Yoder Mennonite Church, ca. 1950 Scan courtesy Mennonite Church USA Archives-Goshen X-31.1, Box 17/16

Yoder Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church), located near Yoder, Reno County, KS, a member of the South Central Mennonite Conference, was organized in 1919 with 65 charter members, mostly of Amish background. For a few years persons from the community had united with the West Liberty Mennonite Church near Inman, KS. Since this church was some 20 miles away, Mennonites at Yoder worshiped in schools or private homes, assisted by interested persons in the Hesston community and the college. In 1919 a church was built. L. O. King moved to the community to be the first pastor of the congregation, continuing as pastor until his death in 1940.

Within a year following April 1942, five young men were ordained as ministers who had grown to manhood in the Yoder church. In 1946 three members went as foreign relief workers, one each to Europe, China, and Ethiopia. The membership in 1957 was 260; the ministers were A. A. Bontrager, Edward Yutzy, and Harry A. Diener, bishop.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 1007. 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.