Cedar Grove Mennonite Church (Greencastle, Pennsylvania, USA)
The Cedar Grove Mennonite Church, Greencastle, Pennsylvania, USA, was founded by Mennonites who had to travel a distance to attend Mennonite congregations further away. The group initially met in the Paradise school building just north of the later Cedar Grove church building. In 1905 John H. Grove donated land for a church building that took its name from a grove of cedars on the property.
In 1929 an overheated furnace caused a fire that destroyed everything but the four walls. The congregation promptly built an enlarged facility able to hold 250-300 people. In 1952 it added a basement under the building. In 1972 the congregation built an addition that included a new sanctuary and education wing; they remodeled the old building as a fellowship hall and kitchen.
In fall 1937 Cedar Grove withdrew from the Washington-Franklin County Conference and became independent because of differing beliefs on premillennialism, evangelistic and youth meetings, and methods of church discipline. In April 1950 it joined the Ohio and Eastern Mennonite Conference.
Cedar Grove planted several congregations over the years. These included North Side Mennonite in Hagerstown, Maryland, Black Oak near Hancock, Maryland, and Bethel Mennonite near Warfordsburg, Pennsylvania.
As part of a conference restructuring in 1976, Cedar Grove became part of the Atlantic Coast Conference. In 2012 the congregation voted to withdraw from the Atlantic Coast Conference and Mennonite Church USA. It subsequently joined the Franklin Mennonite Conference, which itself withdrew from Mennonite Church USA in 2016 and became a bishop district of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference in 2017. Thus Cedar Grove became a member of the denomination later known as LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches.
Bibliography
Martin, Miriam. "Cedar Grove Mennonite Church." Atlantic Coast Conference Currents 3, no. 2 (March-April 1982): 1.
"Our history." Cedar Grove Mennonite Church. 2020. Web. 17 January 2022. https://www.cedargrove.info/about-us.
Stoltzfus, Grant M. Mennonites of the Ohio and Eastern Conference; From the Colonial Period in Pennsylvania to 1968. Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite history, no. 13. Scottdale, Pa: Herald Press, 1969: 246, 307.
Additional Information
Address: 13343 Williamsport Pike, Greencastle, Pennsylvania 17225
Phone: 717-597-3681
Website: https://www.cedargrove.info/
Denominational Affiliations: LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches
Pastoral Leaders at Cedar Grove Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Visiting Ministers | 1905-1911 |
| Adam Dorsey Martin (1878-1913) | 1911-1913 |
| Visiting Ministers | 1913-1917 |
| John F. Grove (1890-1986) | 1917-1962 |
| Glenn F. Diller (1919-2010) | 1940-1942 |
| Abram M. Baer (1912-2003) | 1942-1956 |
| Nelson L. Martin (1923-2006) | 1957-1993 |
| Marlin Lehman (Interim) | 1993-1994 |
| Robert Cahill | 1994-2001 |
| Clarence Strite (Interim) | 2001-2004 |
| Stephen P. Fretz | 2004-2011 |
| H. Wesley Boyer (Interim) | 2012-2014 |
| Dennis Stutzman | 2014-2019 |
| Randolph E. Smith | 2020-present |
Membership at Cedar Grove Mennonite Church
| Year | Membership |
|---|---|
| 1905 | 50 |
| 1915 | 46 |
| 1920 | 48 |
| 1930 | 89 |
| 1940 | ? |
| 1950 | 183 |
| 1960 | 130 |
| 1970 | 179 |
| 1980 | 245 |
| 1990 | 246 |
| 2000 | 300 |
| 2007 | 240 |
Maps
Map:Cedar Grove Mennonite Church (Greencastle, Pennsylvania)
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By John F. Grove. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, pp. 537-538. All rights reserved.
The Cedar Grove Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church USA), located three miles south of Greencastle, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, became an independent congregation in 1937, having until that time been a member of the Washington Co., Maryland, and Franklin Co., Pennsylvania, Conference. In 1951 it was received into the Ohio Mennonite and Eastern A.M. Conference.
The meetinghouse was built and the congregation organized with about 50 members in 1905. Services were conducted by ministers of the Washington County churches 5-15 miles away. In 1911 A. Dorsey Martin of Scottdale, Pennsylvania, formerly of this community, became the first resident minister. Other ministers have served the congregation are: Bishop George S. Keener, John F. Grove, Glen Diller, and Abram M. Baer In 1929 the brick building burned but was rebuilt with an addition, which made a seating capacity of 500. The membership in 1952 was 189, mostly rural people.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | January 2022 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Cedar Grove Mennonite Church (Greencastle, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. January 2022. Web. 24 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Cedar_Grove_Mennonite_Church_(Greencastle,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=176685.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (January 2022). Cedar Grove Mennonite Church (Greencastle, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Cedar_Grove_Mennonite_Church_(Greencastle,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=176685.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.