Shalom Mennonite Church (Newton, Kansas, USA)
Shalom Mennonite Church in Newton, Kansas, got its official start on 20 November 1988, when fifty-one people signed a membership covenant as charter members. About half of the 1988 charter members came to Shalom from Faith Mennonite Church of Newton. There had been a long-standing interest at Faith in founding a "daughter" congregation. During the summer of 1987, a group of Faith church members met for intergenerational Sunday school to explore the idea further. Edna (Krueger) Dyck became the coordinator for the group. On 13 September 1987 this group began meeting for worship at Sister Frieda Chapel of the Bethel Home for Aged on Muse Street. This was the same building in which Faith church itself had its first meetings about 30 years previously. (In 2007 the building was the home of the New Creation Fellowship Church.) Of the original charter members, 35 (69%) were still active in 2006. In addition, some who were present as children of members in 1988 joined Shalom as adults.
Over the next 14 months, the group called one of its participants, Stanley Bohn, to be the pastor of the new church. At the same time that the new congregation was signing a membership covenant, they also discussed the purchase of a building. News came of the availability at a favorable price of the former building of the Bible Baptist church (which had dissolved). The new Shalom church bought the building at 800 East First Street.
Edna Dyck, who had provided lay leadership for the founding of Shalom church, was hired as a pastoral assistant in 1992. In 1995 she received pastoral licensing through the Western District Conference. She was ordained at Shalom on 28 December 1997.
Stan Bohn retired from pastoral ministry in 1995. Shalom then called Pearl Hoover as pastor. Shalom was her first pastorate and she served 1996-1999. See Table 1 for a list of pastoral leaders.
The congregation recognized inadequacies in their building at the time it was purchased, especially in handicapped accessibility. Membership growth also soon rendered the building too small. Finally Shalom embarked on a major building project in 2002. A new sanctuary and classroom and office space were added, with the old part of the building being remodeled into kitchen, fellowship hall, and classrooms. The new building, designed by Paul Cavanaugh of Places Architects in Wichita, Kansas, was dedicated 1 June 2003.
Shalom's membership in 2007 was distinguished by a large proportion of families with grade school and high school children. The majority of employed members worked in education (Bethel, Hesston, and Tabor colleges, local public schools), medical care (Prairie View, Newton Medical Center, physician offices), and church agencies (Mennonite Church USA offices in Newton). Shalom's worship style was fairly traditional.
Bibliography
"Shalom Mennonite Church - Church History" Accessed 23 February 2007 <http://www.shalomnewton.org/History.html>[Broken link]
Directory Information:
Address: 800 E. First Street Newton, KS 67114
Phone: 316 283 7395
Affiliations: Western District Conference
South Central Mennonite Conference
Additional Information
Shalom Mennonite Church website
Table 1: Shalom Mennonite Church Pastoral Leaders
| Name | Dates of Service |
| Stan Bohn | 1988-1995 |
| Edna Dyck | 1992-1999 |
| Pearl Hoover | 1996-1999 |
| Allan Lind (interim) | 1999 |
| Eric Massanari | 1999- |
| Sara Dick | 2006- |
Table 2: Shalom Mennonite Church Membership
| Year | Membership |
| 1988 | 51 |
| 1993 | 115 |
| 1998 | 132 |
| 2003 | 164 |
| 2006 | 180 |
| Author(s) | John D Thiesen |
|---|---|
| Date Published | February 2007 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Thiesen, John D. "Shalom Mennonite Church (Newton, Kansas, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. February 2007. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Shalom_Mennonite_Church_(Newton,_Kansas,_USA)&oldid=93567.
APA style
Thiesen, John D. (February 2007). Shalom Mennonite Church (Newton, Kansas, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Shalom_Mennonite_Church_(Newton,_Kansas,_USA)&oldid=93567.
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