Slate Hill Mennonite Church (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, USA)
The first Mennonites to settle in eastern Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, near the Susquehanna River, came as early as 1791 from Lancaster County, when John Eberly came. By 1820, numerous other families had arrived.
For a time, worship services were held in homes, sometimes led by visiting ministers from Lancaster, Dauphin, or Franklin counties. In 1810, Henry Rupp was ordained as the congregation's first local minister. It erected a small brick meetinghouse in 1816, designed in the pattern of the Lancaster County meetinghouses. It was known as Martin's until the 1830s, since it was located on the David Martin estate. A cemetery began in 1816, when Barbara Martin died. When the cemetery needed to expand, the original meetinghouse was removed, and a new one was built in 1875 on an adjacent plot purchased in 1831.
In the 1950s, the congregation focused attention on community outreach in the Harrisburg area. In the 1970s, Slate Hill sponsored Southeast Asian refugees; this led to the formation of the Lao Mennonite Fellowship that, in 2026, still met in the Slate Hill building.
In 2006, the congregation undertook a major expansion project that included a new sanctuary, classrooms, and a renovated fellowship hall.
Bibliography
"Our history." Slate Hill Mennonite Church. 2026. Web. 5 March 2026. https://www.slatehillmennonite.org/welcome/our-history/.
Ruth, John L. The Earth is the Lord's: a narrative history of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 2001: 359, 1138-1169.
Weaver, Martin G. Mennonites of Lancaster Conference: containing biographical sketches of Mennonite leaders, histories of congregations, missions, and Sunday schools, record of ordinations, and other interesting historical data. Scottdale, PA: Mennonite Publishing House, 1931. Reprinted Ephrata, PA: Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church Publication Board, 1982: 232-238, 240-242. Available in full electronic text at https://archive.org/details/mennonitesoflanc00weav_0/page/n3/mode/2up.
Additional Information
Address: 1352 Slate Hill Road, Camp Hill, Pennsylvania 17011
Telephone: 717-737-8150
Website: https://www.slatehillmennonite.org/
Denominational Affiliations:
LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches
Mennonite Church USA (Until 2017)
Pastoral Leaders at Slate Hill Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Henry Rupp (1771-1829) | 1810-1829 |
| Henry Martin (1774-1849) | By 1818-1832 |
| William Westheffer (1785-1851) | 1826-1832 |
| Christian Herr (1807-1865) | 1830s-1865 |
| John Erb (1795-1844) | 1834-1844 |
| George Rupp (1798-1888) | 1838-1888 |
| David Martin (1790-1865) | ca. 1840-1865 |
| Christian Bomberger (1786-1871)(Bishop) | 1849-1871 |
| Samuel Zimmerman (1810-1877) | 1862-1877 |
| Henry Weber (1831-1920) | 1865-1889 |
| Jacob M. Herr (1844-1907) | By 1872-1907 |
| Jacob Mumma (1809-1886) | 1877-1886 |
| Samuel Hess (1854-1948) | 1879-1940s? |
| Benjamin F. Zimmerman (1851-1930) (Bishop) |
1887-1892 1892-1920s |
| Christian B. Hess (1879-1964) | 1924-1937? |
| John B. Seitz (1878-1960) | 1928-1937? |
| William M. Strong (1900-1964) (Bishop) |
1938-1949 1949-1964 |
| Christian W. Zimmerman (1887-1960) | 1938-1960 |
| Marlin H. Lauver (1917-2000) | 1946-1953 |
| Norman L. Zimmerman (1932-2020) | 1955-1994 |
| Luke M. Drescher (1935-2023) | 1967?-1972? |
| Lloyd R. Horst (1929-2022) | 1971?-1982? |
| Paul W. Nisly (Bishop) |
1976-1995 1995-? |
| Samuel J. Troyer | 1983-1989 |
| Roger L. Steffy | 1989-2000 |
| Jared E. Leefer (Associate) | 1994-1998? |
| Lena H. Brown (Associate) | 1998?-2008? |
| Roy H. Stetler (Associate) | 1998?-2004? |
| Willard "Lynn" Shertzer | 2001- |
| Ron Sachs (Youth) | 2008?-2012? |
| Joy Fasick (Community Life) | 2012- |
Slate Hill Mennonite Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1907 | 106 |
| 1915 | 103 |
| 1920 | 107 |
| 1930 | 125 |
| 1940 | 133 |
| 1950 | 142 |
| 1960 | 118 |
| 1970 | 102 |
| 1980 | 120 |
| 1990 | 124 |
| 2000 | 165 |
| 2009 | 220 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Ira D. Landis. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 537. All rights reserved.
Slate Hill Mennonite Church, located in the beautiful Cumberland Valley, 7 miles west of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, began when David Martin (1767-1822), oldest son of Bishop Henry Martin of Weaverland, settled here. In 1810 the scattered members built a brick meetinghouse called "Martin" on an elevation on his farm. In 1831 the ministers were his brother David (1807-75) and William Westhafer (1782-1851). The second brick church was built in 1875. This has always been the strongest Mennonite congregation in the Cumberland Valley. It was the home congregation of Bishop Benjamin F. Zimmerman (1851-1930), Samuel Hess (1854-1948), and the present (1957) Bishop William M. Strong.
The first Sunday school, headed by Jacob Mumma (1809-76), was held in 1872. The first Sunday-school meeting in the Lancaster Mennonite Conference was held here on 5 November 1896. In 1957 the ministers were Christian W. Zimmerman and Norman L. Zimmerman; the membership was 124.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | March 2026 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Slate Hill Mennonite Church (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. March 2026. Web. 16 Apr 2026. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Slate_Hill_Mennonite_Church_(Camp_Hill,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=181875.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (March 2026). Slate Hill Mennonite Church (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2026, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Slate_Hill_Mennonite_Church_(Camp_Hill,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=181875.
©1996-2026 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.