Gulfhaven Mennonite Church (Gulfport, Mississippi, USA)
Gulfhaven Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church), located 17 miles (27 km.) northwest of Gulfport, Mississippi, a member of the South Central Mennonite Conference, was organized 5 January 1922, by Bishop Andrew Shenk of Oronogo, Missouri, with 28 charter members. J. B. Brunk was the first pastor, followed later by D. S. Brunk. In 1948 the church was remodeled. The members are largely Mennonites from northern states or their descendants. In 1957 the membership was 62, with Paul Hershey as pastor-bishop. When the Gulf States Mennonite Fellowship formed in 1979, Gulfhaven became part of that regional conference.
In 2015 the Gulfhaven congregation left the Gulf States Mennonite Conference. This move was part of a larger realignment of Mennonite congregations in the 2010s that were formerly part of Mennonite Church USA. These congregations were unhappy with Mennonite Church USA's failure to take stronger disciplinary actions against area conferences and congregations who expressed openness to inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons.
Gulfhaven continued as an independent Mennonite congregation associated with the Good News Fellowship, a network of 35 or so congregations rooted in the Anabaptist/Mennonite stream with beginnings in Alabama in the 1940s. The network in 2017 extended to congregations in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Additional Information
Address: 21497 Mennonite Road, Gulfport, MS 39503
Phone: 228-832-0003
Website: http://www.gulfhavenchurch.com/
Denominational Affiliations:
| Author(s) | Paul Hershey |
|---|---|
| Samuel J. Steiner | |
| Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Hershey, Paul and Samuel J. Steiner. "Gulfhaven Mennonite Church (Gulfport, Mississippi, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 19 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Gulfhaven_Mennonite_Church_(Gulfport,_Mississippi,_USA)&oldid=165714.
APA style
Hershey, Paul and Samuel J. Steiner. (1959). Gulfhaven Mennonite Church (Gulfport, Mississippi, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 19 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Gulfhaven_Mennonite_Church_(Gulfport,_Mississippi,_USA)&oldid=165714.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 1089. All rights reserved.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.