Myerstown Mennonite Church (Myerstown, Pennsylvania, USA)
The Royer Mennonite Church, a member of the Lancaster Conference, was located near Richland, Pennsylvania. Jacob Royer (1771-1850) and his wife, Catherine Hammer, lived on a farm near Richland, Pennsylvania. He was a son of Daniel Royer and a great-grandson of the pioneer Sebastian Royer. Jacob Royer donated the ground on which the Tulpehocken Church of the Brethren was built in 1840. This was erected by the "Old Brothers Society of the Conestoga Family," an outpost of the Bareville Church of the Brethren in Lancaster County, the first meetinghouse of that denomination in Lebanon County. It was a stone building, 35 x 40 ft., in which a school for the community was held. An annex of 25 ft. was added. This Jackson Township school and church had two sets of trustees. The adjoining cemetery was "for anyone who had clean and honest deaths, and the house should be open for any preacher for these funerals." This church was used by the Brethren for a century. Then it was leased for some years to the Old Order Mennonites. In January 1947 the building was leased by the Millbach Mennonite group, and soon it was used exclusively by these workers. Noah N. Burkholder became their minister, and Earl B. Horst was ordained as assistant minister in 1953. The membership, through colonization, was 95 in 1957. Amos Horst and Mahlon Zimmerman are the bishops. The Royer congregation has an outpost at Texter, opened on 10 May 1953, with Willard Eberly, Peter M. Risser, and Levi Burkholder as superintendents; Texter had 34 members in 1957. The ministers were those of the Royer Mennonite Church.
A new meetinghouse was built in 1957-58 at a new location north of Myerstown. The congregation was renamed Myerstown Mennonite Church at this time.
In 1999 Myerstown, along with 14 other Lancaster Mennonite Conference congregations, were released from conference membership after many years of discussion over conference doctrine and practice. The new group was called the Keystone Mennonite Fellowship. In 2012 Myerstown Mennonite Church had 145 members; its ministers were James M. Weaver and Leon Sensenig.
Additional Information
Address: 624 North College Street, Myerstown, PA 17067
Phone: 717-866-2706
Denominational Affiliations: Keystone Mennonite Fellowship
Map
Map:Myerstown Mennonite Church (Myerstown, Pennsylvania, USA)
| Author(s) | Ira D Landis |
|---|---|
| Samuel J. Steiner | |
| Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Landis, Ira D and Samuel J. Steiner. "Myerstown Mennonite Church (Myerstown, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Myerstown_Mennonite_Church_(Myerstown,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=177076.
APA style
Landis, Ira D and Samuel J. Steiner. (1959). Myerstown Mennonite Church (Myerstown, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Myerstown_Mennonite_Church_(Myerstown,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=177076.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 374. All rights reserved.
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