Maple River Mennonite Church (Brutus, Michigan, USA)

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The Maple River Mennonite Church (named for the township in which it was located), near Brutus, Michigan, began in 1883 when local Mennonite settlers from Waterloo County, Ontario. Among the first settlers were Abraham and Barbara Detweiler; Abraham had already been ordained as a minister in Ontario and served as the first minister of the congregation.

In 1886 the congregation was divided by the Old Order Mennonite division led in Indiana and Michigan by Bishop Jacob Wisler. Wisler ordained Jonathan Gehman as a minister in 1886, and Gehman led a majority of the Maple River congregation into the Old Order. In the 1890s, Abraham Detweiler also joined the Old Orders, likely after he was silenced by John F. Funk because of a conflict with a tenant on Detweiler's property.

It appears the two groups initially shared the meetinghouse since they each met every other week. The meetinghouse was called "Union" during these years.

In 1920 the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Mission Board ordained Clyde X. Kauffman as minister and supported a renewed mission effort in Brutus.

On 10 July 2007, the congregation's recently installed pastor, Rudy Kuyton, died in an automobile accident.

One of Maple River's special annual events has been a "Harvest Auction" to raise money for missions, an event supported by the community.

Bibliography

Brubacher, Pat. "Maple River Mennonite." Gospel Evangel 87, no. 2 (March/April 2006): 4.

"Conference mourns loss of pastor." Gospel Evangel 88, no. 4 (July/August 2007): 8.

Preheim, Rich. In Pursuit of Faithfulness: Conviction, Conflict, and Compromise in Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference. Harrisonburg, Va.: Herald Press, 2016: 320.

Wenger, John Christian. The Mennonites in Indiana and Michigan. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1961: 140-142.

Additional Information

Address: 3834 Euclid Street, Brutus, Michigan

Telephone: 231-529-6720

Website: https://www.facebook.com/maplerivermennonitechurch/

Denominational Affiliations:

Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference

Mennonite Church USA

Pastoral Leaders at Maple River Mennonite Church

Name Years
of Service
Abraham W. Detweiler (1828-1912) 1883-1896
Christian W. Detweiler (1845-1917} 1887-1917
Clyde X. Kauffman (1890-1980) 1920-1963
Earl W. Hartman (1914-1995) 1955-1962
William A. Wickey (1929-2022) 1963-1977
James L. Gerber 1978-2003
Lay Leadership 2003-2006
Rudolf "Rudy" Kuyten (1932-2007) 2006-2007
Lay Leadership 2007-2010
Todd Thompson 2010-2012
Lay Leadership 2012-2014?
Chris Rasper 2014?-2015?
Steven E. Slagel (Transitional) 2015-2017
Lay Leadership 2017-2022
Michelle Merchant 2022-

Maple River Mennonite Church Membership

Year Members
1890 30-40
1908 15
1920 4
1930 31
1940 83
1950 79
1960 53
1970 38
1980 36
1990 38
2000 49
2009 46
2020 41

Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article

By Clyde X. Kauffman. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 475. All rights reserved.

The Maple River Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church (MC)), one mile west of Brutus, Michigan, and 14 miles northeast of Petoskey, was organized in 1883, when the meetinghouse was built by settlers who had come from Waterloo County, Ontario, in 1879 (Abraham Detwiler and Jonas Brubacher families). Abraham Detwiler and Jonathan Gehman were the first preachers. The Wisler Old Order Mennonite schism occurred here in 1886 and seriously handicapped the congregation, since both ministers withdrew with the Wisler group (which later died out). Christian Detwiler, who was ordained after the schism, served until his death in 1917. The congregation, a member of the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference, was revived by the action of the conference mission board, which located Clyde X. Kauffman as a minister here in 1921; the congregation was reorganized that year. In 1955 the membership was 64, with Kauffman still serving as pastor, assisted by Earl Hartman.


Author(s) Samuel J Steiner
Date Published June 2024

Cite This Article

MLA style

Steiner, Samuel J. "Maple River Mennonite Church (Brutus, Michigan, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. June 2024. Web. 15 Oct 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Maple_River_Mennonite_Church_(Brutus,_Michigan,_USA)&oldid=179201.

APA style

Steiner, Samuel J. (June 2024). Maple River Mennonite Church (Brutus, Michigan, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 15 October 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Maple_River_Mennonite_Church_(Brutus,_Michigan,_USA)&oldid=179201.




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