Clinton Frame Church (Goshen, Indiana, USA)
Jonas D. Troyer was a leader in the formation of the Amish Mennonite community in Clinton Township, Elkhart County, Indiana. He came from Ohio to Indiana in 1854, and Isaac Smucker immediately ordained him as a bishop. Troyer differed from other Amish by baptizing in streams instead of by pouring at homes. He also milder in enforcing discipline. His followers became known as Amish Mennonites; the more conservative Amish became identified as Old Order Amish.
Ministers who joined Troyer in his approach included Christian S. Plank, Christian Miller, and John Smiley. The Troyer Amish Mennonites continued to meet in homes. The Forks Amish Mennonite Church in nearby Lagrange County began in 1857, and for a time the Amish Mennonite ministers served both congregations. Plank and Miller then affiliated more closely with the Forks congregation.
The first meetinghouse was built in about 1863 on land conveyed to the church by Michael and Elizabeth Stutzman on 10 August 1863. For unknown reasons, the deed referred to the group as the Waldentz Church, perhaps a reference to the European Waldenses. In 1888, the congregation built a new meetinghouse. It constructed a basement under the building in 1913, installed electric lights in 1916, and added a balcony in 1935.
The first Sunday school was organized in 1876. The first Mennonite Church Sunday-school conference in the United States was held at the Clinton Frame Amish Mennonite Church in 1892.
Until 1916, the congregation was known as the Clinton Frame Amish Mennonite Church. After the merger of the Mennonites and Amish Mennonites in Indiana and Michigan, it became the Clinton Frame Mennonite Church.
In 1892 the Clinton Frame congregation suffered a division over the question of discipline. Fifty members withdrew and established the Silver Street Mennonite Church a mile north of Clinton Frame. That group favored open communion and more lenient dress regulations. It joined the Central Conference Mennonite Church, based in Illinois.
In 1944, Clinton Frame planted the Benton Mennonite Church in a building purchased from the Mennonite Brethren in Christ. It began services on 9 July 1944 and supplied ministers there until Benton organized as a separate congregation in 1948. Clinton Frame also launched several mission efforts in Kentucky.
In 1998, the congregation built a new 1,000-seat worship facility. Since then, several extensive renovations have been completed, the most recent in 2019. The new facility has served as the landlord for the Mennonite Education Agency of Mennonite Church USA and, since 2015, for the Evana Network.
On 4 June 2014, the congregation voted to leave the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference at the end of that month, and on 26 April 2015, the congregation voted to leave Mennonite Church USA on 30 June 2015. It considered joining the South Central Mennonite Conference in order to remain part of Mennonite Church USA, but did not do so. The congregation became a founding member of the Evana Network and changed its name to Clinton Frame Church.
Bibliography
Groff, Anna. "Clinton Frame to Join Evana." The Mennonite. 28 April 2015. Web. 28 April 2015. https://themennonite.org/daily-news/clinton-frame-to-join-evana/.
Groff, Anna. "Clinton Frame Votes to Leave Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference." The Mennonite. 1 July 2014. Web. 30 April 2024. https://anabaptistworld.org/clinton-frame-to-leave-indiana-michigan-conference/.
Johns, Ira S. "Early Amish Settlers in Indiana and Clinton Frame Church History." Mennonite Historical Bulletin: III, 3.
Preheim, Rich. In Pursuit of Faithfulness: Conviction, Conflict, and Compromise in Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference. Harrisonburg, Va.: Herald Press, 2016:
Schrock, D. A History of the Clinton Frame Church. Scottdale, 1927.
Wenger, John Christian. The Mennonites in Indiana and Michigan. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1961: 165-171.
Yoder, Kelli. "Church leaves Indiana-Michigan." Mennonite World Review 23 June 2014. Web. 30 April 2024. https://anabaptistworld.org/church-leaves-indiana-michigan/.
Additional Information
Address: 63846 County Road 35, Goshen, Indiana
Phone: 574-642-3165
Website: Clinton Frame Church
Denominational Affiliations: Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference (Until 2014)
Mennonite Church USA (Until 2015)
Evana Network (2015- )
Pastoral Leaders at Clinton Frame Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Jonas D. Troyer (1811-1897)(Bishop) | 1854-1864? 1885?-1897 |
| Christian S. Plank (1819-1887) | 1854-1860s |
| Christian C. Miller (1818-1891) | 1854-1860s |
| John Smiley (1822-1879) | 1854-1866 |
| Benjamin Schrock (1819-1895) | 1872-1892 |
| Eli S. Miller (1821-1917)(Bishop) | 1870-1917 |
| Daniel J. Johns (1850-1942) (Bishop) |
1882-1887 1887-1930s |
| Daniel D. Troyer (1870-1953) (Bishop) |
1892-1920 1920-1953 |
| Silas Yoder (1868-1943) | 1905-1925 |
| Verle O. Hoffman (1920-2005) | 1944-1946 1948-1951 |
| Galen I. Johns (1920-2012) | 1948 |
| Vernon E. Bontreger (1925-2017) | 1950-1958 1958-1990 |
| Stanley C. Shenk (1919-2010)(Assistant) | 1965-1973 |
| Ritch Hochstetler (Youth) | 1987-1993 |
| John J. Yoder (1919-2001)(Interim) | 1990-1992 |
| Robert L. Shreiner (1942-2022) | 1992-2004 |
| Terry L. Diener | 1995-2017 |
| Nancy Nussbaum (Youth?) | 1995-1996 |
| Mary Ann Shreiner (Seniors & Special Needs) | 1995-2004 |
| Aldine L. Thomas (1933-2015)(Visitation) | 1995-2008 |
| John E. Miller | 1996-1998 |
| Donald G. King (1936-2013)(Administration) | 1998?-2004? |
| Shali Yoder (Youth?) | 1998?-1999? |
| Austin Birkey (Worship & Music) | 2000?-2002 |
| Lana Miller (Young Adults & Youth) | 2000?-2003? |
| Gary Martin (Intentional Interim) | 2004-2005 |
| Scott Nussbaum (Youth & Young Adults) | 2004-2006 |
| Marilyn Riegsecker (Discipling) | 2004-2009 |
| Jeffrey A. Mumaw (Administration) | 2006-2011 |
| John M. Troyer (Youth) | 2007-2015 |
| Sheila Wagler Troyer (Youth) | 2007-2015 |
| Danny Yoder (Outreach) | 2008-2017? |
| Anita Yoder (Worship & Music) | 2010-2022 |
| Linda S. Miller (Discipling) | 2012- |
| DeWayne Bontrager (Administration) | 2014?-present |
| Sebastiano Rosa (Lead) | 2019-present |
| Bailey Horn (Youth) | 2021-2022? |
| Cindy Hawkins (Interim Youth) | 2022-2023? |
| Ian Edwards (Youth) | 2023?-present |
| Amanda Gall (Children's) | 2019?-present |
| Julie Lehman (Congregational Care) | 2021-present |
| Chet Miller-Eshleman (Outreach) | 2021-2023? |
| Jennifer Archer (Interim Worship) | 2022-2023? |
| Ben Pippen (Worship) | 2023?- |
| Ken Bontreger (Interim Assistant) | 2023?-present |
Clinton Frame Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1890 | 162 |
| 1905 | 185 |
| 1913 | 155 |
| 1920 | 155 |
| 1930 | 188 |
| 1940 | 227 |
| 1950 | 199 |
| 1960 | 234 |
| 1970 | 276 |
| 1980 | 271 |
| 1990 | 442 |
| 2000 | 559 |
| 2009 | 511 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Ira S. Johns. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, pp. 627-628. All rights reserved.
Clinton Frame Mennonite Church, located in Clinton Township, Elkhart County, Indiana, five miles (eight km) east of Goshen, was the first Amish Mennonite church organized in Indiana. The first services were held on Easter Day of 1842.
The first meetinghouse was built in 1848 at the location where the present church stands, which was built in 1888 and enlarged in 1913 and 1949. Two divisions have occurred in the congregation. The first (Old Order Amish, 1855-1865) was the result of differences on the question of whether to baptize in the meetinghouse or in a stream. The second division at Clinton Frame came in 1892 when approximately 40 members left to organize the Silver Street Mennonite Church. Among the issues at that time were questions relating to the regulation of attire and open communion.
In July 1944 a church in the village of Benton, also in Elkhart County, about five miles (eight km) southwest of the Clinton Frame Church, was purchased by the congregation and regular services held since then (1954). In 1948 this Benton mission church became an independent congregation in the Indiana-Michigan Conference. This action took about 40 members out of the Clinton Frame congregation. The 1954 membership was 200.
Bishops who have served this church were Jonas Troyer, Benjamin Schrock, D. J. Johns, D. D. Troyer, and Edwin J. Yoder. Ministers who have served are Christian Plank, Eli Miller, D. D. Troyer, Silas Yoder, Ira S. Johns, Verle Hoffman, Galen Johns, and Vernon Bontreger. The ministers in the 1954 were Vernon Bontreger, pastor, and Ira S. Johns, minister. Deacons who served up to 1950 were Daniel Schrock, Ira S. Johns, David Yontz, Vernon Bontreger, and Norman Kauffman.
The first Sunday school was organized in 1876. The first Mennonite Church Sunday-school conference in the United States was held at the Clinton Frame Church in 1892.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | May 2024 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Clinton Frame Church (Goshen, Indiana, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. May 2024. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Clinton_Frame_Church_(Goshen,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=178820.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (May 2024). Clinton Frame Church (Goshen, Indiana, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Clinton_Frame_Church_(Goshen,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=178820.
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