Monaco Fellowship (Denver, Colorado, USA)
In May 1964 several families, consisting of some 15 persons, withdrew from the First Mennonite Church of Denver under the leadership of Glenn Martin, Colorado General Hospital chaplain, and began meeting for worship in the Wilbur Eichelberger home at 947 South Monaco Parkway. The group, which continued to meet in the Eichelberger home for several years, emphasized some aspects of an intentional community but with a rather traditional purpose and structure for spiritual nurture and outreach. Under the direction of E. M. Yost, Conference Overseer for the Rocky Mountain Mennonite Conference, the Monaco Fellowship was officially organized on 10 March 1968, with 27 charter members. By the end of the Fellowship's charter year which ended on 27 April 1969, the congregation, which was accepted as a member of the conference in April 1968, had 36 full members and two associate members. Benson Lall, a native of India and former minister in the North India Annual Conference of the Methodist Church who was serving as pastor of the First Brethren Church in Denver, was called to pastor the new Fellowship.
In April 1969 the First Brethren Church located at 14th Avenue and Birch Street offered to share facilities with the Monaco Fellowship because Lall was serving as pastor of both congregations. Discussions regarding a merger of the two churches began during 1969 and continued during the early 1970s, but these discussions were unsuccessful. By the summer of 1977 many members of the fellowship had moved out of town, and the congregation was formally dissolved.
Bibliography
Unrau, Harlan D. In Pursuit of Land, Health and Mission: A History of Mennonites in the Mountain States Region. Printed in Canada by Blitzprint Inc., 2007.
| Author(s) | Harlan D Unrau |
|---|---|
| Date Published | January 2012 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Unrau, Harlan D. "Monaco Fellowship (Denver, Colorado, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. January 2012. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Monaco_Fellowship_(Denver,_Colorado,_USA)&oldid=83561.
APA style
Unrau, Harlan D. (January 2012). Monaco Fellowship (Denver, Colorado, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Monaco_Fellowship_(Denver,_Colorado,_USA)&oldid=83561.
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