Masontown Mennonite Church (Masontown, Pennsylvania, USA)

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Masontown Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church USA), located one mile east of Masontown, Fayette County, Pennsylvania on the Smithfield-Masontown Rd., a member of the Allegheny Conference, is perhaps the oldest organized Mennonite congregation west of the Allegheny Mountains. Mennonites settled in the region about Masontown around 1790. Jacob Newcomer was the first minister of this group. Peter Longeneker, formerly of Berks County, Pennsylvania, was the first resident bishop. This congregation was under the supervision of the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, bishops some time before the Southwestern Pennsylvania (now Allegheny) Conference was organized in 1876. J. N. Durr, who was largely responsible for the organization of the conference, was ordained to the ministry here at the early age of 18 in 1872 and to the office of bishop at the age of 20. Nicholas Johnson, the third bishop, is given the credit for conducting the first Sunday school in the Mennonite Church (MC) in the United States. This service was held on the upper floor of a springhouse on his farm in 1842. The 1956 brick meetinghouse, the third one built, was erected in 1871, with a seating capacity of 200. The first was a log church, a half mile north of the present site, which was also used for school purposes. The second meetinghouse was a frame building about one mile east. The membership in 1956 was 138, with Paul M. Roth as pastor. In 2005 the membership was 55.

Other ministers who served this congregation were Walter Campbell, A. J. Metzler, Lloy A. Kniss, Elmer D. Hess, J. A. Brilhart, Ed. Miller, S. F. Coffman, Christian Deffenbaugh, David Johnson, and Joseph Bixler.

Additional Information

Address: PO Box 683, 295 Mennonite Church Road, Masontown, Pennsylvania 15461

Phone: 724-583-2557

Website:

Denominational Affiliations: Allegheny Mennonite Conference

Mennonite Church USA

Pastoral Leaders at the Masontown Mennonite Church

Name Years
of Service
Jacob Newcomer 18??-?
Peter Longenecker (Bishop) ?-?
Joseph Bixler (1778-1862)
(Bishop)
18??-?
?-1830s?
Nicholas D. Johnson (1787-1873)
(Bishop)
1820?-1840
1840-1873
David Johnson (1817-1908) 1848-1908
Christian Deffenbaugh (1839-1922) 1872-1922
John N. Durr (1853-1934)
(Bishop)
1872-1873
1873-1898
Samuel F. Coffman (1872-1954) 1899-1900
Edward Miller 1900-1901
John A. Brilhart (1857-1937) 1902-1907
Elmer D. Hess (1884-1972) 1910-1925
Abram J. Metzler (1902-1996)
(Bishop)
1926-1928
1928-1936
Paul M. Roth (1912-1982) 1937-1968
Walter Campbell 1950
Carl W. Opel (1932-1996) 1969-1996
Henry Breakiron (Co-Pastor)(1920-2013) 1996-1999
David Crable 1997?-2004?
Ronald Smith 2006?-

Membership at the Masontown Mennonite Church

Year Membership
1916 105
1925 99
1930 90
1940 113
1950 92
1960 144
1970 77
1980 74
1990 90
2000 91
2007 55
2020 55


Author(s) Paul M. Roth
Samuel J. Steiner
Date Published 1957

Cite This Article

MLA style

Roth, Paul M. and Samuel J. Steiner. "Masontown Mennonite Church (Masontown, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 12 Oct 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Masontown_Mennonite_Church_(Masontown,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=172410.

APA style

Roth, Paul M. and Samuel J. Steiner. (1957). Masontown Mennonite Church (Masontown, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 12 October 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Masontown_Mennonite_Church_(Masontown,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=172410.




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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 535. All rights reserved.


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