Pearl River Bible Church (Philadelphia, Mississippi, USA)
Discussion within the Mennonite Board of Missions to launch a mission to the Choctaw People at Pearl River, Mississippi, began in the late 1960s as more than 1,500 Choctaw moved to the Pearl River Reservation from older Choctaw settlements. In 1971, the Mission Board purchased three-and-a-half acres of land near the reserve. It envisioned building an all-purpose building for youth activities and other church work. Its activities also included a Voluntary Service (VS) unit that opened in August 1972 under the coordination of the Choctaw Tribal Council. The unit closed in December 1987.
On 13 May 1973, a new congregation met at Pearl River. Glenn Myers, pastor of the Nanih Waiya Indian Mennonite Church, served as the initial leader, holding services on Sunday evenings. The Pearl River Mennonite Church first related to the Ohio and Eastern Mennonite Conference of the Mennonite Church (MC), but became part of the Gulf States Mennonite Conference when that regional conference began in 1979.
The congregation initially rented a hall. It built a building in 1974 with the help of volunteer labor. The Pearl River congregation dedicated its church building on 16 November 1975. The building suffered severe vandalism in January 1982 when 53 windows were broken, light fixtures damaged, benches and pulpit overturned, and words written on the walls in blood.
In 2015 the Pearl River congregation left the Gulf States Mennonite Conference. This move was part of a larger withdrawal of Mennonite congregations in the 2010s that were formerly part of Mennonite Church USA. These congregations were unhappy with Mennonite Church USA's failure to take stronger disciplinary actions against area conferences and congregations that expressed openness to the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons. Pearl River joined the Good News Fellowship that same year.
Sometime around 2019, the congregation changed its name to Pearl River Bible Church.
Bibliography
"Congregation begins with Mississippi Indians." Gospel Herald 66, no. 26 (26 June 1973): 524-525.
"Mississippi Indians in transition." Gospel Herald 65, no. 1 (4 January 1972): 18.
"'Shilombish Holitopa ma (Amazing Grace),'...." Gospel Herald 68, no. 49 (23 December 1975): 918.
"Signed in blood." Gospel Herald 75, no. 12 (23 March 1982): 204.
Additional Information
Address: 13301 Highway 16 W, Philadelphia, Mississippi 39350
Phone:
Website:
Denominational Affiliations: Good News Fellowship
Pastoral Leaders at Pearl River Bible Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| David Glenn "Glenn" Myers (1937-2023) | 1973-2009 |
| Duane Reinhardt | 2009-2017 |
| Matthew P. Nansel | 2018?- |
Pearl River Bible Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1974 | 5 |
| 1980 | 29 |
| 1990 | 47 |
| 2000 | 47 |
| 2009 | 33 |
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | November 2023 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Pearl River Bible Church (Philadelphia, Mississippi, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. November 2023. Web. 27 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Pearl_River_Bible_Church_(Philadelphia,_Mississippi,_USA)&oldid=177793.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (November 2023). Pearl River Bible Church (Philadelphia, Mississippi, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 27 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Pearl_River_Bible_Church_(Philadelphia,_Mississippi,_USA)&oldid=177793.
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