Mercy Church (Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA)
The First Mennonite Church of Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA, began on 5 January 1958 as a new church plant in the Sioux Falls area. Efforts had begun as early as 1948 to establish a Mennonite presence in Sioux Falls but without success. When the new group joined the Northern District Conference of the General Conference Mennonite Church in June 1958, it asked that its name be The Good Shepherd Mennonite Church of Sioux Falls.
Good Shepherd constructed a church building in 1960, seating 200 persons and holding six classrooms. It added a library, a pastor's office, and more classrooms in 1988. In the mid-1990s, it moved across the Big Sioux River and the expressway to its present location.
The congregation changed its name to Good Shepherd Community Church in March 2002. In January 2008, 50 years after its inception, Good Shepherd and a recent church plant of The Christian and Missionary Alliance called Mercy Church, merged. The two congregations, which had been sharing Good Shepherd’s facility, determined to become a conjoined church retaining membership in both of their parent denominations. It took the Mercy Church name. This arrangement continued until June 2017, when the church voted to retain membership solely with The Christian and Missionary Alliance and dropped its Mennonite affiliation.
Bibliography
"Our history." Mercy Church. Web. 7 June 2023. http://mercychurch.org/about-us/our-history/
Schmidt, Diena, ed. The Northern District Conference of the General Conference Mennonite Church 1891-1991. Freeman, S.D.: The Conference, 1991: 161-163
Additional Information
Address: 2100 W. Ralph Rogers Rd., Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57108
Phone: 605-336-9189
Website: http://mercychurch.org/
Denominational Affiliations: Central Plains Mennonite Conference (until 2017)
Mennonite Church USA (until 2017)
Christian and Missionary Alliance (2008- )
Pastoral Leaders at Mercy Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Max Miller | 1958-1961 |
| Hugo J. Mierau (1916-1972)(Interim) | 1961-1963 |
| Elmer Wall | 1963-1971 |
| Donald Klassen | 1971-1973 |
| Lee Boleyn (Interim) | 1973-1974 |
| Gerald Borchert (Interim) | 1976-1977 |
| Ted Faszer | 1977-1988 |
| David W. Waldowski | 1988-1999? |
| Barry Zachariahs (Assistant) | 1992?-1997? |
| Jeffrey A. Turner | 2000-2002 |
| Rosella E. Epp | 2003?-2007 |
| Shelby Boese | 2007-2015? |
| Nathaniel Larson (Associate) | 2011-2014 |
| Craig Hofer | 2015- |
Membership at Mercy Church
| Year | Membership |
|---|---|
| 1958 | 21 |
| 1960 | 27 |
| 1970 | 63 |
| 1980 | 47 |
| 1990 | 72 |
| 2000 | 74 |
| 2009 | 200 |
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | June 2023 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Mercy Church (Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. June 2023. Web. 27 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mercy_Church_(Sioux_Falls,_South_Dakota,_USA)&oldid=175873.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (June 2023). Mercy Church (Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 27 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mercy_Church_(Sioux_Falls,_South_Dakota,_USA)&oldid=175873.
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