Newark Church of God in Christ, Mennonite (Ithaca, Michigan, USA)
The Newark Church of God in Christ, Mennonite congregation near Ithaca, Michigan, USA was established in the early 1880s. The congregation started when families moved to Newark Township in Gratiot County in the 1880s. Some of these families had been part of the Reed City congregation.
In the 1890s, F. C. Fricke and Peter B. Litwiller, who had been ordained ministers in the Clinton congregation, moved to Gratiot County. The congregation initially met in the Kellogg and Lewis schoolhouses. The first church was built in 1903. As the church grew, a new building was erected in 1920, 1.5 miles east of the first building. It experienced multiple additions, recovery from several fires, and was one of the oldest buildings in the denomination in the 1990s.
In 1964 the congregation established the Mt. Calm congregation near Carson City. This helped to alleviate crowding in the church building. In 2002 it established the Wildwood congregation located about seven miles southwest of the Newark church.
The congregation began the Countryside Christian School in 1980 in cooperation with the Mt. Calm congregation. The Wildwood congregation also uses the school.
In 2020 the congregation was part of the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite. The ministers were Darin Litwiller, Keith Litwiller, and Michael Litwiller.
Bibliography
Church of God in Christ, Mennonite. Yearbook (1996-2020).
Histories of the congregations. 3rd. ed. Moundridge, Kansas: Gospel Publishers, 1999: 361-365.
Additional Information
Address: 3446 S. Alger Road, Ithaca, Michigan 48847
Phone: 989-875-3317
Website:
Denominational Affiliations:
Church of God in Christ, Mennonite
Ordained Pastors at the Newark Church of God in Christ, Mennonite Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Lay leadership | 1883-1890s |
| Frederick C. Fricke (1867-1947) | 1894?- |
| Peter B. Litwiller (1858-1906) | 1894?-1906 |
| Jacob L. Litwiller (1835-1918) | 1902-1918 |
| Charles R. Peters (1854-1937) | 1905-1937? |
| Hiram J. Mininger (1870-1953) | 1908-1953 |
| August R. Peters (1869-1962) | 1911-1962 |
| Frank F. Haynes (1892-1980) | 1924-1964 |
| Glenn Litwiller (1903-1964) | 1937-1964 |
| Francis Peters (1908-1986) | 1937-1946 |
| Harry H. Harms (1900-1991) | 1937-1950? |
| Reno Hibner (1922-1995) | 1948-1954 |
| Newell Litwiller (1915-1987) | 1951-1987 |
| Donald Seiler (1927-2018) | 1956-1964 |
| Donald Gable | 1963-2001 |
| Richard Litwiller (1931-2019) | 1965-2014 |
| Arnold Decker (1934-1996) | 1968-1979 |
| Douglas Salsbury | 1984-2010 |
| Michael Litwiller | 2000-present |
| Darin Litwiller | 2003-present |
| Keith Litwiller | 2018-present |
Membership at Newark Church of God in Christ, Mennonite Church
| Year | Membership |
|---|---|
| 1903 | 50 |
| 1920 | 110 |
| 1963 | 325 |
| 1995 | 219 |
| 2000 | 228 |
| 2010 | 181 |
| 2020 | 184 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Clara Miller. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 865. All rights reserved.
The Church of God in Christ, Mennonite Church, located two miles (three km) west and four miles (6.5 km) south of Ithaca, Michigan, originated in the 1880s when the Brown, Diller, Peters, Eicher, Gable, and other families settled here and held services in their homes. Jacob Litwiller, F. C. Fricke, and Peter Litwiller of an adjoining congregation were ordained to the ministry in the early 1890s. F. C. Fricke served as an elder for many years. In 1902, a church was built, replaced by a larger church in 1920, which was remodeled and enlarged in 1947 and again in 1954. The membership in 1957 was 265. Nine other ministers and five deacons had been ordained by the church up to that point; Glenn Litwiller was the presiding minister in 1957. The ministry was unsalaried.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | January 2021 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Newark Church of God in Christ, Mennonite (Ithaca, Michigan, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. January 2021. Web. 26 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Newark_Church_of_God_in_Christ,_Mennonite_(Ithaca,_Michigan,_USA)&oldid=169878.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (January 2021). Newark Church of God in Christ, Mennonite (Ithaca, Michigan, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 26 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Newark_Church_of_God_in_Christ,_Mennonite_(Ithaca,_Michigan,_USA)&oldid=169878.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.