The Delaware Mennonite Church north of Thompsontown, Pennsylvania in Delaware Township, Juniata County, began prior to the 1870s, meeting in schoolhouses, primarily the Clearfield schoolhouse near Thompsontown, Delaware Hill school, and the Swamp schoolhouse near Mexico. The first Delaware meetinghouse, constructed of brick, was erected in the summer of 1871. Ministers of the Juniata District of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference served the Delaware congregation.

Delaware Mennonite Church's first Sunday school began in 1891.

In 1953, the congregation erected a new meetinghouse adjacent to the 1871 building. It dedicated the meetinghouse on 24 October 1953. The congregation converted the former building into a Christian day school called the Delaware Mennonite School. In 1980, the school became too large for the facility, and Delaware joined two other Mennonite churches to build the Juniata Mennonite School. In 2020, the school changed its name to Juniata Christian School, as less than 15% of almost 200 students identified as Mennonite.

Bibliography

Author(s)	Samuel J Steiner
Date Published	January 2025

"Pennsylvania school makes name change." Anabaptist World 1, no. 3 (6 November 2020): 31.

Ruth, John L. The Earth is the Lord's: a narrative history of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 2001: 1138-1169.

"Sunday-school items." Herald of Truth 28, no. 21 (1 November 1891): 331.

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: 251, 253-254, 259. Available in full electronic text at https://archive.org/details/mennonitesoflanc00weav_0/page/n3/mode/2up.

Additional Information

Address: 16 Delaware Church Road, Thompsontown, Pennsylvania 17094

Telephone: 717-463-3941

Website:

Denominational Affiliations:

LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches

Mennonite Church USA (Until 2017)

Pastoral Leaders at Delaware Mennonite Church

Name	Years of Service
District Ministers	1860s-1890
Samuel Leiter (1860-1941)	1890-1941
William G. Sieber (1853-1923)	1899-1923
Menno B. Brubaker (1884-1957)	1909-1919
Ammon G. Brubaker (1880-1936)	1919-1936
William "W. Banks" Weaver (1891-1986)	1921-1969
David W. Weaver (1924-2010)	1959-1997?
George L. Zimmerman	1982?-1995?
Adam B. Esbenshade (1921-2016)(Interim)	1995?-1998?
Terry D. Sheaffer	1998?-2002?
Glenn D. Hosler	2002?-2017
David Gingrich	2018-

Delaware Mennonite Church Membership

Year	Members
1915	50
1920	51
1930	150 In District
1940	63
1950	46
1960	64
1970	57
1980	59
1990	74
2000	54
2009	50

Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article

Delaware Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church (MC)) of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference is located in the Juniata Valley, a few miles north of Thompsontown, Pennsylvania.

The congregation meets both in the Delaware meetinghouse and in Lost Creek under the bishop oversight of William W. Graybill, and Donald Lauver as assistant bishop. The ministers are W. Banks Weaver and Raymond Lauver. The membership (1954) is 75. The first meetinghouse was built in 1871. In 1953 a new one was built beside it. The older building is being used for a Christian day school.

Cite This Article

MLA style

Steiner, Samuel J. "Delaware Mennonite Church (Thompsontown, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. January 2025. Web. 3 Apr 2025. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Delaware_Mennonite_Church_(Thompsontown,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=180124.

APA style

Steiner, Samuel J. (January 2025). Delaware Mennonite Church (Thompsontown, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 3 April 2025, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Delaware_Mennonite_Church_(Thompsontown,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=180124.

Delaware Mennonite Church (Thompsontown, Pennsylvania, USA)

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