Weaverland Anabaptist Faith Community (East Earl, Pennsylvania, USA)
In April 1720, Hans Weber desired a grant of land four miles north of Hans Graff's land on the Conestoga River in what became Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In spring 1723, his sons, Henry, Jacob, and George Weber, moved to the rich bottomlands between what is now Blue Ball and the Conestoga, where the Good, Huber, Martin, Musselman, Newcomer, and Rutt families soon joined them. The area became known as Weaverland, after the three sons.
A congregation was organized by 1733. Peter Shirk (d. 1770), one of the first ministers, mentions Henry Martin (later bishop), John Witwer, Martin Huber, and John Sensenig as "elders of the Mennonite meeting." A log church-schoolhouse may have been built by 1740. By 1766, there was a 34 x 50 ft. stone church with a seating capacity of about 240. The sexton lived on the west end. This stone house had the very plainest furniture. There was a long pine table around which the leaders of singing sat on three sides, with a long bench for the ministers along the north side wall. The preacher, addressing the congregation, stood at the head of this table. The benches for the congregation were two-inch oak planks, a foot wide, without backs, supported by two-inch sticks or legs.
An addition in 1853, with its two ten-plate stoves in the central aisle, seated about 400. Its benches had backs. In 1883, a new stone church, 50 x 78 ft., seated 600. At the time, the congregation built a separate house for the caretaker. A brick church was erected in 1926, with expansions and remodeling in 1972, 1987, and 1997 to accommodate additional Sunday school classrooms.
Weaverland became the central church for a circuit that included Martindale, Lichty, Goodville, and Churchtown. The three Mennonites arrested for sheltering Hessian soldiers overnight were from this congregation. Deacon John Weber (1786-1854), Abraham Weber (1787-1867), Peter Martin (1769-1831) and fourteen of his children, Daniel Weber (1797-1864), and others from this congregation helped to settle Ontario in 1809-1819. The first Sunday school, organized by Samuel H. Musselman and Isaac W. Martin in the spring of 1893, precipitated the Old Order Mennonite schism in the fall of that year. The Weaverland Missions Committee (1906-1928) founded permanent work at Diamond Rock (now Frazer) and Red Run. In 1912, I. B. Good promoted the Weaverland Young People's Meeting "distinctly for young people."
The Weaverland District held services at the Weaverland meetinghouse into the 1940s, when they were held weekly. This gradually led to the practice of ministers linked to one congregation
In 2018, in alignment with the name change of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference, Weaverland Mennonite Church changed its name to Weaverland Anabaptist Faith Community.
The average Sunday morning attendance in 2024 was 490.
Bibliography
Burkholder, Roy S. Be Not Conformed To This World. Morgantown, Pennsylvania: Masthof Press, 1997.
"Congregational Profile: Weaverland Anabaptist Faith Community." Shalom News" 44, no. 1 (January-March 2024): 9.
Martin, C. Kenneth. 1723-1998, 275th Anniversary Weaverland Mennonite Church. Morgantown, Pennsylvania: Masthof Press, 1998.
Ruth, John L. The Earth is the Lord's: a narrative history of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 2001: 341-342, 678-689, 898-899, 1138-1169.
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: xi, 122, 125-131, 137-141, 152-155. Available in full electronic text at https://archive.org/details/mennonitesoflanc00weav_0/page/n3/mode/2up.
Wenger, Eli D. The Weaverland Mennonites. Adamstown, Pennsylvania: Ensigner Printing Service, 1968.
Zimmerman, Paul S. 250th Anniversary, First Mennonite Settlement, Weaverland: 1723-1973. Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Lancaster Mennonite Conference Historical Society, 1973.
Additional Information
Address: 210 Weaverland Valley Road, East Earl, Pennsylvania 17519
Telephone: 717-445-6348
Website: https://weaverland.org/
Denominational Affiliations:
LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches
Pastoral Leaders at Weaverland Anabaptist Faith Community
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Hans Rudolph Nägele (ca. 1668-1765) | 1720?-1725 |
| Peter Shirk (1709-1770) | ca. 1750-1770 |
| Martin Huber (1725-1785) | 1760s-1785? |
| Christian Burkholder (1746-1809) (Bishop) |
1770-1778 1778-1809 |
| Henry Martin (1741-1825) (Bishop) |
1770-1809 1809-1825 |
| Jacob R. Zimmerman (1784-1856) (Bishop) |
1812-1815 1815-1856 |
| Daniel Witwer (1769-1819) | 1812-1819 |
| Jacob Newswanger (1782-1835) | 1815-1835 |
| Christian Shirk (1796-1870) | 1837-1870 |
| Tobias Wanner (1803-1887) | 1840-1887 |
| Johannes Stauffer (1791-1861) | 1841?-1850s? |
| George W. Weaver (1818-1883) (Bishop) |
1846-1854 1854-1883 |
| John B. Weaver (1821-1907) | 1856-1869 |
| Samuel Good (1814-1886) | 1861-1886 |
| Emanuel Newswanger (1832-1905) | 1869-1882 |
| Jonas H. Martin (1829-1925) (Bishop) |
1875-1881 1881-1893 |
| John M. Zimmerman (1829-1903) | 1883-1903 |
| Menno S. Zimmerman (1854-1941) | 1884-1893 |
| Samuel B. Witmer (1862-1909) | 1894-1909 |
| John M. Sauder (1864-1939) (Bishop) |
1895-1926 1926-1939 |
| Benjamin W. Weaver (1853-1928) (Bishop) |
1899-1902 1902-1928 |
| Israel "I. B." Good (1861-1945) | 1903-1945 |
| John W. Weaver (1870-1944) | 1909-1944 |
| Noah H. Mack (1861-1948)(Bishop) | 1919-1926 |
| Jacob "J. Paul" Graybill (1900-1975) (Bishop) |
1920-1922 1939-1970s |
| B. Franklin Martin (1876-1937) | 1926-1937 |
| George N. Good (1886-1941) | 1928-1941 |
| Aaron H. Weaver (1881-1958) | 1936-1958 |
| John W. Burkholder (1903-1998) | 1940-1950s? |
| David N. Weaver (1900-1989) | 1942-1980s |
| Paul R. Weaver (1921-2002) | 1949-1950s? |
| Alvin G. Martin (1921-2011) (Bishop) |
1947-1966 1966-1990s? |
| Aaron H. Hollinger (1924-2005) (Bishop) |
1957-1975 1975-1993 |
| Leon R. Hurst | 1972-2016 |
| Charles "C. Kenneth" Martin (Bishop) |
1977-1993 1993-2010s |
| Earl S. Weaver | 1988-2010s |
| Donald R. Weaver | 1995-2021? |
| J. Nevin Hurst (Youth) (Discipleship) |
2000?-2004? 2014?-2018 |
| Brian E. Martin (Bishop) |
2005-2020 2020- |
| J. Ronald Horning (Youth) | 2004?-2008? |
| Andrew S. Metcalf (Youth) | 2008?-2012? |
| Neal Martin (Youth) | 2012?-2016 |
| Steve Martin (Worship Arts) | 2015- |
| Jay M. Gandy (Youth) | 2016-2020? |
| Brandon DaSilva (Students) | 2019-2021 |
| Dale Zimmerman (Student Ministries) | 2021- |
| Alphaus Stoltzfus (Discipleship & Outreach) | 2021- |
| Rodney Horst (Care Ministries) | 2021- |
Weaverland Anabaptist Faith Community Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1907 | 500 In District |
| 1915 | 650 In District |
| 1920 | 640 In District |
| 1930 | 850 In District |
| 1940 | 1040 In District |
| 1950 | 570 |
| 1960 | 561 |
| 1970 | 483 |
| 1980 | 519 |
| 1990 | 540 |
| 2000 | 573 |
| 2009 | 625 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Ira D. Landis. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, pp. 905, 1148. All rights reserved.
Weaverland Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church), in eastern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, has been a strong Mennonite center since the days of David Martin and the coming of George, Henry, and Jacob Weaver from West Lampeter Township in ca. 1723. John Weaver was in West Lampeter ca. 1717, and in 1721 applied for a grant of land for the three Weaver brothers.
A congregation was organized by 1733. Peter Shirk (d. 1770), one of the first ministers, mentions Henry Martin (later bishop), John Witwer, Martin Huber, and John Sensenig as "elders of the Mennonite meeting." A church-schoolhouse may have been built, but by 1766 there was a 34 x 50 ft. stone church with a seating capacity of about 240. The sexton lived on the west end. The new addition in 1853, with its two ten-plate stoves in the central aisle, seated about 400. In 1883 a new stone church, 50 x 78 ft., seated 600. The present brick church, 60 x 120 ft, was erected in 1926.
This was the home congregation of bishops Henry Martin (1741-1825), Jonas H. Martin (1839-1925), John M. Sauder (1864-1939), and J. Paul Graybill; preachers Peter Shirk (d. 1770), Daniel Witwer (1767-1819), Tobias Wanner (1813-87), Samuel B. Witmer (1861-1909), I. B. Good (1861-1945). It has been the central church for a circuit that includes Martindale, Lichty, Goodville, and Churchtown. The three Mennonites arrested for sheltering Hessian soldiers overnight were from this congregation. Deacon John Weber (1786-1854), Abraham Weber (1787-1867), Peter Martin (1769-1831) and fourteen of his children, Daniel Weber (1797-1864), and others from this congregation helped to settle Ontario in 1809-19. The first Sunday school, organized by Samuel H. Musselman and Isaac W. Martin in the spring of 1893, precipitated the Old Order Mennonite schism in the fall of that year. The Weaverland Missions Committee (1906-1928) founded permanent work at Diamond Rock (now Frazer) and Red Run. In 1912 I. B. Good promoted the Weaverland Young People's Meeting "distinctly for young people."
This congregation, long the largest in Lancaster Conference (now second), listed 575 members 1957, with J. Paul Graybill as resident bishop and D. N. Weaver, Alvin G. Martin, A. H. Hollinger ministers.
| Author(s) | Ira D. Landis |
|---|---|
| Richard D. Thiessen | |
| Samuel J. Steiner | |
| Date Published | April 2026 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Landis, Ira D., Richard D. Thiessen and Samuel J. Steiner. "Weaverland Anabaptist Faith Community (East Earl, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. April 2026. Web. 15 Apr 2026. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Weaverland_Anabaptist_Faith_Community_(East_Earl,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=182005.
APA style
Landis, Ira D., Richard D. Thiessen and Samuel J. Steiner. (April 2026). Weaverland Anabaptist Faith Community (East Earl, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 15 April 2026, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Weaverland_Anabaptist_Faith_Community_(East_Earl,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=182005.
©1996-2026 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.