Rock Creek Bible Church (Congerville, Illinois, USA)
The Congerville Mennonite Church (Fellowship of Evangelical Churches), located in Woodford County, Illinois, was the first Amish church to be established in a village. A few Mennonite families moved into the community and opened a Sunday school in 1891. In January 1896 Peter Schantz organized the congregation at this place. In 1917 the remodeled church earlier purchased from the Christian Church and moved into Congerville was rededicated. When the Central Illinois Conference of Mennonites was formed in 1908 Congerville was a charter member. The congregation had 100 members in 1951. In 1999 the congregation had 334 members; the pastor was Arthur John Simpson, Jr.
In 2000 the congregation withdrew from the General Conference Mennonite Church and joined the Evangelical Mennonite Church (now Fellowship of Evangelical Churches).
In the early 2010s, the church changed its name to Rock Creek Bible Church. Sometime after 2013 it appeared to withdraw from the Fellowship of Evangelical Churches and became an independent congregation.
Bibliography
Rich, Elaine Sommers, ed. Walking Together in Faith: The Central District Conference, 1957-1990. Bluffton, Ohio: The Conference, 2003.
Smith, Willard. Mennonites in Illinois. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1983: 92, 98, 335, 340, 478, 535.
Additional Information
Address: 307 East Kauffman Street, Congerville, Illinois 61729
Phone: 309-448-2319
Website: https://www.rockcreekbible.org/
Denominational Affiliation:
Pastoral Leaders at Rock Creek Bible Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Lee J. Lantz (1873-1970) | 1899-1908 |
| George Gundy (1880-1951) | 1909-1925 |
| Reuben J. Zehr (1899-1972) | 1925-1928 |
| Joseph H. King (1861-1935) | 1928-1935 |
| John F. Smith | 1935-1941 |
| Paul Tschetter | 1941-1945 |
| Raymond M. Yoder (1914-1983) | 1946-1957 |
| Joseph E. Atherton (1921-2002) | 1957-1967 |
| David Loewen | 1967-1970 |
| Jerry Quiring | 1970-1971 |
| J. Leon Martin (1922-2008) | 1971-1981 |
| Lawrence Reel (1944- ) | 1981 |
| Brian Arbuckle | 1981-1982 |
| David Block | 1983-1986 |
| Edwin J. "Jack" Stalter (1922-2006)(Interim) |
1986-1987 1990-1991 |
| LeRoy Redding | 1987-1989 |
| Duane Heinold | 1989 |
| Arthur J. "Art" Simpson | 1991-2000 |
| Phil Bachman | 2001-2022 |
| Paul Forgette | 2022- |
Membership at Rock Creek Bible Church
| Year | Membership |
|---|---|
| 1950 | 74 |
| 1960 | 134 |
| 1970 | 150 |
| 1980 | 216 |
| 1990 | 167 |
| 2000 | 334 |
| Author(s) | Grace Miller |
|---|---|
| Samuel J. Steiner | |
| Date Published | January 2023 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Miller, Grace and Samuel J. Steiner. "Rock Creek Bible Church (Congerville, Illinois, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. January 2023. Web. 19 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Rock_Creek_Bible_Church_(Congerville,_Illinois,_USA)&oldid=174554.
APA style
Miller, Grace and Samuel J. Steiner. (January 2023). Rock Creek Bible Church (Congerville, Illinois, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 19 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Rock_Creek_Bible_Church_(Congerville,_Illinois,_USA)&oldid=174554.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, pp. 689-690. All rights reserved.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.