Schloneger | 2012-2018 |
| Steven E. Slagel (Transitional) | 2019-2020 |
| Nathan Graber-McCrae | 2020-2023 |
| Nick King (Interim) | 2023- |
North Goshen Mennonite Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1940 | 58 |
| 1950 | 305 |
| 1960 | 343 |
| 1970 | 366 |
| 1980 | 240 |
| 1990 | 237 |
| 2000 | 201 |
| 2009 | 164 |
| 2020 | 125 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Russell Krabill. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, pp. 917-918. All rights reserved.
The North Goshen Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church (MC)), located on Eighth Street, Goshen, Indiana, is a member of the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference. It was an outgrowth of Sunday school work begun by the Goshen College YPCA as early as 1915. In 1936 an abandoned Baptist church near Wayland, Iowa, was hauled to Goshen, rebuilt, and dedicated in May 1937. This building has since been enlarged several times. Paul Mininger was pastor of the congregation when it became independent from the Goshen College Mennonite Church in 1942. The membership in 1957 was 328, with Paul Mininger serving as bishop, and Russell Krabill as bishop-pastor. John C. Wenger also served the congregation as deacon and minister prior to 1951.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | July 2024 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "North Goshen Mennonite Church (Goshen, Indiana, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. July 2024. Web. 25 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=North_Goshen_Mennonite_Church_(Goshen,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=179291.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (July 2024). North Goshen Mennonite Church (Goshen, Indiana, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 25 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=North_Goshen_Mennonite_Church_(Goshen,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=179291.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.