Manheim Mennonite Church (Manheim, Pennsylvania, USA)
The Manheim Mennonite meetinghouse in Manheim, Pennsylvania, was built in 1896 by the Landisville-Mt. Joy-Manheim bishop district for the district members who had moved into the borough of Manheim. The meetinghouse opened for worship on 24 November 1896. Horse sheds were built in 1909 but later dismantled in the 1920s, with the lumber used for an addition of the church's southside. Extensive remodeling took place in 1963 and 1982.
The congregation met for worship at the Manheim meetinghouse every four weeks until the 1920s, when it changed to every two weeks. By 1950, services were held weekly.
A sewing circle, meeting in homes, began in 1901. Manheim Mennonite began a Sunday school on Sunday afternoons in 1904. The congregation had its first all-member business meeting on 4 December 1941; previously, the ordained leadership, trustees, and Sunday school superintendents made the decisions. A more formal church cabinet was established in the mid-1970s. The congregation accepted the gift of an organ in 1982.
By 2018, worship attendance had dropped to about 40. The congregation closed in 2020 or 2021. A church plant known as Community Church of Manheim maintained ownership and continued using the building, meeting in the basement on Wednesday evenings. It sold the building in 2023 to Hope Served, an agency providing services to disabled persons, but continued meeting there.
Bibliography
100 Years of God's Faithfulness: Manheim Mennonite Church 1896-1996. Manheim, Pa.: The Church, 1996.
"Manheim Mennonite Church." Lancaster Mennonite Conference. 22 January 2018. Web. 8 December 2024. https://lmcchurches.org/2018/01/manheim-mennonite-church/.
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: 191-192, 206, 286. Available in full electronic text at https://archive.org/details/mennonitesoflanc00weav_0/page/n3/mode/2up.
Additional Information
Address: 201 West High Street, Manheim, Pennsylvania 17545
Telephone:
Website:
Denominational Affiliations:
LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches
Pastoral Leaders at Manheim Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| District Ministers | 1896-1907 |
| Aaron H. Wenger (1864-1937) | 1907-1937 |
| Samuel S. Lehman (1871-1955) | 1927-1955 |
| Benjamin "B. Charles" Hostetter (1916-1997) | 1939-1945 |
| Ira B. Huber (1902-1976) | 1945-1958 |
| Jesse Neuenschwander (1933-1999) | 1959-1967 |
| District Ministers | 1967-1969 |
| John O. Yoder | 1969-1975 |
| Lester E. Gehman (1931-2014) | 1973-1981 |
| Earl D. Wenger | 1975-1980 |
| Paul M. Witmer (1923-2009) | 1979-1995 |
| Kenneth A. Bucher (1950-2024) | 1981-2015 |
| Dwight "D. David" Martin (Associate) | 1995-2021? |
| Glen M. Sell (Transitional) | 2004-2006 |
| Joseph A. Stahl | 2006-2021? |
Manheim Mennonite Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1920 | 150 |
| 1930 | 130 |
| 1940 | 111 |
| 1950 | 130 |
| 1960 | 114 |
| 1970 | 105 |
| 1980 | 96 |
| 1990 | 87 |
| 2000 | 64 |
| 2009 | 55 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Ira D. Landis. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 457. All rights reserved.
The Manheim Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church (MC)) was organized and its meetinghouse built in 1896 for the convenience of the members from the surrounding churches who had moved to town. After the East Chestnut Street meetinghouse in Lancaster it was the next town church built in the Lancaster Mennonite Conference district. In 1955 the active ministers were Homer D. Bomberger, bishop, and Ira B. Huber, minister, with 170 members. The regional winter Bible school for this district was held here.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | December 2024 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Manheim Mennonite Church (Manheim, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. December 2024. Web. 2 Apr 2025. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Manheim_Mennonite_Church_(Manheim,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=180026.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (December 2024). Manheim Mennonite Church (Manheim, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 2 April 2025, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Manheim_Mennonite_Church_(Manheim,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=180026.
©1996-2025 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.