First Mennonite Church of Morton (Morton, Illinois, USA)
The Morton Mennonite Church began in 1941 as a merger of the Pleasant Grove and Goodfield congregations. Pleasant Grove had sponsored a Sunday school in Morton beginning in 1939, with preaching services twice a month.
In 1941, the congregation built a church building on the corner of Plum and Chicago streets in Morton. It dedicated its meetinghouse on 4 May 1941. In 1965, it built a larger facility and moved to the South Baltimore Avenue location. It sold the former facility to an Episcopalian congregation. In 2000, it completed the addition of a family center and gymnasium.
The congregation changed its name to First Mennonite Church of Morton in 1958, at the time it adopted a new constitution.
In the late 1970s, the congregation experienced division over issues of worship style and leadership. This led to the formation of the Trinity Mennonite Church.
In 2022, First Mennonite Church of Morton left the Illinois Mennonite Conference and Mennonite Church USA and joined LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches. This decision took place after the Illinois Mennonite Conference voted at its 2020 annual meeting to allow credentialed pastors to perform same-sex marriages.
Bibliography
"Dedicatory services...." Gospel Herald 34, no. 8 (22 May 1941): 168.
"The First Mennonite Church...." Gospel Herald 58, no. 23 (15 June 1965): 529.
"How FMC started...." First Mennonite Church of Morton. Web. 12 January 2024. https://www.firstmennonitemorton.org/our-story.
Mennonite Church USA. "Online Directory." Accessed 2 October 2006. http://directory.mennoniteusa.org/congregation.asp?CongregationID=1603
Smith, Willard H. Mennonites in Illinois. Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History, 24. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1983: 213, 455-457, 544-545.
Additional Information
Address: 250 South Baltimore Avenue, Morton, Illinois 61550
Phone: 309-266-7591
Website: https://www.firstmennonitemorton.org/
Denominational Affiliations: Illinois Mennonite Conference (until 2022)
Mennonite Church USA (until 2022)
LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches
Pastoral Leaders at First Mennonite Church of Morton
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Simon Litwiller (1880-1956)(Bishop) | 1941-1956 |
| Jonas Litwiller (1865-1944) | 1941-1944 |
| Harold R. Oyer (1905-1961) | 1941-1943 |
| Leland A. Bachman (1907-1998) | 1941-1947 |
| Joseph W. Davis (1895-1984) | 1943-1947 |
| Noah Roeschley (1896-1975) | 1948-1952 |
| Kenneth G. Good (1910-1997) | 1953-1961 |
| Clyde D. Fulmer (1931-2000) | 1961-1972 |
| Milo F. Kauffman (1898-1988) | 1973-1974 |
| Mahlon D. Miller (1931-2014) | 1974-1977 |
| Jason James "Jim" Detweiler (1926-1994) | 1978-1987 |
| Glen A. Horner (1933- ) | 1987-1994 |
| Thelma E. Horner (1934-2019) | 1987-1994 |
| Doane Brubaker | 1994-2013? |
| Chris Wright (Youth) | 1998?-2004? |
| Earl Smith (Youth) | 2004?-2006 |
| Michael Zehr (Interim) | 2013 |
| Mark Vincent (Interim) | 2013 |
| Aaron J. Yoder (Youth) (Lead) |
2006-2013 2013-2022 |
| Thomas J. Linderman (Family Life) (Lead) |
2017-2022 2022- |
First Mennonite Church of Morton Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1942 | 172 |
| 1950 | 181 |
| 1960 | 198 |
| 1970 | 257 |
| 1980 | 187 |
| 1990 | 224 |
| 2000 | 242 |
| 2009 | 273 |
| 2020 | 198 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Roy D. Roth. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 754. All rights reserved.
Morton Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church), in the city of Morton, Tazewell County, Illinois, a member of the Illinois Mennonite Conference, is a merger of two older rural congregations, Pleasant Grove, near Tremont, Illinois, whose meetinghouse was erected in 1879, and Goodfield, near Goodfield, Illinois, whose building was erected in 1883. The church was dedicated on 4 May 1941. In 1957 the congregation had 200 members with Kenneth G. Good as bishop.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | January 2024 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "First Mennonite Church of Morton (Morton, Illinois, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. January 2024. Web. 23 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=First_Mennonite_Church_of_Morton_(Morton,_Illinois,_USA)&oldid=178639.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (January 2024). First Mennonite Church of Morton (Morton, Illinois, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=First_Mennonite_Church_of_Morton_(Morton,_Illinois,_USA)&oldid=178639.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.