Hammer Creek Mennonite Church (Lititz, Pennsylvania, USA)
Before the construction of meetinghouses in 1819, Mennonites in the Hammer Creek-Landis Valley District of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference met in large private homes, with each family hosting every eight weeks. In the summer of 1819, meetinghouses were built at Hammer Creek and Indiantown. The Hammer Creek's brick meetinghouse was built on land donated by Martin and Elizabeth Balmer. It served until 1913, when a larger brick meetinghouse with a basement replaced the earlier building. That building was dedicated on 16 August 1913. The congregation finished a new church building across the parking lot from the 1913 building in 1990. The new sanctuary seated 440 and was debt-free within six months.
Mennonite settlers began living in the Hammer Creek Valley before 1733. Initially, they would have been served by ministers from other parts of Lancaster County. The first local minister was Christian Bomberger, who was ordained about 1760. John Baer, an early minister, died with his wife Anna in 1778 at the Ephrata Cloister, helping to care for Revolutionary War soldiers who had contracted typhus.
The congregation met for worship every four weeks into the 1920s, then every two weeks into the 1950s, when it became weekly.
Bibliography
"Building project is debt-free." Gospel Herald 84, no. 14 (2 April 1991): 12.
Eby, Martha. "Lititz, Pa." Gospel Herald 6, no. 22 (28 August 1913): 349.
Ruth, John L. The Earth is the Lord's: a narrative history of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 2001: 274, 331-332, 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: 163-169, 176-177. Available in full electronic text at https://archive.org/details/mennonitesoflanc00weav_0/page/n3/mode/2up.
Additional Information
Address: 590 Hammer Creek Road, Lititz, Pennsylvania 17543
Telephone: 717-626-8080
Website: https://hammercreekmennchurch.org/
Denominational Affiliations:
LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches
Mennonite Church USA (Until 2018)
Pastoral Leaders at Hammer Creek Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Christian Bomberger (1719-1787) | ca. 1760-1787 |
| John Baer (1723-1778) | By 1770-1778 |
| Jacob Myer (1769-1849)? | By 1800-? |
| Christian Risser (1776-1826) | ca. 1800-1826 |
| John Hess (1768-1830) | 1800-1830 |
| Christian Bomberger (1786-1871) (Bishop) |
1831-1838 1838-1850 |
| Benjamin Eby (1797-1866) | 1833-1866 |
| Christian Bomberger (1818-1898) (Bishop) |
1848-1860 1860-1887 |
| John S. Risser (1801-1873) | 1851-1873 |
| John R. Hess (1828-1897) | 1866-1893 |
| Christian S. Risser (1825-1910) (Bishop) |
1874-1896 1896-1905 |
| John B. Bucher (1858-1942) | 1892-1942 |
| Noah L. Landis (1857-1940)(Bishop) | 1905-1940 |
| Noah W. Hurst (1877-1964) | 1925-1964 |
| Parke M. Heller (1915-2007) | 1946-1988 |
| Ira M. Good (1914-2001) | 1955-1983 |
| Fred G. Heller | 1974-2010s |
| Raymond "R. Richard" Hurst (1942-2024) | 1981-1994 |
| Samuel S. Burkholder | 1988-2010s |
| Wilmer S. Musser | 2000?-2006 |
| Michael D. Allgyer (Evangelism) | 2003?-2005 |
| Leonard N. Rutt | 2008- |
| Rick L. Newswanger (Youth) (Associate) |
2002?-2010 2010- |
| Jason Hoover (Youth) | 2011-2016? |
| Christopher Weaver (Associate) | ?-2016 |
| Dustin Martin (Associate) | 2016- |
Hammer Creek Mennonite Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1913 | 100 |
| 1920 | 100 |
| 1930 | 460 In District |
| 1940 | 556 In District |
| 1950 | 150 |
| 1960 | 174 |
| 1970 | 174 |
| 1980 | 213 |
| 1990 | 290 |
| 2000 | 271 |
| 2009 | 200 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Ira D. Landis. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 644. All rights reserved.
Hammer Creek (Pennsylvania) Mennonite Church (MC), a member of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. Until 1819 the Mennonites of the Hammer Creek-Denver district met in eight private homes for worship. Deacon Christian Eby was successful in keeping the children of members for the church during and after the Revolutionary War. The first two bishops were both named Christian Bomberger. From this congregation came Bishop Peter Eby of the Pequea and Bishop Benjamin Eby and the Ebys, Snyders, Brubakers, etc., who immigrated to Ontario in the first two decades of the 19th century. Since 1913 the congregation has had a large brick church. Amos S. Horst and Mahlon Zimmerman are the present (1954) bishops, Noah Hurst and Parke Heller ministers, and J. Henry Eshleman deacon; the membership is 182.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | April 2025 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Hammer Creek Mennonite Church (Lititz, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. April 2025. Web. 12 Feb 2026. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hammer_Creek_Mennonite_Church_(Lititz,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=180432.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (April 2025). Hammer Creek Mennonite Church (Lititz, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 12 February 2026, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hammer_Creek_Mennonite_Church_(Lititz,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=180432.
©1996-2026 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.