Caledonia Mennonite Church (Kent County, Michigan, USA)
The Caledonia (Michigan) Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church), now extinct, was located in Kent County, where Mennonite settlers built a church in 1865. Many of the first settlers in 1864-1865 came from Ontario; others were from Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Resident ministers included Abram Detweiler, Henry Wismer, Peter Steiner, Jacob Hahn, Christian C. Beery, and Christian G. Wenger. By 1867 there were 40 members, but the congregation never prospered. In 1881 a new church was built.
Ten years later disagreements on doctrine and other matters arose and helped bring about the dissolution of the congregation by 1910. The building burned in 1923. The present Bowne Church is located about 12 miles (20 km) from the site of the Caledonia Church but the two congregations were always distinct and independent.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 490. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.
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MLA style: Wenger, John C. "Caledonia Mennonite Church (Kent County, Michigan, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1953. Web. 23 May 2013. http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/C225.html.
APA style: Wenger, John C. (1953). Caledonia Mennonite Church (Kent County, Michigan, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 May 2013, from http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/C225.html.
