Winchester Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church), now extinct, was in existence about 1870-1900. Following the Civil War a number of farms in the vicinity of Winchester, Kernstown, and Stephens City in Frederick County, Virginia, were purchased by Mennonites who came here from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the upper (southern) part of the Shenandoah Valley, attracted by cheap land. At the height of the movement there were four Mennonite preaching appointments. (One of these was the Kernstown congregation.) Two sessions of the Virginia Mennonite Conference were held here before 1900. The most important leader of the church in this area was Christley Brunk, from near Broadway, Virginia.

The congregation entered a period of decline in the 1890's. Successful leadership was not perpetu­ated. The young people did not become members of the church. A number of Mennonites joined other denominations, while others moved away. The Kernstown meetinghouse was sold in 1907.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 959. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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