Mission Advocates, the first missionary organization in the Lancaster Mennonite Conference, originated at a meeting in the home of John H. Mellinger, Harristown, PA, on 15 September 1894. It was a layman's movement with C. M. Brackbill, John H. Mellinger, Abram Metzler, Jr., Jacob A. Ressler, and others as a nucleus, an outgrowth of Bible Studies through the district. At the second meeting they contributed $7.75 to encourage the new Chicago Mission. After 16 months, to comply with Bishop Board wishes they organized the Mennonite Sunday School Mission, and missions began to appear. Here was the seedbed for the Eastern Board of Missions and Charities, which touched four continents by the 1950s.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 708. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

©1996-2013 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.