West Union Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church), a member of the Iowa-Nebraska Mennonite Conference, located at Parnell, 9 miles north of Wellman, Iowa, was organized 11 December 1897, by part of the group that worshiped at the Union Meetinghouse northwest of Kalona and which had left the Old Order Amish in 1884 with Christian Warey as minister. They worshiped at the Greene Center Schoolhouse until their church was completed and dedicated 5 June 1898. In 1917 the present building with a seating capacity of 400-500 was erected. Approximately 50 members worship at the Parnell Mennonite Church, a mission church that was started by West Union in 1948. In 1906 West Union started a mission Sunday school near Wellman, which became the Wellman Mennonite Church in 1935. The membership in 1957 was 386, with Herman Ropp as bishop and Paul T. Guengerich and Amos Gingerich as ministers. Bishops Christian Warey, A. I. Yoder, J. K. Yoder, A. G. Yoder, and John Y. Swartzendruber have served this congregation.

Address: 3253 - 305th Street, Parnell, IA 52325; Phone: (319) 646-6004; Fax: (319) 646-6046.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 929. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

©1996-2008 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.

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