The Gantz Mennonite Church began in the late 1870s when Mennonites began renting the Rapho Reformed Church building north of Manheim. On 8 May 1880, members of the Landisville-Mount Joy-Manheim District of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference purchased the Rapho Reformed Church building known as the Gantz meetinghouse. They bought the meetinghouse because it was in an area north of Manheim where more Mennonite families were settling. The Gantz congregation demolished the meetinghouse in 1915 and erected a new brick meetinghouse on the same property. The new building opened for worship on 25 December 1915.

Gantz Mennonite met with the Hernley Mennonite Church as one congregation until 1957. They alternated services between the two meetinghouses. In December 1957, Hernley and Gantz agreed to meet as separate congregations, each holding services every Sunday. The rationale was to relieve space pressure for the churches' Sunday school programs.

In February 1962, a fire originating in a furnace damaged the Gantz church building extensively.

In 1982, many of the more conservative members, including the pastors, left the church over differences in the congregation's theological direction to form Mount Hope Mennonite Church, which became part of the Keystone Mennonite Fellowship. The remaining members decided to become a more community-minded congregation. In July 1987, Gantz Mennonite Church changed its name to Grace Community Fellowship to reflect the change in perspective.

Bibliography

Author(s)	Samuel J Steiner
Date Published	March 2025

Cornelius, Earle. "Grace Community Fellowship has had multiple buildings, several congregations and questions about its charter." Lancaster Online. 7 October 2017. Web. 13 March 2025. https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/grace-community-fellowship-has-had-multiple-buildings-several-congregations-and-questions-about-its-charter/article_ad4971ba-aad0-11e7-9f27-3ba77a51c781.html

"The Gantz Church,..." Gospel Herald 55, no. 11 (13 March 1962): 258.

"The Hernley-Gantz congregation." Gospel Herald 50, no. 49 (3 December 1957): 1044.

Ruth, John L. The Earth is the Lord's: a narrative history of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 2001: 635, 1138-1169.

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: 182-184, 190-191, 204. Available in full electronic text at https://archive.org/details/mennonitesoflanc00weav_0/page/n3/mode/2up.

Additional Information

Address: 1483 North Colebrook Road, Manheim, Pennsylvania 17545

Telephone: 717-665-7222

Website: https://gcfmanheim.org/

Denominational Affiliations:

LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches

Mennonite Church USA (Until 2017)

Pastoral Leaders at Grace Community Fellowship

Name	Years of Service
Samuel Hershey (1810-1893)	1880-1893
Jacob N. Brubacher (1838-1913)(Bishop)	1880-1913
Abraham Horst (1821-1905)	1880-1905
Jacob H. Snavely (1829-1904)	1880-1904
John B. Snavely (1864-1937)	1903-1937
Abram M. Risser (1893-1991)	1927-1957
Clyde L. Metzler (1914-1974)	1943-1957
Ellis D. Leaman (1917-1994)	1957-1982
David L. Hess	1971-1982
Glenn M. Sell (Interim)	1982-1983
Walter E. Hurst	1983-1987
David M. Witmer	1987-1989?
Jeffrey S. Landis	1990-1993
Timothy M. Gorno	1993-2002?
Dennis W. "Denny" Andrew (1946-2024)	2003?-2019
Eldrick Lal	2019-2022
Jon Barrett	2023-

Grace Community Fellowship Membership

Year	Members
1913	125
1920 with Hernley	175
1930	96
1940 with Hernley	227
1950 with Hernley	234
1960	96
1970	111
1980	112
1990	75
2000	66
2009	100

Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article

Gantz-Hernley Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church), of the vicinity of Manheim, Pennsylvania, a member of Lancaster Mennonite Conference, worships in two meetinghouses. The Gantz meetinghouse, a brick building 40 x 60 ft., located 3.5 miles northwest of Manheim, was built in 1915 on the site of the first church, which had been purchased in 1880. The Hernley church was built one mile north of Manheim in 1745 on land contributed by the Penns and was enlarged in 1919. Sunday school and worship services were held every Sunday alternately in the two churches. The membership in 1955 was 256; the ministers were Abram M. Risser and Clyde L. Metzler; the deacons were Isaac E. Tyson and John R. Nissley; the bishop in charge was Homer D. Bomberger. An early division resulted in a considerable loss into the Church of the Brethren.

Cite This Article

MLA style

Steiner, Samuel J. "Grace Community Fellowship (Manheim, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. March 2025. Web. 3 Apr 2025. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Grace_Community_Fellowship_(Manheim,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=180334.

APA style

Steiner, Samuel J. (March 2025). Grace Community Fellowship (Manheim, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 3 April 2025, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Grace_Community_Fellowship_(Manheim,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=180334.

Grace Community Fellowship (Manheim, Pennsylvania, USA)

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