Hively Avenue Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Indiana, USA)

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The Elkhart Mennonite Fellowship in Elkhart, Indiana, USA, began in 1958 when the Mennonite Biblical Seminary moved from Chicago, Illinois to its new campus at the corner of Benham and Hively Avenues in Elkhart. The first formal meeting of interested families was held on 2 February 1958, with 13 adults in attendance. During the next three months, the group met regularly on Sunday afternoons in the homes of interested families. The new group held its first Sunday morning worship service on 4 May 1958, with William Klassen preaching and leading worship. It was organized formally as a congregation on 31 August 1958. In August 1959, it formally joined the General Conference Mennonite Church.

For a time, the congregation met in the Concord West Side School in Elkhart. In July 1959, it purchased four acres on Hively Avenue and had a groundbreaking for a new facility in June 1960. It moved into the new building on 12 March 1961. It renamed itself the Hively Avenue Mennonite Church. In 1979 it completed an addition of a new worship center and offices, converting the old space into Sunday school and nursery school space.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the congregation helped to sponsor the Partly Dave Coffeehouse in downtown Elkhart and began the Hively Avenue Nursery School, which was staffed by church members. In 1986 it declared itself a sanctuary church in support of Central American refugees without status in the United States.

In 2022 the congregation was part of the Central District Conference of Mennonite Church USA.

Bibliography

"A dedication service...." The Mennonite 94, no. 46 (18 December 1979): 762.

"Elkhart Congregation moves into new church building." The Mennonite 76, no. 15 (11 April 1961): 254.

"Elkhart Fellowship." The Mennonite 73, no. 47 (2 December 1958): 756.

"Gering to Elkhart." The Mennonite 74, no. 3 (20 January 1959): 48.

Habegger, David. "What is Hively?" Central District Reporter (19 September 1972): A-6.

"Hively Avenue Church declares sanctuary." The Mennonite 101, no. 13 (8 July 1986): 303.

Preheim, Rich. "Hively at 50." Central District Conference Reporter 52, no. 6 (November 2008): 1, 3.

Rich, Elaine Sommers, ed. Walking Together in Faith: The Central District Conference, 1957-1990. Bluffton, Ohio: The Conference, 2003.

Additional Information

Address: 800 East Hively Avenue, Elkhart, Indiana 46517

Phone: 574-294-3423

Website: https://www.hivelymennonite.org/

Denominational Affiliations: Central District Conference Conference

Mennonite Church USA

Pastoral Leaders at Hively Ave. Mennonite Church

Name Years
of Service
Local Leadership 1958-1959
Walter A. Gering (1908-1996) 1959-1964
Samuel F. Pannabecker (1896-1977))(Interim Coordinator) 1964-1965
William Klassen (1930-2019)(Coordinator) 1965-1966?
Harvey E. Nunemaker (1893-1972)(Coordinator) 1966?-1967
David L. Habegger (1925-2020) 1967-1976
Fred Obold (Part of Team) 1976-1977
Martha Smith Good (Part of Team) 1976-1977
Daniel C. Steiner ((Part of Team) 1976-1977
Virgil M. Gerig (1918-2006) 1977-1982
Marcia A. Yoder-Schrock 1982-1991
Sanford Boshart (Interim) 1991-1992
Doug Reichenbach 1992-1995
Jason S. Martin (1927-2007)(Interim) 1995-1996
Michael "Mick" K. Sommers 1996-2011
Charles Geiser 2011-2017?
Jake Hess 2017?-2022
Tim Stair 2017-present

Membership at Hively Ave. Mennonite Church

Year Membership
1958 31
1960 39
1970 114
1980 156
1990 150
2000 103
2009 103
2020 100

Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article

By William Klassen. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 1078. All rights reserved.

Elkhart Mennonite Church (General Conference Mennonite Chruch) began holding services in January 1958 and was organized as a congregation with 40 charter members on 31 August 1958. In April 1959 Walter Gering began to serve as pastor. Since its inception the congregation has met in the West Side School but in July 1959 a 4-acre plot with parsonage located at the corner of Hively and Pleasant Plain was purchased on which a meetinghouse was built.


Author(s) Samuel J Steiner
Date Published October 2022

Cite This Article

MLA style

Steiner, Samuel J. "Hively Avenue Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Indiana, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. October 2022. Web. 7 Oct 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hively_Avenue_Mennonite_Church_(Elkhart,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=179536.

APA style

Steiner, Samuel J. (October 2022). Hively Avenue Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Indiana, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 7 October 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hively_Avenue_Mennonite_Church_(Elkhart,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=179536.




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