Gardner Mennonite Church (Gardner, Illinois, USA)
The Gardner Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church), now extinct, was established near Gardner, Grundy County, Illinois, in perhaps the early 1860s by families moving there from Pennsylvania and Ohio. Among the families were Buckwalter, Showalter, Tinsman, Kulp, Shelly, Whitmore, and Bachman. The first minister, John G. Bachman, an aged man, was ordained in 1863. Two years later John F. Funk and Henry Shelly were ordained to preach in English and German respectively for the congregation. Once a month Funk came from Chicago to preach for the congregation. Several years after the organization of the congregation, a white frame church was built about two miles (three km) west of Gardner. Some time after 1885 the last remaining family, the Lewis Culps, moved to Elkhart, Indiana, after which the church was sold.
Bibliography
Weber, Harry F. Centennial history of the Mennonites of Illinois, 1829-1929. Goshen, IN: Mennonite Historical Society, 1931: 174-176.
Additional Information
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To cite this page:
MLA style: Gingerich, Melvin. "Gardner Mennonite Church (Gardner, Illinois, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 12 May 2008 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/G3750.html>
APA style: Gingerich, Melvin. (1956). "Gardner Mennonite Church (Gardner, Illinois, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 12 May 2008 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/G3750.html>
