The Hershey Mennonite Church (formerly Mennonite Church, now part of the Conservative Mennonite Churches of York and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania), is located three miles (4.8 kilometers) north of Thomasville, York County, Pennsylvania. It was founded in the 1740s by the Hershey, Roth, Brubaker, and other families from Lancaster County, who organized as a congregation in 1753. The membership in 1886 was 45. The first meetinghouse was built in 1825 on grounds donated by John Brubaker. This building was destroyed by a storm in 1896, and the later sandstone church was built. This was closed for a few years and then reopened in 1948. Daniel Bare, Josiah and Benjamin Hershey, Isaac Kauffman, Jacob Hershey, and S. L. Roth have served as ministers here. It was a part of Richard Danner's bishop district in 1955. At that time there were 22 members; the minister was B. Harnish Noll. In 2008 the congregation had 22 members; the minister was Elvin R. Deiter.

Additional Information

Address: Biesecker Road, Thomasville, Pennsylvania

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, pp. 715-716. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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