Chestnut Hill Mennonite Church (Columbia, Pennsylvania, USA)
The local Mennonite log meetinghouse built near Silver Spring, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, was on Martin Greider's land in 1790 before the land was deeded to Samuel Nissley, Michael Siechrist, and Joseph Sherck, for the Mennonist Religious Society of Hempfield Township. The Chestnut Hill (Kastanienberg) congregation became part of the Landisville-Chestnut Hill-Salunga District of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. More recently, it was part of the Landisville District.
The log meetinghouse was used until 1874, when the congregation built a brick church. It dedicated that building on 12 July 1874. At that time, services were held every four weeks. The congregation enlarged and remodeled the building in 1909 and 1947. Worship services were held every two weeks beginning in the early 1920s. Later it became weekly.
In 1893, Chestnut Hill's Sunday school had an average attendance of 93. However, several articles in the Herald of Truth commented on poor attendance at worship services.
The Chestnut Hill congregation closed in 2022 and sold its church building to the Chinese Bible Church of Lancaster. The sale proceeds went to LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches and Eastern Mennonite Missions.
Bibliography
"Chestnut Hill Mennonite Church (CHMC)." Shalom News 42, no. 3 (July-September 2022): 11.
"From Salunga, Pa." Herald of Truth 32, no. 4 (15 February 1895): 57.
"New meeting-house." Herald of Truth 11, no. 7 (July 1874): 120.
Ruth, John L. The Earth is the Lord's: a narrative history of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 2001: 369, 1138-1174.
"Sunday-school items." Herald of Truth 30, no. 21 (1 November 1893): 337.
Weaver, Martin G. Mennonites of Lancaster Conference: containing biographical sketches of Mennonite leaders, histories of congregations, missions, and Sunday schools, record of ordinations, and other interesting historical data. Scottdale, PA: Mennonite Publishing House, 1931. Reprinted Ephrata, PA: Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church Publication Board, 1982: 187-190, 202. Available in full electronic text at https://archive.org/details/mennonitesoflanc00weav_0/page/n3/mode/2up.
Additional Information
Address: 4050 Marietta Avenue, Columbia, Pennsylvania
Telephone:
Website:
Denominational Affiliations:
LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches
Mennonite Church USA (Until 2017)
Pastoral Leaders at Chestnut Hill Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Johannes Greider (1760-1830) | 1790s?-1830 |
| Christian Nissley (1794-1882) | 1832-1882 |
| Peter Risser (1797-1864) | ?-1864 |
| Henry Shenk (1819-1892) | 1864-1879 |
| Henry E. Longenecker (1853-1928) | 1880-1928 |
| Seth E. Ebersole (1868-1935) | 1918-1935 |
| Jacob L. Charles (1889-1969) | 1935-1969 |
| Harold "H. Raymond" Charles (1918-1988) (Bishop) |
1941-1964 1964-1988 |
| Glen M. Sell | 1965-1972? |
| Landis K. Sangrey (1930-2017) | 1966-1985 |
| John B. Groff (1938-2020) | 1974-1987 |
| Carl E. Hershey | 1987-2005 |
| R. Todd Bowman (Associate) | 2004-2008 |
| Steven J. Heatwole | 2005-2009 |
| Eldon Selzer | 2008-2009? |
| Melvin Thomas (Interim) | 2009-2010 |
| Derrick B. Garber | 2010-2018? |
| Scott Elkins (Interim) | 2019-2022? |
Chestnut Hill Mennonite Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1913 | 128 |
| 1920 | 132 |
| 1930 | 110 |
| 1940 | 123 |
| 1950 | 127 |
| 1960 | 134 |
| 1970 | 155 |
| 1980 | 132 |
| 1990 | 125 |
| 2000 | 114 |
| 2009 | 102 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Ira D Landis. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, pp. 553-554. All rights reserved.
Chestnut Hill Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church (MC)) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a member of Lancaster Conference, is located one mile west of Silver Spring on the Marietta Pike on land originally warranted to Joseph Sherrock in 1740. In 1790 Martin Greider and Michael Hoffman deeded a tract to Samuel Nissley, Michael Seichrist, and Joseph Sherck, ministers of the "Hempfield Mennonist Religious Society." The log meetinghouse erected on it was used until 1874, when the present brick church was built. This was enlarged and remodeled in 1909 and 1947. The burial ground is at the Salunga and Landisville meetinghouses, which were for many years a part of the ministerial circuit. The congregation numbered 133 members in 1953. The Sunday school, started in 1884, now averages 130. A circuit young people’s meeting started in 1946 is well attended. Henry E. Lutz is the bishop, Jacob L. and H. Raymond Charles are the ministers, and Martin S. Newcomer the deacon.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | November 2024 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Chestnut Hill Mennonite Church (Columbia, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. November 2024. Web. 12 Feb 2026. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Chestnut_Hill_Mennonite_Church_(Columbia,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=180004.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (November 2024). Chestnut Hill Mennonite Church (Columbia, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 12 February 2026, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Chestnut_Hill_Mennonite_Church_(Columbia,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=180004.
©1996-2026 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.