Eicher Emmanuel Mennonite Church (Wayland, Iowa, USA)
Eicher Emmanuel Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church USA), located at 2670 330th Street, Wayland, Washington County, Iowa, was organized in 1862. Previous to its organization the congregation had been in charge of Joseph Goldsmith, the bishop of the nearby Henry County church, and was also served by preachers Joseph Wittrig and Christian Bechler. Meetings were held in private homes until 1868, when the first church, called the Noble Church, was built northwest of Noble. This meetinghouse was replaced in 1895 by a more modern building. A third church, built in 1911 on the same site, was in use in the 1950s. The first preacher and bishop after the 1862 organization was Benjamin Eicher.
After its separation from the Amish Mennonite Conference in 1874, the Eicher Church, as it came to be called, with about 50 members, followed an independent course for a number of years. In 1892 it joined the Middle District Conference (General Conference Mennonite) and in 1893 the General Conference Mennonite Church.
Those who served as pastors of the Eicher Church up to 1955 were Benjamin Eicher, H. G. Allebach, P. E. Stucky, S. M. Musselman, L. L. Miller, P. K. Regier, H. J. Schrag, A. H. Miller, D. E. Welty, H. D. Metzker, Walter H. Regier, Leander Fast, and H. L. Metzker. In 1953 approximately half of the congregation of 179 withdrew from the Mennonite Church to establish the Fern Cliff Free Evangelical Church under the leadership of Leander Fast. In 1955 the membership was 112, with H. E. Nunemaker as pastor.
In 2000 when the Northern District of the General Conference Mennonite Church and the Iowa-Nebraska Conference of the Mennonite Church (MC) merged to form the Central Plains Conference of Mennonite Church USA, Eicher Emmanuel shifted from the Central District Conference to the new Central Plains Conference. In October 2022, the congregation withdrew from the Central Plains Mennonite Conference and Mennonite Church USA, and joined the Evana Network.
Bibliography
"Eicher Emmanuel, Wayland, celebrates 150 years of service." Southeast Iowa Union 20 September 2018. Web. 15 January 2023. https://www.southeastiowaunion.com/life/eicher-emmanuel-wayland-celebrates-150-years-of-service/
Gingerich, Melvin. The Mennonites in Iowa: Marking the one hundredth anniversary of the coming of the Mennonites to Iowa. Iowa City, Iowa: The State Historical Society of Iowa, 1939.
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 564.
Huber, Tim. "Evana Network adding strategic partners as it readies for growth." Anabaptist World 3 May 2023. Web. 4 May 2023. https://anabaptistworld.org/evana-network-adding-strategic-partners-as-it-readies-for-growth/.
Preheim, Rich. "New merged conference comes with joy: Iowa-Nebraska, Northern District form Central Plains." TheMennonite 3, no. 25 (4 July 2000): 8.
"Sketch of Emmanuel Church, Noble, Ia." in Mennonite Year Book and Almanac for 1904. Quakertown, Pa.: U.S. Stauffer, 1904: 26-27.
Additional Information
Address: 2670 330th Street, Wayland, Iowa
Phone: 319-541-9307
Website: https://www.facebook.com/eichermennonite/
Denominational Affiliations: Evana Network
Pastoral Leaders at Eicher Emmanuel Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Benjamin Eicher (1832-1893) (Bishop) |
1862-1866 1866-1893 |
| William B. Eicher (1869-1936) | 1894 |
| Harvey G. "H. G." Allebach (1869-1921) | 1894-1897 |
| Peter E. "P. E." Stuckey (1844-1929) | 1897-1902 |
| Samuel M. "S. M." Musselman (1875-1938) | 1903-1920 |
| Louis L. "L. L." Miller (1886-1981) | 1920-1922 |
| Peter K. "P. K." Regier (1891-1973) | 1922-1924 |
| Henry J. "H. J." Schrag (1897-1988) | 1924-1930 |
| Allen H. "A. H." Miller (1870-1950) | 1930-1935 |
| Delbert E. Welty (1896-1979) | 1936-1942 |
| Harvey "Leonard" Metzker (1917-1993) | 1943-1945 |
| Walter H. Regier (1915-1998) | 1945-1948 |
| Leander D. Fast (1917-1990) | 1949?-1953 |
| Harvey E. "H. E." Nunemaker (1893-1972) | 1954-1960 |
| Ernest Sawatzky (Interim) | 1961 |
| Archie F. Penner (1917-2007)(Interim) | 1961-1963 |
| T. Alvin "T. A." van der Smissen (1897-1974) | 1963-1964 |
| Omar Nisley (Interim) | 1965 |
| Rudolph C. Martens (1926-2013) | 1965-1970 |
| Nick Kassebaum | 1971-1972 |
| Harold D. Rixe | 1973 |
| George King (Interim) | 1975-1976 |
| Paul F. Goossen | 1976-1990 |
| Melvin J. Koehn | 1990-2005? |
| Herbert L. Yoder (1929-2021) | 2005?-2010? |
| Larry Evers | 2010?-2013 |
| Robert Hartzler (Interim) | 2013-2014 |
| David Schooley | 2014-2020 |
| Kendrick "Jack" Scandrett (Interim) | 2020-2021 |
| Joshua Wenger | 2022- |
Membership at Eicher Emmanuel Mennonite Church
| Year | Membership |
|---|---|
| 1874 | 50 |
| 1890 | 190 |
| 1904 | 200 |
| 1910 | 225 |
| 1920 | 268 |
| 1930 | 260 |
| 1940 | 257 |
| 1950 | 188 |
| 1955 | 112 |
| 1960 | 117 |
| 1970 | 88 |
| 1980 | 94 |
| 1990 | 81 |
| 2000 | 60 |
| 2009 | 60 |
| 2020 | 60 |
| Author(s) | Walter H. Regier |
|---|---|
| Samuel J. Steiner | |
| Date Published | May 2023 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Regier, Walter H. and Samuel J. Steiner. "Eicher Emmanuel Mennonite Church (Wayland, Iowa, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. May 2023. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Eicher_Emmanuel_Mennonite_Church_(Wayland,_Iowa,_USA)&oldid=175446.
APA style
Regier, Walter H. and Samuel J. Steiner. (May 2023). Eicher Emmanuel Mennonite Church (Wayland, Iowa, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Eicher_Emmanuel_Mennonite_Church_(Wayland,_Iowa,_USA)&oldid=175446.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 168. All rights reserved.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.