Millersville Mennonite Church (Millersville, Pennsylvania, USA)
Mennonite settlers from Europe began to settle on the Lower Conestoga and its branches, and west of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in about 1717. Benjamin Hershey was one of those settlers, arriving from Switzerland. He was ordained as a minister soon after arrival and as a bishop by 1725. Tradition says he built a meetinghouse in 1730 east of the Little Conestoga on Hans Brubacher's farm.
The first log meetinghouse at Millersville was built in 1757, near a schoolhouse. This building was replaced in 1851 by a brick building, which was itself replaced in 1898. It was extensively renovated in 1927.
Millersville Mennonite Church began its first Sunday school in 1887.
Millersville shared its ministry with the Rohrerstown Mennonite Church until the 1950s.
Bibliography
"Millersville, Lancaster Co., Pa...." Herald of Truth 35, no. 3 (1 February 1898): 41.
Ruth, John L. The Earth is the Lord's: a narrative history of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 2001: 225, 255-256, 267, 1138-1169.
Shenk, B. M. "A history of the Mennonite Church at Rohrerstown, East Hempfield Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania." Gospel Herald 2, no. 50 (10 March 1910): 794-795.
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: 90-96, 110-111. Available in full electronic text at https://archive.org/details/mennonitesoflanc00weav_0/page/n3/mode/2up.
Additional Information
Address: 437 Manor Avenue, Millersville, Pennsylvania 17551
Telephone: 717-872-2441
Website: https://millersvillemennonite.org/
Denominational Affiliations:
LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches
Mennonite Church USA (Until 2017)
Pastoral Leaders at Millersville Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Benjamin Hershey (1697-1789) (Bishop) |
By 1719-1725? 1725?-1789 |
| Benjamin Hershey, Jr. (1732-1812) (Bishop) |
?-? ?-1812 |
| Jacob Brubaker (1751-1832 (Bishop) |
1780?-1783? 1783?-1832? |
| Andreas H. Kauffman (1782-1845) | By 1800-1845 |
| John Brubaker (1787-1842) (Bishop) |
1829-1831 1831-1842 |
| John Shenk (1789-1857) | 1835-1857 |
| Christian S. Herr (1812-1880) | 1842-1880 |
| Henry Shenk (1794-1865)(Bishop) | 1843-1865 |
| Joseph Burkholder (1803-1875)(Bishop) | 1864-1875 |
| Jacob K. Brubaker (1814-1879) (Bishop) |
1859-1875 1875-1879 |
| Amos Shenk (1832-1909) (Bishop) |
1876-1879 1879-1890s |
| John K. Brubaker (1844-1898) | 1879-1898 |
| Benjamin Hertzler (1829-1906) | 1881-1906 |
| Amos D. Wenger (1867-1935) | 1897-1908 |
| Abraham B. Herr (1845-1925)(Bishop) | 1899-1925 |
| Daniel N. Gish (1867-1954) | 1907-1954 |
| Daniel M. Lehman (1852-1925)(Bishop) | 1921-1925 |
| Jacob G. Hess (1883-1959) | 1922-1959 |
| John H. Mosemann (1877-1938)(Bishop) | 1926-1938 |
| Landis M. Shertzer (1883-1978) | 1928-1960s |
| Christian K. Lehman (1888-1961)(Bishop) | 1938-1961 |
| Jay "J. Herbert" Fisher (1919-2019) | 1943-1997 |
| Abram H. Charles (1932-2013)(Bishop) | 1962-1977 1977-2000 |
| Raymond L. Bomberger (1944-2011) | 1975-1985? |
| Delbert L. Kautz | 1987-2010 |
| Wesley Penner | 2012-2022 |
| Mildred "Millie" Penner | 2012-2022 |
| Lay Leadership? | 2022-2024 |
| David Martino | 2024- |
Millersville Mennonite Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1907 | 225 |
| 1915 | 500 c̅ Rohrerstown |
| 1920 | 595 c̅ Rohrerstown |
| 1930 | 600 c̅ Rohrerstown |
| 1940 | 662 c̅ Rohrerstown |
| 1950 | 385 |
| 1960 | 325 |
| 1970 | 233 |
| 1980 | 224 |
| 1990 | 158 |
| 2000 | 95 |
| 2009 | 84 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Ira D. Landis. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 354. All rights reserved.
Millersville Mennonite (Mennonite Church (MC)) Church in the town of Millersville, two miles southwest of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, dates back to 1757, when a log meetinghouse was built to serve the Abraham Herr, John Correl, Michael Shenk, Peter Eshleman, Jacob Frantz, and Andrew Kauffman families. Benjamin Hershey, living one mile west of Lancaster, was the first bishop. Among the leading ministers who have served here were Andrew Kauffman, John Shenk, Benjamin Hertzler, Christian S. Herr, and more recently Daniel Lehman and Daniel Gish. Among the sons of the congregation serving elsewhere have been John D. Charles, Chester and Daniel Lehman, and Clyde Shenk. The old church was replaced in 1851 by a new brick building, which in turn was replaced in 1897 by the present church, with renovations in 1927. Jacob G. Hess, Landis Shertzer, and J. Herbert Fisher were the ministers in 1955 with a membership of 375. The Mennonite Children's Home is near by. The ministers share a circuit with the ministers of the Rohrerstown congregation.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | October 2025 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Millersville Mennonite Church (Millersville, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. October 2025. Web. 19 Jan 2026. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Millersville_Mennonite_Church_(Millersville,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=181265.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (October 2025). Millersville Mennonite Church (Millersville, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 19 January 2026, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Millersville_Mennonite_Church_(Millersville,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=181265.
©1996-2026 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.