Lone Tree Church of God in Christ, Mennonite (Galva, Kansas, USA)

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Lone Tree Church of God in Christ, Mennonite, McPherson, Kansas.
Source: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2391/1572731893_e2a27082b2.jpg.

The Lone Tree Church of God in Christ, Mennonite congregation (named for the township in McPherson County in which it is located) near Galva, Kansas, USA was established in 1878.

The early Mennonite settlers in McPherson County were among the 1870s immigrants from Poland and Russia. A variety of Mennonite groups offered worship opportunities to the new arrivals. In fall 1878 John Holdeman visited the community and preached his first sermon in the Emmanuel Church (General Conference Mennonite). He converted and baptized 70 persons; these formed the beginning of the Lone Tree congregation.

Tobias A. Unruh, who had been ordained a minister as a General Conference Mennonite, was converted and baptized in the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite in 1881. In 1882, John Holdeman ordained him as a minister and provided significant leadership to the young denomination. John Holdeman himself moved to the community in 1897, three years before his death.

The congregation's first meetinghouse was made of sod in 1878, located about seven miles north of Moundridge. In 1880 a simple wooden church house was erected a little north of the sod meetinghouse. In 1890 a larger building was erected 5.5 miles north and one mile east of Moundridge; an annex was added in 1896. Part of the building was used for a school that was held in German. In 1906 this building was sold, and a larger building was erected adjacent to the present cemetery. A larger brick building followed in 1959, with another expansion in 1993.

Services were in German until the 1920s and 1930s when preaching changed to English. Sunday school began in the 1920s and became permanent in 1934.

Lone Tree has been a central location for the denomination. In the late 1990s, there were nine sister congregations within a radius of 50 miles, and it has helped to launch numerous daughter congregations. Among these are the Gospel Mennonite Church in 1971, the United Center congregation in 1974, and the Suncrest Mennonite Church in 2007.

In 2020 the congregation was part of the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite. The ministers were Maurice Wedel, Gary Nightingale, and Ty Johnson.

Bibliography

Church of God in Christ, Mennonite. Yearbook (1996-2020).

Histories of the congregations. 3rd. ed. Moundridge, Kansas: Gospel Publishers, 1999: 297-304.

Additional Information

Address: 758 23rd Ave., Galva, Kansas 67443

Phone: 620-345-8594

Website:

Denominational Affiliations:

Church of God in Christ, Mennonite

Ordained Pastors at the Lone Tree Church of God in Christ, Mennonite Church

Name Years
of Service
Benjamin Schmidt (1841-1937) 1879-1895
Henry B. Koehn (1846-1929) 1879-1893
Tobias A. Unruh (1851-1947) 1882-?
Benjamin P. Becker (1857-1923) 1893-1923
Peter A. Unruh (1854-1938) 1896-1932
Benjamin Wedel (1850-1933) 1896-1933
John Holdeman (1832-1900) 1897-1900
John A. Becker (1879-1968) 1920-1968
John J. Koehn (1882-1973) 1923-1938
Jesse Johnson (1907-1950) 1933-1950
Jonas B. Koehn (1904-1993) 1933-1973
Frank Unruh (1909-1995) 1941-1957
Abe D. Koehn (1920-1989) 1949-1973
Arverd Wiggers (1919-2005) 1950-1967
Glenn Unruh (1922-1995) 1953-1982
Herman Nightingale (1922-2006) 1953-2006
Warren Johnson (1926-1980) 1966-1980
Orville Koehn 1972-1982
David Koehn 1974-1975
Henry D. Koehn 1975-1995
Roger G. Unruh 1975-2019
Darrell Becker 1982-2002
Gary Nightingale 1989-present
Stanley D. Johnson 1994-1999
Donald Wedel 1994-1996
Weldon Koehn 1999-2006
Maurice Wedel 2003-present
Ty Johnson 2009-present

Membership at Lone Tree Church of God in Christ, Mennonite Church

Year Membership
1878 70
1971 679
1995 453
2000 439
2010 319
2020 290

Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article

By Jesse Johnson. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 388. All rights reserved.

Lone Tree Church of God in Christ Mennonite Church, located 5.5 miles north and one mile east of Moundridge, Kansas, was organized in 1878 when 70 persons were baptized by John Holdeman, one of the first congregations of the denomination in Kansas. As the congregation increased, the original sod meetinghouse was replaced by a larger building in 1880, which was in turn replaced in 1890 and 1906, and enlarged in 1925, with a seating capacity of 900. Benjamin Schmidt and Henry Koehn were the first residing ministers. Other ministers who have served the church prior to 1955 ministers are Tobias A. Unruh, John Holdeman, and Jesse Johnson. In 1955, the church had a membership of 540. Most of the members were of Dutch descent, and many still spoke Low German at home, but the services were conducted in English. Since this was the largest congregation of the denomination, it had been host to nine conferences by 1955. About 1,200 persons were baptized here from the beginning of the congregation to 1955.


Author(s) Samuel J Steiner
Date Published January 2021

Cite This Article

MLA style

Steiner, Samuel J. "Lone Tree Church of God in Christ, Mennonite (Galva, Kansas, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. January 2021. Web. 3 Dec 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Lone_Tree_Church_of_God_in_Christ,_Mennonite_(Galva,_Kansas,_USA)&oldid=169826.

APA style

Steiner, Samuel J. (January 2021). Lone Tree Church of God in Christ, Mennonite (Galva, Kansas, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 3 December 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Lone_Tree_Church_of_God_in_Christ,_Mennonite_(Galva,_Kansas,_USA)&oldid=169826.




©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.