Belmont Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Indiana, USA)
The Prairie Street Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Indiana, launched a Sunday school in the Hudson-Sterling area of the city on 23 June 1929. The mission remained an outpost of the Prairie Street congregation until 1949 and utilized Prairie Street's ministers.
Initially, Prairie Street rented a house on Moyer Avenue. Eventually, it dismantled a former Evangelical Church building in rural Harrison Township of Elkhart County and reconstructed it at the corner of Oxford and Belmont Streets. In 1953, the church enlarged the basement and added a new entrance. Four years later, it enlarged and renovated the building again. It built a new building in the same vicinity in 1997. The former building was rented to the Worldwide Church of God.
In 1991, Belmont launched a second service, which became known as the Belmont Neighborhood Fellowship (BNF). It became a separate congregation in 2006 but remained closely related to Belmont Mennonite through the sharing of facilities and support staff.
Bibliography
"Belmont Mennonite, Inc." Gospel Evangel 87, no. 7 (November 2006): 1-2.
Preheim, Rich. In Pursuit of Faithfulness: Conviction, Conflict, and Compromise in Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference. Harrisonburg, Va.: Herald Press, 2016: 147, 307.
Wenger, John Christian. The Mennonites in Indiana and Michigan. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1961: 214.
Additional Information
Address: 925 Oxford Street, Elkhart, Indiana 46516
Phone: 574-293-5160
Website: https://belmontmc.org/
Denominational Affiliations:
Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference
Pastoral Leaders at Belmont Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| LeRoy L. Hostetler (1904-2004) | 1949-1951 |
| Silvan "S. Jay" Hostetler (1901-1978) (Bishop) |
1950-1952 1952-1957 |
| Neil Beachy (1922-1963) | 1957-1961 |
| Ray S. Bair | 1962-1979 |
| Ron Flaming (Interim) | 1979-1980 |
| Dennis Stauffer | 1980-1982 |
| Dale Schumm (1932-2002)(Interim) | 1982-1983 |
| Willard M. Swartley (1936-2019)(Interim) | 1983-1984 |
| Duane E. Beck | 1984-2005 |
| Philip K. Mininger (Associate) | 1993-1998? |
| Nina B. Lanctot (Associate) | 1999?-2005 |
| Daniel Z. Miller (Transitional) | 2006-2007 |
| Larry D. Rohrer | 2007-2019 |
| Amanda A. "Mandy" Yoder | 2008- |
| Philip B. Schmidt | 2021- |
Belmont Mennonite Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1950 | 64 |
| 1960 | 124 |
| 1970 | 179 |
| 1980 | 202 |
| 1990 | 168 |
| 2000 | 177 |
| 2009 | 188 |
| 2020 | 132 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By LeRoy L. Hostetler. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 272. All rights reserved.
Belmont Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church USA), Elkhart, Indiana, was started by the Prairie Street Mennonite Church as a mission outpost on 23 June 1929. The first Sunday-school superintendent was C. W. Leininger and his assistant was John Gingrich. The church was organized as a congregation in January 1949 with 57 charter members. In 1952 the pastor was S. Jay Hostetler and the membership 64.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | April 2024 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Belmont Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Indiana, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. April 2024. Web. 24 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Belmont_Mennonite_Church_(Elkhart,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=178662.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (April 2024). Belmont Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Indiana, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Belmont_Mennonite_Church_(Elkhart,_Indiana,_USA)&oldid=178662.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.