Source: Wikipedia Commons

New Mexico, admitted to the union in 1912 as the 47th state, is located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is the fifth largest state in the country, with an area of 121,665 square miles (315,194 km²). The total population in 2008 was estimated at 1,984,356. Among states, New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanics at 43%, comprising both recent immigrants and descendants of Spanish colonists, and has the third-highest percentage of Native Americans (mostly Navajo and Pueblo peoples).

Mennonites and Brethren in Christ began to move into the state after World War II. Brethren in Christ missionaries to the Navajo people entered New Mexico on 1 September 1945. A Brethren in Christ work began in Albuquerque in 1950. Mennonite families in Albuquerque started a home Sunday School in 1948; a pastor (MC) was assigned in 1950. Mennonite Voluntary Service units in Grants, Albuquerque, and Carlsbad supported developing congregations in the latter two places. Voluntary service workers shared in the Navajo Mission programs in Bloomfield from 1950 through the 1970s. A Church of God in Christ, Mennonite (Holdeman Mennonite) Christian service program in Albuquerque led to a congregation in the 1980s. A Conservative Mennonite Conference church planting ministry was started there in the 1980s. A non-conference Mennonite ministry began in Farmington in the 1970s.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 863; vol. 5, p. 625. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

©1996-2009 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.

MLA style: Bender, Harold S., J. Wilmer Heisey and Richard D. Thiessen. "New Mexico (USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. February 2009. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 08 November 2009 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/N4943.html>

APA style: Bender, Harold S., J. Wilmer Heisey and Richard D. Thiessen. (February 2009). "New Mexico (USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 08 November 2009 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/N4943.html>