The Reading Mennonite Mission in Reading, Pennsylvania, was inspired by a Bible study at the Gehman Mennonite meetinghouse in 1919. The Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities took up the venture, renting storefront space at the corner of Douglas and Thirteenth Streets. The first Sunday school was held on 8 January 1922. The first preaching services took place in February of that year. Jacob B. Gehman was the first superintendent of the Sunday school. Emma Zimmerman and Anna Renno were among the women who lived and worked in the mission home. Jacob Gehman was appointed superintendent of the mission in 1923.

The mission relocated to North Eleventh Street in December 1923. In October 1926, it moved again to a former Lutheran Church at the corner of Twelfth and Windsor Streets. The Mission Board purchased the church and the adjoining parsonage for $12,000 and carried out minimal renovations. The mission superintendent and short-term mission workers lived in the parsonage. The group adopted the practical name Twelfth and Windsor Mennonite Church.

In 1973, the congregation needed more classroom space and repairs to its building. It bought a nearby Seventh-day Adventist building at the intersection of Windsor Street and Hampden Boulevard and sold its Twelfth and Windsor building to a Pentecostal group. With the location change, the church changed its name to Hampden Mennonite Church. It dedicated the Hampden facility on 3 March 1974.

In the 1990s, the congregation operated an after-school program for teens called "The Bridge." The church was located near a large Reading high school.

In September 2008, Hampden Mennonite changed its name to Destiny Christian Ministries. Prior to 2016 it's name reverted to Hampden Mennonite Church.

Bibliography

Author(s)	Samuel J Steiner
Date Published	April 2025

Mellinger, John H. "A review of the year's work of the Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities." Mennonite Year-Book and Directory (1927): 11-13.

Sensenig, J. Carl. Called of God: The Mennonite Churches of Reading, Pennsylvania. Denver, Pa.: J.C. Sensenig, 2007.

"The Twelfth and Windsor Mennonite Church...." Gospel Herald 67, no. 10 (5 March 1974): 211.

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: 175, 313-316. Available in full electronic text at https://archive.org/details/mennonitesoflanc00weav_0/page/n3/mode/2up.

Additional Information

Address: 1230 Windsor Street, Reading, Pennsylvania 19604

Telephone: 610-375-1552

Website:

Denominational Affiliations:

LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches

Mennonite Church USA (Until 2018)

Pastoral Leaders at Hampden Mennonite Church

Name	Years of Service
Various mission workers	1922
Jacob B. Gehman (1880-1958)(Superintendent)	1923-1933
John W. Hess (1884-1958)	1928-1937
Noah G. Good (1904-2002)	1937-1942
Arthur G. Good (1916-2015)	1940-1979
Paul D. Angstadt (1917-2009)	1953-1972
Robert C. Kauffman (1930-1974	1973-1974
Daniel D. Good	1975-1999
Kenneth B. Eberly	1979-?
Lee Roy Ritz	2000-?

Hampden Mennonite Church Membership

Year	Members
1930	25
1940	84
1950	45
1960	41
1970	52
1980	56
1990	61
2000	44
2009	32

Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article

The Reading (Pennsylvania) Mennonite Mission (Mennonite Church (MC)) was opened as a result of the study of the Book of Acts in the Gehman District of Lancaster Mennonite Conference. The first service was held on 8 January 1922. Jacob Gehman became the first superintendent in January 1923. The center was moved to 558 North 11th Street and in 1926 to the former Lutheran church at 12th and Windsor Streets. In 1958 Arthur Good and Paul Angstadt were the ministers, with a membership of 40. The first regional Bible school was held here in 1955. The Girls’ Home has been an aid to the Mission over the years.

Cite This Article

MLA style

Steiner, Samuel J. "Hampden Mennonite Church (Reading, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. April 2025. Web. 17 Apr 2025. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hampden_Mennonite_Church_(Reading,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=180523.

APA style

Steiner, Samuel J. (April 2025). Hampden Mennonite Church (Reading, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 17 April 2025, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hampden_Mennonite_Church_(Reading,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=180523.

Hampden Mennonite Church (Reading, Pennsylvania, USA)

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