Science Ridge Mennonite Church (Sterling, Illinois, USA)
The Benjamin and Catherine Stauffer family from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, was the first Mennonite Church (MC) background family to arrive in Woodside County, Illinois, in 1852. Others from Lancaster and Bucks counties, Pennsylvania soon followed. The immediate community was known as Science Ridge because of the local school. Consequently, the local Mennonite congregation became known as Science Ridge, though sometimes it was also called the Sterling Mennonite Church after the nearby town.
The local Mennonites built their first meetinghouse in 1858 but did not formally organize until 16 January 1859. Thirteen years later, the congregation added an addition, and in 1882, it lengthened the building and constructed a basement put under it with a wood furnace. It added a wing in 1921, along with electric lights. The congregation constructed a new facility and dedicated it on 7 May 1967.
Science Ridge was one of the charter members of the Illinois Mennonite Conference in 1872, a regional conference that related to the Mennonite Church (MC). It hosted the first meeting of the Illinois conference on 24 May 1872.
Melinda Ebersole became the first permanent mission worker in the Mennonite Church in 1894, serving 20 years in Chicago. Noah Byers was the first president of Goshen College in 1903. Both were members at Science Ridge.
The Science Ridge women organized the first "Sisters Meeting Day" in 1900. They met to make items for Mennonite institutions and persons in need, as well as share a worship time.
Science Ridge mentored the West Sterling Mennonite Church, a mission begun by Jonas Baer, a Lutheran, in 1928.
After Robert Smith resigned as Science Ridge's pastor, a portion of the congregation decided to start a separate Fellowship and, in January 2007, formed the Community Mennonite Fellowship.
Bibliography
Centennial anniversary 1858-1958. Sterling, Ill.: Science Ridge Mennonite Church, 1958.
Smith, Willard H. Mennonites in Illinois. Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History, 24. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1983: 43-44, 191-193, 198-199, 212, 293, 551.
Wade, Mary Helen. "Science Ridge Mennonite Church History." Sterling Rock Falls Historical Society. 2008. Web. 19 February 2024. https://srfhs.com/science-ridge-mennonite.
Additional Information
Address: 1702 East 37th Street, Sterling, Illinois 61081-4047
Phone: 815-626-0538
Website: https://www.scienceridgechurch.org/
Denominational Affiliations: Illinois Mennonite Conference
Pastoral Leaders at Science Ridge Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Abrahm E. Detweiler | 1858-ca. 1875 |
| Benjamin Hershey (1814-1888) (Bishop) |
1860-1870 1870 |
| Joseph Allebaugh | 1862-1863 |
| Benjamin Lapp | 1863-1866 |
| Henry Nice (1822-1892) (Bishop) |
1865-1868 1869-1892 |
| Henry Yother (1810-1900)(Bishop) | 1868-1869 |
| Abraham Ebersole (1823-1892) | 1869-1889 |
| John W. Rutt (1819-1904) | 1869-1870 |
| John Reisner | 1881-1889 |
| Philip Nice (1845-1914) | 1891-1902 |
| John L. Rutt | 1897-1899 |
| Samuel Good (1878-1905) | 1904-1905 |
| Aaron C. "A. C." Good (1881-1978) (Bishop) |
1906-1934 1934-1951 |
| Amos E. Kreider (1889-1976) | 1918-1921 |
| Robert W. Keller (1926-1997) | 1950-1954 |
| Jacob "J. Frederick" Erb (1922-1985) | 1956-1962 |
| Edwin J. Stalter (1922-2006) (Interim) |
1963-1972 1985-1986 |
| Mark N. Lehman | 1973-1978 |
| Philip N. Helmuth | 1978-1983 |
| LeRoy Kennel (Interim) | 1983-1984 |
| David O. Bell | 1984-1985 |
| S. Roy Kaufman | 1986-1995 |
| Marlin Thomas (Interim) | 1995-1997 |
| C. Timothy Rust | 1998-2002? |
| Mervin Miller (Interim) | 2002?-2003? |
| Robert Smith (Interim) | 2003?-2006? |
| Arnold Owens | 2007-2022? |
| Jacob Landis | 2023- |
Science Ridge Mennonite Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1914 | 152 |
| 1920 | 183 |
| 1930 | 245 |
| 1940 | 200 |
| 1950 | 243 |
| 1960 | 209 |
| 1970 | 257 |
| 1980 | 236 |
| 1990 | 229 |
| 2000 | 148 |
| 2009 | 104 |
| 2020 | 72 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Aaron C. Good. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 489. All rights reserved.
Science Ridge Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church USA), located two miles north of Sterling, Whiteside County, Illinois, is a member of the Illinois Mennonite Conference. The first Mennonites to arrive in this area (1852) were Benjamin Stauffer and wife from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In 1865 a group of 55 came from Franklin County, Pennsylvania. The church was organized in 1858. At first the preaching was all in German, and services were held only every two weeks. Sunday school was not attempted until 1882. The greatest spiritual awakening came with the John S. Coffman revivals in 1889, when at one time 45 were added to the church. A. C. Good (ordained preacher in 1906, bishop in 1934) served as pastor 1906-1952. In 1957 the membership was 208, with J. Frederick Erb as pastor and bishop.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | February 2024 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Science Ridge Mennonite Church (Sterling, Illinois, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. February 2024. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Science_Ridge_Mennonite_Church_(Sterling,_Illinois,_USA)&oldid=178317.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (February 2024). Science Ridge Mennonite Church (Sterling, Illinois, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Science_Ridge_Mennonite_Church_(Sterling,_Illinois,_USA)&oldid=178317.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.