Shelly Mennonite Church, now extinct, located one mile west of Richfield in Monroe Township, Juniata County, Pennsylvania, was built in 1800. Until 1815 it was also used as a school. One of the oldest cemeteries in the Valley is found here. Under George Leiter a schism occurred, both sides using this meetinghouse for 40 years, until Bishop Leiter returned to the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. This necessitated a larger, brick meetinghouse in 1868. In connection with the Solomon Graybill schism in 1884 a historic bill in equity was initiated in the Juniata County courts to obtain the use of this church for the new group. In 1886 the General Conference Mennonites built a church on the edge of Richfield. The Mennonites (Mennonite Church) used this church until larger meetinghouses were built at Cross Roads and Lauver, and a decade later regular services were discontinued. It serves as a home for the sewing circles of the Valley now.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 514. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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