East Chestnut Street Mennonite Church (Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA)

East Chestnut Mennonite Church
Source: Engel Architects website

The East Chestnut Street Mennonite Church, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, formerly a member of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference, is located in Lancaster. The first meetinghouse was built on this site in 1879, services having previously been held in a rented building on Charlotte Street. This meetinghouse was replaced in 1906 by a larger brick church. The trustees of the first meetinghouse, members of adjoining country churches, took their turns in caring for the afternoon services. A Sunday school was opened in 1894 with Benjamin F. Herr and David Lantz as superintendents. On 11 December 1904, John H. Mosemann was ordained to the ministry, and in 1926 to the office of bishop. On 30 June 1907, David H. Mosemann was ordained to the ministry. For years the church was a young people's center every second Sunday night. Numerous all-day meetings were also held here. The ministers in 1955 were Noah G. Good, Jacob E. Brubaker, and Mylin Shenk. Services were held twice each Sunday, with a Sunday school, a summer Bible school, and a weekday Bible school each fall.

The congregation has been directly or indirectly the mother of a number of mission congregations in and near the city of Lancaster, among them being Vine Street, North End, Rossmere, South Christian Street, Laurel and Freemont Streets, Lyndon. It has also suffered many losses by withdrawals. A considerable number of the Calvary Bible Church (independent) came from East Chestnut Street, while a block of members leaving in 1952 organized the Neffsville Mennonite Church under the Ohio and Eastern Conference. Earlier a number had left to share in the organization of the Monterey Mennonite Church under the same conference, near Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania. As a result of these vicissitudes, the congregation has declined severely in membership (1955, 200).

On 12 June 2016, the congregation voted with 96 percent approval to leave Lancaster Mennonite Conference after the Conference had announced its intention to depart from Mennonite Church USA by the end of 2017. Later that year the congregation joined the Atlantic Coast Conference at their fall assembly.

Bibliography

Houser, Gordon and Hannah Heinzekehr. "Congregational Affiliations Shifts for Some in Lancaster Mennonite Conference." The Mennonite (7 November 2016). Web. 29 November 2016. https://themennonite.org/daily-news/congregational-affiliation-shifts-around-lancaster/.

Additional Information

Address: 432 East Chestnut Street, Lancaster, PA 17602-3050

Phone: 717-392-7910

Website: East Chestnut Street Mennonite Church

Denominational Affiliations:

Atlantic Coast Conference (2016-present)

Mennonite Church USA

Map

Map:East Chestnut Street Mennonite Church (Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA)

Author(s)	Ira D Landis
Date Published	1953

Cite This Article

MLA style

Landis, Ira D. "East Chestnut Street Mennonite Church (Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1953. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=East_Chestnut_Street_Mennonite_Church_(Lancaster,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=148583.

APA style

Landis, Ira D. (1953). East Chestnut Street Mennonite Church (Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=East_Chestnut_Street_Mennonite_Church_(Lancaster,_Pennsylvania,_USA)&oldid=148583.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, pp. 118-119. All rights reserved.

©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.