New Danville Mennonite Church (Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA)
Bishop Hans Burkholder and Minister Melchior Brenneman came with the Brubakers, Hostetters, Greiders, Hersheys, Stinemans, Leamans, Swarrs, Kauffmans, and other Mennonites from the Palatinate formed a settlement in 1717 in what was still Chester County, along the Conestoga River and its branches in southern Manor and Conestoga townships. The Mennonite settlers became part of the Lower Conestoga district, which developed into the New Danville, Byerland, and River Corner congregations, bordering on the western edge of the Lancaster County Mennonite colony that began in 1710.
On 1 July 1755, Stephen Brenneman, son of the first Preacher Melchior Brenneman, and wife, and John Burkholder, son of the first Bishop Hans Burkholder, all of Conestoga township, sold one acre of land, together with a meetinghouse thereon erected, and the graveyard to John Herr, Charles Christopher, and Jacob Boehm, the elders and trustees of the Mennonist congregation, in Conestoga township. Stone meetinghouses were erected in 1855 and again in 1878. During these years, the congregation was often referred to as the Stone Church. In 1907, New Danville built a new brick meetinghouse. Significant renovations took place in 1945, especially in the basement, creating Sunday school rooms. In 1968, the church added a foyer at the building's entry. In 1987, the congregation added a large annex, which doubled the size of the meetinghouse.
New Danville met every two weeks into the 1940s, when it began holding services every Sunday morning.
In 2024, New Danville planted the Motley Church.
Bibliography
Harnish, Lindsay Druck. New Danville: Church, Community, Heritage, 1717-1992. Lancaster, Pa.: New Danville Mennonite Church, 1992.
"New Danville Mennonite Church." LMC: A Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches. 14 May 2024. Web. 9 December 2025. https://lmcchurches.org/2024/05/new-danville-mennonite-church/.
Ruth, John L. The Earth is the Lord's: a narrative history of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 2001: 267, 949-951, 1019-1020, 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: 37, 91-92, 102-106, 113. Available in full electronic text at https://archive.org/details/mennonitesoflanc00weav_0/page/n3/mode/2up.
Additional Information
Address: 103 Marticville Road, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17603
Telephone: 717-872-8111
Website: https://newdanvillechurch.com/
Denominational Affiliations:
LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches
Mennonite Church USA (Until 2017)
Pastoral Leaders at New Danville Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Hans Burkholder (1670?-1745?)(Bishop) | 1717-1740s? |
| Melchior Brenneman (1665-1737) | 1717-1730 |
| Jacob Hostetter (1680s?-1761)(Bishop) | 1740s-1761 |
| Martin Boehm (1725-1812) (Bishop) |
1756-1761 1761-1777 |
| John Shenk (1747-1813) | ?-1813 |
| Jacob Brubacher (1751-1832) (Bishop) |
1780?-1783? 1743?-1832 |
| Daniel Sterneman (1767-1851) | By 1813-1851? |
| Samuel Myers (1780-1851) | 18??-1851? |
| John Brubacher (1787-1842) (Bishop) |
1829-1831 1831-1842 |
| John Huber (1791-1861) | 18??-1861? |
| Henry Shenk (1794-1865) (Bishop) |
1839-1843 1943-1865 |
| Joseph Burkholder (1803-1875) (Bishop) |
1846-1864 1864-1875 |
| Martin Miller (1798-1880) | 1858-1880 |
| John B. Harnish (1829-1908) | 1865-1908 |
| Jacob K. Brubaker (1814-1879)(Bishop) | 1875-1879 |
| Abraham B. Herr (1845-1925) (Bishop) |
1875-1899 1899-1925 |
| Amos Shenk (1832-1909)(Bishop) | 1879-1891? |
| Jacob H. Thomas (1849-1939) | 1899-1939 |
| Aaron B. Harnish (1856-1938) | 1904-1938 |
| Daniel N. Lehman (1852-1925)(Bishop) | 1921-1925 |
| Maris W. Hess (1892-1965) | 1923-1940s |
| John H. Mosemann (1877-1938)(Bishop) | 1926-1938 |
| James H. Hess (1911-1998) | 1934-1940s |
| D. Stoner Krady (1894-1966)(Bishop) | 1937-1966 |
| Henry W. Nauman (1910-1956) (Bishop) |
1938-1947 1947-1956 |
| David N. Thomas (1919-2000) (Bishop) |
1948-1956 1956-1986 |
| Elias H. Groff (1906-2008) | 1957-1980 |
| Jay C. Garber (1933-2025) | 1966-1998 |
| Ernest Hess (1942-2024)(Bishop) | 1986-2006? |
| Mervin S. Stoltzfus (Associate) | 1991-1992 |
| J. Robert Metzler (Associate) | 1992-1993 |
| Nathan L. Yoder | 1997-2000? |
| Curtiss Lee Kanagy | 2001-2010 |
| Interim Leadership? | 2010-2013 |
| Keith Roberts (Associate) | 2020-2023? |
| Mike Dickert (Worship & Discipleship) | 2023-2024? |
| Robert Brody | 2013- |
New Danville Mennonite Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1908 | 425 In District |
| 1915 | 240 |
| 1920 | 240 |
| 1930 | 450 In District |
| 1940 | 477 In District |
| 1950 | 280 |
| 1960 | 236 |
| 1970 | 204 |
| 1980 | 237 |
| 1990 | 211 |
| 2000 | 211 |
| 2009 | 140 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Ira D. Landis. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 861. All rights reserved.
The New Danville Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church (MC)), in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a member of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference, was built on the land of Bishop Hans Burkholder and Melchior Brenneman, pioneers of 1717. The cemetery is still there. In the overflow from the Lampeter-Strasburg settlement of 1710 many of the new arrivals in 1717 came into this area.
The first meetinghouse, built in 1755 in this stump land, was called Stumptown. It was replaced in 1855 and 1878 by stone churches, and therefore became known as the Stone Church. The new one of brick built in 1907 gradually took on the present name of the nearby town. This was the home district of Bishop Martin Boehm, organizer of the United Brethren Church. The membership in 1956 was 260, with David N. Thomas as bishop and James H. Hess as the minister. A three-room Christian day school nearby was sponsored by the district.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | December 2025 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "New Danville Mennonite Church (Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. December 2025. Web. 12 Feb 2026. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=New_Danville_Mennonite_Church_(Lancaster,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=181354.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (December 2025). New Danville Mennonite Church (Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 12 February 2026, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=New_Danville_Mennonite_Church_(Lancaster,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=181354.
©1996-2026 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.