Willow Street Mennonite Church (Willow Street, Pennsylvania, USA)
Willow Street (or Brick) Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church USA) is located at 399 East Penn Grant Road, a mile (1.5 km) southeast of Willow Street in the center of Hans Herr's original settlement in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Christian Herr I, his son and successor, built a large sandstone house on the Conestoga Road in 1719, the oldest church and dwelling house still standing anywhere in Lancaster County. In 1849 near the present site of the church and adjoining the cemetery, the first brick church was built. The next year Amos Herr, the first preacher in the Lancaster Mennonite Conference to preach in English, was ordained here. He was also a consistent advocate of Sunday schools and when by the action of the Lancaster (Spring) Conference in 1871 Sunday schools were recognized as part of the church program, the Brick was the first school organized. The average attendance in 1953 was 257. The building was erected in 1889 and enlarged and remodeled in 1937. The 1953 membership was 250; in 2004 it was 224. It was the home congregation of bishop, Jacob T. Harnish. It was on the ministerial circuit with Strasburg and Sunnyside, and together with the New Providence-Mechanic Grove circuit, Mt. Vernon and Sunnyside, constituted the bishop district in the 1950s.
| Author(s) | Ira D Landis |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1953 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Landis, Ira D. "Willow Street Mennonite Church (Willow Street, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1953. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Willow_Street_Mennonite_Church_(Willow_Street,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=78845.
APA style
Landis, Ira D. (1953). Willow Street Mennonite Church (Willow Street, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Willow_Street_Mennonite_Church_(Willow_Street,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=78845.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 428. All rights reserved.
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