Lehigh County (Pennsylvania, USA)
Lehigh County (pop. 1950 198,207; 2000 312,090), located in eastern Pennsylvania, had approximately 1,400 Mennonites in 1957, who lived mainly in the southern part of the county. The settlement extended into Northampton and Bucks counties. Two thirds of the Mennonites (Allentown, 2 congregations, Coopersburg, Emmaus, Macungie, and Zionsville) were members of the six congregations of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church (MBC), the rest being members of the three congregations (Allentown, Saucon, Upper Milford) of the Eastern District Conference (General Conference Mennonite Church), and of one congregation of the Franconia Mennonite Conference (Mennonite Church USA), the Allentown Mission.
The first settlers arrived sometime before 1735, building a church near Coopersburg in 1738 and one near Zionsville in 1740. The first MBC church was built near Zionsville in 1858. The MBC Church maintains a home for the aged in Center Valley, the Berean Bible School in Allentown, and Mizpah Grove, a campmeeting ground.
Bibliography
Cassel, Daniel K. Geschichte der Mennoniten: Von Menno Simons' Austritt aus der Römisch-Katholischen Kirche in 1536 bis zu deren Auswanderung nach Amerika in 1683. Philadelphia, PA, 1890: 126-128.
Huffman, Jasper A. History of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church. New Carlisle, OH, 1920: 68 f.
Storms, Everek R. Mennonite Brethren in Christ Handbook. Kitchener, ON, 1948.
Wenger, J.C. History of the Mennonites of the Franconia Conference. Telford, PA, 1937: 20, 224, 337.
| Author(s) | Menno Schrag |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1957 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Schrag, Menno. "Lehigh County (Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Lehigh_County_(Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=92423.
APA style
Schrag, Menno. (1957). Lehigh County (Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Lehigh_County_(Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=92423.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 313. All rights reserved.
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