South Seventh Street Christian Fellowship (Reading, Pennsylvania, USA)
The Neversink Street Mennonite Mission in Reading, Pennsylvania, began in 1938 as an outreach to the African American community after racial tension at the Reading Mission made an interracial Sunday school difficult. The Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities purchased a house on Neversink Street for $600 and held the first Sunday school on 20 November 1938 with 22 students.
A fire in the frame house next to the mission on 19 December 1943 killed one of the Sunday school attendees and severely damaged the mission building, which could no longer be used. After renting space for a time, the Mission Board purchased a building on South Seventh Street, with the first services held on 3 September 1944. When this space became inadequate, the church moved to a new space on South Seventh Street; this building was dedicated 5 December 1959.
Over time, the South Seventh Street Mennonite Church became more multi-cultural in ethnic background and theological orientation. This led to tensions at various times and the loss of members in the 1980s to the charismatic Hopewell Church movement.
In 2010, the South Seventh Street Mennonite Church withdrew from the Lancaster Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA. It changed its name to South Seventh Street Christian Fellowship. It became an independent evangelical church within the non-Anabaptist Koinonia Fellowship of Churches, with a particular outreach to persons of Hispanic background.
Bibliography
Hess, Mahlon M. "Buildings." Mennonite Yearbook (1945): 18.
Sensenig, J. Carl. Called of God: The Mennonite Churches of Reading, Pennsylvania. Denver, Pa.: J.C. Sensenig, 2007.
Additional Information
Address: 417 South Seventh Street, Reading, Pennsylvania 19602
Telephone: 484-641-8194
Website: https://s7threading.org/
Denominational Affiliations:
LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches (Until 2010)
Mennonite Church USA (Until 2010)
Koinonia Fellowship of Churches
Pastoral Leaders at South Seventh Street Christian Fellowship
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Luke A. Hurst (1910-1955)(Superintendent) (Pastor) |
1938-1949 1949-1955 |
| William M. Weaver (1929-2016) | 1956-1972 |
| Clyde L. Mellinger (1917-2001) | 1960-1968 |
| Jacob H. Good | 1972-1999 |
| James R. Martin | 1983-1991 |
| Daniel P. Althouse | 1989-2001 |
| Thomas Hoover | 2001-2007 |
| Sally Hoover | 2001-2007 |
| William Giersch (Interim) | 2007-? |
| ? | ? |
| César Herrera | 2017- |
South Seventh Street Christian Fellowship Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1950 | 11 |
| 1960 | 25 |
| 1970 | 48 |
| 1980 | 60 |
| 1990 | 77 |
| 2000 | 53 |
| 2009 | 32 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Ira D. Landis. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 507. All rights reserved.
Seventh Street Mennonite Mission (Mennonite Church) is located at 347 South Seventh Street in Reading, Pennsylvania. The work is an outpost of the Twelfth and Windsor Mission established in Reading in 1938 among the African American population. In 1957 the minister was William M. Weaver and the membership 22.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | April 2025 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "South Seventh Street Christian Fellowship (Reading, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. April 2025. Web. 2 Feb 2026. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=South_Seventh_Street_Christian_Fellowship_(Reading,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=180561.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (April 2025). South Seventh Street Christian Fellowship (Reading, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 2 February 2026, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=South_Seventh_Street_Christian_Fellowship_(Reading,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=180561.
©1996-2026 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.