Southeastern Mennonite Conference

Southeastern Mennonite Conference was officially organized in June 1972 by a group concerned about deviations from Bible doctrine and practices espoused by the Anabaptist movement, particularly at Eastern Mennonite College and the Virginia Mennonite Mission Board. Formerly part of the West Valley District of the Virginia Mennonite Conference, Southeastern Conference initially consisted of 12 congregations, 559 members, and 37 ordained men. The conference published a bimonthly periodical, Life Lines of the Southeastern Mennonite Conference. In the late 1980s it met semiannually in regular session during the last full week of January and June. In June 1979 the conference took action to form two districts, designated as Virginia-West Virginia District and Georgia-Carolina District. In 1981 the conference opened a mission in Anasco, Puerto Rico. In 1986 Southeastern Conference consisted of 17 congregations, with three in Georgia, one in Puerto Rico, one in South Carolina, nine in Virginia, and three in West Virginia. There were a total of 837 members and a ministerial body numbering 54 members (5 bishops, 32 ministers, and 18 deacons).

In 1995 the South Atlantic Mennonite Conference was formed from the Georgia-Carolina District of the Southeastern Mennonite Conference.

In 2010 the Southeastern Mennonite Conference had 734 members in 16 congregations:

Congregation	Location	State	Founded	Members
Bank Mennonite Church	Hinton	Virginia	1849	122
Bethany Mennonite Church	Dayton	Virginia	1910	44
Bethesda Mennonite Church	Broadway	Virginia	1974	34
Boyer Hill Mennonite Church	Bartow	West Virginia	1959	28
Brushy Run Mennonite Church	Onego	West Virginia	1929	27
Ebenezer Mennonite Church	South Boston	Virginia	1904	78
Followers of Christ Mennonite Church	Añasco	Puerto Rico	1981	9
Fountain of Life Mennonite Church	Barceloneta	Puerto Rico	1989	3
McDowell Mennonite Church	McDowell	Virginia	2004	31
McGaheysville Mennonite Church	McGaheysville	Virginia	1980	26
Mount Hermon Mennonite Church	Stanardsville	Virginia	1936	47
North Fork Mennonite Church	Petersburg	West Virginia	1948	37
Peake Mennonite Church	Hinton	Virginia	1910	85
Pike Mennonite Church	Harrisonburg	Virginia	1825	90
Rawley Springs Mennonite Church	Rawley Springs	Virginia	1930	40
Strasburg Mennonite Church	Strasburg	Virginia	1999	33
Total				734

See also Conservative Mennonites.

Bibliography

Horsch, James E., ed. Mennonite Yearbook and Directory. Scottdale, PA: Mennonite Publishing House (1988-89): 97.

Lehman, James O. "My Discoveries in Local Mennonite History." CrossRoads Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center website. 2 November 2008. Web. 3 September 2010. http://www.vbmhc.org/history/2008/08FallLecture/08FallLehman.shtml.

Mennonite Church Directory 2010. Harrisonburg, VA: Christian Light Publications, Inc., 2010: 115-117.

Author(s)	John D Risser
	Richard D. Thiessen
Date Published	October 2010

Cite This Article

MLA style

Risser, John D and Richard D. Thiessen. "Southeastern Mennonite Conference." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. October 2010. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Southeastern_Mennonite_Conference&oldid=121705.

APA style

Risser, John D and Richard D. Thiessen. (October 2010). Southeastern Mennonite Conference. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Southeastern_Mennonite_Conference&oldid=121705.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, p. 847. All rights reserved.

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