View source for Barker Street Amish Mennonite Church (St. Joseph County, Michigan, USA)

The Barker Street Amish Mennonite Church, now extinct, was established about 1860 in St. Joseph County, [[Michigan (State)|Michigan]], near Vistula, [[Indiana (USA)|Indiana]]. It is reported that the first settlers who formed this congregation bore the following names: [[Hertzler (Hartzler)|Hartzler]], [[Hooley (Hoelly, Holly) family|Hooley]], [[King (Koenig, Kinig, Konigh, König) family|King]], [[Kauffman (Kaufman, Kaufmann, Kauffmann, Coffman, Cauffman) family|Kauffman]], [[Plank family|Plank]], Warey, [[Yoder (Ioder, Joder, Jodter, Jotter, Yoeder, 
Yother, Yothers, Yotter)|Yoder]], and [[Zook|Zook]]. One of the first ministers, Joseph Kauffman, moved from Barker Street to the Hawpatch congregation, [[Topeka (Indiana, USA)|Topeka]], Indiana, about 1863. Another person who left Barker Street was Deacon Christian Warey (1832-1914); he ultimately settled in [[Iowa (USA)|Iowa]] and later became bishop of the [[East Union Mennonite Church (Kalona, Iowa, USA)|East Union congregation]] there. In 1876 Bishop C. D. Beery of Branch County, Michigan, ordained Harvey Friesner to the ministry to serve Barker Street. The meetinghouse was built in 1893. Ultimately Barker Street was under the joint care of the [[Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference (Mennonite Church USA)|Indiana-Michigan Mennonite]] (MC) and [[Indiana-Michigan Amish Mennonite Conference|Indiana-Michigan Amish Mennonite]] conferences. The last minister ordained at Barker Street was W. W. Oesch in 1914. Internal difficulties in the congregation in 1923 contributed to its dissolution shortly thereafter.
= Bibliography =
Cassel, Daniel K. <em class="gameo_bibliography">History of the Mennonites : historically and biographically arranged from the time of the Reformation, more particularly from the time of their emigration to America, containing sketches of the oldest meeting houses and prominent ministers ; also their confession of faith, adopted at Dortrecht, in 1621. </em>Philadelphia: Daniel K. Cassel, 1888.

Hartzler, J. S. and Daniel Kauffman. <em class="gameo_bibliography">Mennonite Church History. </em>Scottdale, PA: Mennonite Book and Tract Society, 1905.

Kauffman, Daniel. <em class="gameo_bibliography">Mennonite cyclopedic dictionary: a compendium of the doctrines, history, activities, literature, and environments of the Mennonite Church, especially in America</em><em class="gameo_bibliography">. </em>Scottdale, PA: Mennonite Publishing House, 1937. Reprinted Teeswater, ON: Ira J. Huber, 1980.

<em class="gameo_bibliography">Minutes of the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference, 1864-1929. </em>Scottdale, PA: Mennonite Publishing House, 1929.
{{GAMEO_footer|hp=Vol. 1, pp. 234-235|date=1953|a1_last=Wenger|a1_first=John C|a2_last= |a2_first= }}