The Arthur Mennonite Church had its beginning in October 1936 when a group of workers from the East Bend congregation near Fisher, Illinois, began services in the Obie Bontrager home in Arthur. The first series of meetings was also held there in December of the same year by J. A. Heiser. In the fall of 1938 H. J. King and family moved to Arthur from Harper, Kansas, and took charge of the work. In the spring of 1948 Richard Yordy and wife came to assist in the work. The group was organized into a congregation in the Illinois Conference of the Mennonite Church on 15 September 1940, by Bishops C. A. Hartzler and J. A. Heiser, with a charter membership of fifty-six. The 1953 membership was 241. A new church was dedicated in May 1949. The group at that time was almost entirely of Old Order Amish background and drawn from the neighboring Amish community.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 172. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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