Bethel Mennonite Church (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA)
The Bethel Mennonite Church four miles north of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA had its beginning when in Spring 1939 three families felt they could no longer be part of the Mummasburg Mennonite congregation. They organized a separate Sunday school, and other families joined the new group.
The new group asked Abraham A. Landis of Ephrata, Pennsylvania to serve as the first pastor. He preached his first sermon on 25 June 1939 to an audience of 27 people. Since Landis still lived in Ephrata, services were held every other Sunday. The group took over the former Union Church that has been used by Lutheran, Reformed, and Brethren churches. It purchased land for its own building in 1950, though groundbreaking did not take place until April 1956. The first services in the new facility took place on 16 December 1956. The congregation added an educational wing in 1981.
In the 1980s, Bethel Mennonite served a rural community. A majority of its members did not have a Mennonite background.
The group took the name Bethel Mennonite Church in mid-1941. It became part of the Ohio and Eastern Conference in 1947. In 1978 the eastern section of the Ohio and Eastern Conference evolved into Atlantic Coast Conference.
Bibliography
Wilkinson, Doris. "Bethel Mennonite Church--Gettysburg, Pa." Atlantic Coast Conference Currents 3, no. 5 (September-October 1982): 1.
Additional Information
Address: 2335 Biglerville Road, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 17325
Phone: 717-420-5655
Website: https://bmcgettysburg.church/
Denominational Affiliations:
Pastoral Leaders at Bethel Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Abraham A. Landis (1870-1957) | 1939-1955 |
| Paul L. Lantz (1910-2003) | 1945-1954 |
| Glenn E. Musselman (1927-2016) | 1952-1956 |
| Willis L. Breckbill (1926-2011) | 1955-1959 |
| John H. Rudy (1924-2020) | 1960-1965 |
| Amos W. Shertzer (1916-1972) | 1965-1972 |
| Robert L. Shreiner (1942-2022) | 1973-1981 |
| Lay Leadership | 1981-1982 |
| Dennis R. Kuhns | 1982-1990 |
| Dwight Leatherman | 1983?-1987? |
| James A. Burkholder | 1990-1999 |
| Ezra M. Tice | 1999-2002 |
| C. Albert Guyer | 2003-2004 |
| Robert G. Murr | 2004-2018 |
| Nelson Yoder (Interim) | 2019-2020 |
| Eric Henderson (Interim) | 2020 |
| Jennie Brown (Co-pastor) | 2021-present |
| Dale Brown (Co-pastor) | 2021-present |
Membership at Bethel Mennonite Church
| Year | Membership |
|---|---|
| 1940 | 10 |
| 1950 | 57 |
| 1960 | 37 |
| 1970 | 77 |
| 1980 | 141 |
| 1990 | 100 |
| 2000 | 90 |
| 2007 | 84 |
| 2020 | 60 |
Map
Map:Bethel Mennonite Church (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By J. Forrest Kanagy. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 311. All rights reserved.
Bethel Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church USA) (formerly called Mummasburg), Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania, became a member of the Ohio Mennonite and Eastern Amish Mennonite Conference in May 1947. The total membership in 1953 was 62. It was first organized as a congregation in June 1939, the original six families having previously belonged to the Mummasburg congregation of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. The ministers in 1953 were A. A. Landis, Ephrata, Pennsylvania, and Glen Musselman, Gettysburg.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | December 2021 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Bethel Mennonite Church (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. December 2021. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Bethel_Mennonite_Church_(Gettysburg,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=178800.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (December 2021). Bethel Mennonite Church (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Bethel_Mennonite_Church_(Gettysburg,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=178800.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.