Maple Grove Mennonite Church of Atglen (Atglen, Pennsylvania, USA)
The Maple Grove Mennonite Church near Atglen, Pennsylvania, USA began about 1906 when services were held in the Sadsbury Friends meetinghouse. This place served as a second meetinghouse for the Millwood congregation that had emerged from the Old Order Amish in 1882. When the Sadsbury meetinghouse was no longer available, the congregation built a church at the present location in 1909 at a total cost, including land, of $2,444.36. An addition was made in 1935, in 1967 the front of the building was enlarged, in 1985 the congregation added a foyer, library, and classrooms, and in 2007 it added classrooms, a nursery, a kitchen, a gathering room, and a youth room.
Millwood and Maple Grove alternated Sunday services as one congregation with a unified membership until 1945 when they became separate congregations. The unified congregation was part of the Eastern Amish Mennonite Conference, and after the merger with the Ohio Mennonite Conference, had been part of the Ohio Mennonite and Eastern Amish Mennonite Joint Conference. A division took place in 1945 when one-third of the congregation and the Millwood meetinghouse joined the more conservative Lancaster Mennonite Conference, and two-thirds of the membership and the Maple Grove meetinghouse stayed with the Ohio and Eastern Conference.
Unusually, Maple Grove's history includes four arson attempts to destroy the church. In October 1922, August 1940, and May 1952 a never-identified arsonist tried to burn the church. In 1922 and 1940 it took six weeks to repair the damage; in 1952 the damage was less severe. In the first two cases, kerosene cans and kerosene-soaked objects were found in the building. In 1952 gasoline-soaked hymnals and newspapers were found. The most serious fire took place in December 1967 when the basement was destroyed and much of the sanctuary damaged. The repaired facility was not dedicated until June 1968.
Over the years the Maple Grove congregations helped to establish many new congregations, including Media, Sandy Hill, Birch Grove, Ridgeview, Christiana, South Coatesville, Big Laurel, Meadow View, and Rainbow.
In May 2015 Maple Grove voted by 95.8% to withdraw from the Atlantic Coast Conference to become an independent Mennonite congregation. The Conference gave its release in October 2015. This move was part of a larger realignment of Mennonite congregations formerly part of Mennonite Church USA. Maple Grove was an independent congregation for several years, and then joined LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches in 2019.
Bibliography
"The Maple Grove Mennonite Church...." Gospel Herald 61, no. 23 (11 June 1968): 529.
King, Melba. "Maple Grove celebrates new addition." Atlantic Coast Conference Currents 28, no. 6 (November-December 2007): 6.
Mast, Edna. "Maple Grove Mennonite Church." Atlantic Coast Conference Currents 2, no. 6 (November-December 1981): 1.
Stoltzfus, Grant M. Mennonites of the Ohio and Eastern Conference; From the Colonial Period in Pennsylvania to 1968. Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite history, no. 13. Scottdale, Pa: Herald Press, 1969: 213-216, 319, 324.
Additional Information
Address: 549 Swan Rd., Atglen, Pennsylvania 19310
Phone: 610-593-6658
Website: https://www.maplegrovemc.com
Current Denominational Affiliations: LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches
Pastoral Leaders at Maple Grove Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Gideon Stoltzfus (1835-1913)(Minister) (Bishop) |
1877-1888 1888-1913 |
| John M. Stoltzfus (1862-1945) | 1889-1945 |
| Daniel M. Stoltzfus (1850-1941) | 1884-1919 |
| Amos B. Stoltzfoos (1866-1942) | 1904-1942 |
| John A. Kennel (1880-1963) (Minister) (Bishop) |
1917-1926 1926-1945 |
| Menno Simons "M. S." Stoltzfus (1899-1982) | 1933-1945 |
| Leroy S. Stoltzfus (1911-1979) | 1941-1945 |
| Reuben G. Stoltzfus (1910-1994) | 1944-1945 |
| Abner G. Stoltzfus (1906-1980) | 1945-1974 |
| Calvin S. Kennel (1911-1987) | 1947-1955 |
| Aaron F. Stoltzfus (1895-1986) (Bishop) | 1952-1966 |
| P. Melville Nafziger (1924-2020) (Bishop) | 1966-1974 |
| Herman N. Glick (1920-2006) | 1975-1985 |
| Steven M. Garman (Youth) | 1981-1983 |
| Richard Umble | 1985-1995 |
| Phil Freed | 1985-1995 |
| R. Clair Umble (Interim) | 1995-1997 |
| Enno Jurrison | 1997-2002 |
| Bill Blank | 2000-2007 |
| Nilson Assis (Interim) | 2003-2004 |
| Stephen Crane | 2007-2015 |
| Jonathan Henson (Associate) | 2010-2012 |
| Mike Lusby (Associate) (Lead) (Part time) |
2013?-2015 2015-2019 2019-2020 |
| Seth Fisher (Associate) | ?-2017 |
| Matthew Chambers (Worship) | 2017-present |
| Michael R. Clemmer | 2019-present |
Membership at Maple Grove Mennonite Church
| Year | Membership |
|---|---|
| 1915 | 254* |
| 1919 | 273* |
| 1925 | 326* |
| 1930 | 394* |
| 1935 | 470* |
| 1940 | 551* |
| 1945 | 604* |
| 1950 | 406 |
| 1960 | 397 |
| 1970 | 266 |
| 1980 | 299 |
| 1990 | 280 |
| 2000 | 225 |
| 2007 | 239 |
- Includes Millwood Mennonite Church
Map
Map:Maple Grove Mennonite Church of Atglen (Atglen, Pennsylvania, USA)
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | January 2022 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Maple Grove Mennonite Church of Atglen (Atglen, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. January 2022. Web. 19 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Maple_Grove_Mennonite_Church_of_Atglen_(Atglen,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=172905.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (January 2022). Maple Grove Mennonite Church of Atglen (Atglen, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 19 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Maple_Grove_Mennonite_Church_of_Atglen_(Atglen,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=172905.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Abner G. Stoltzfus. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 474. All rights reserved.
Maple Grove Mennonite Church of Atglen (Mennonite Church USA), located less than one mile north of Atglen, Pennsylvania, is a member of the Ohio and Eastern Mennonite Conference. It was organized as the Millwood congregation in 1882 with a membership of 124. The Maple Grove meetinghouse was built in 1909. The original church at Millwood, a frame structure, was enlarged in 1935 to a seating capacity of 450. The Millwood and Maple Grove churches continued to function as one congregation until 1945, when the Millwood part withdrew to join the Lancaster Mennonite Conference , while the Maple Grove Church continued under the Ohio and Eastern Conference. On 1 October 1954 the membership of the Maple Grove congregation was 418, with Aaron F. Stoltzfus, Abner G. Stoltzfus, and Calvin S. Kennel serving as ministers.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | January 2022 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Maple Grove Mennonite Church of Atglen (Atglen, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. January 2022. Web. 19 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Maple_Grove_Mennonite_Church_of_Atglen_(Atglen,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=172905.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (January 2022). Maple Grove Mennonite Church of Atglen (Atglen, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 19 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Maple_Grove_Mennonite_Church_of_Atglen_(Atglen,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=172905.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.