CrossPoint Church (East Peoria, Illinois, USA)
The Pleasant Hill Mennonite Church, located between Morton and Peoria, Illinois, began as a Sunday school on 21 November 1920. John Roth started the effort in a two-room schoolhouse on Pleasant Hill. The Illinois Mennonite Mission Board organized a mission outreach on 8 March 1924. In 1930, the Stoeker family donated land across from the schoolhouse used by the congregation, and a 19th-century building that had served the former Harmony Mennonite Church was disassembled and moved from near Eureka, Illinois, to serve as the first meetinghouse. It was dedicated 28 December 1930. The Illinois Mennonite Conference recognized Pleasant Hill as an independent congregation in September 1931.
In 1937 the young congregation began a Sunday school mission at Highway Village in East Peoria. That congregation, later known as the East Peoria Mennonite Church, became an independent congregation in the 1950s.
The congregation constructed a new building in 1965 and dedicated it on 22 August 1965.
By the beginning of the 21st century, Pleasant Hill Mennonite Church faced serious challenges; it was shrinking with an aging population. A new independent church plant had begun in a school building adjacent to the Pleasant Hill church. The two groups began to converse in 2002 and, in January 2003, merged as CrossPoint Church, an independent, non-denominational church. The church building on Pleasant Hill Road became the new home of CrossPoint. The adjacent school building and six acres of land became available in March 2003, and CrossPoint was able to purchase it for only $100,000.
Bibliography
"Dedication services...." Gospel Herald 58, no. 32 (17 August 1965): 728.
"Our history." CrossPoint Church. 2020. Web. 28 March 2024. https://visitcrosspoint.com/about/who-we-are.
Magnuson, Ruth. "Pleasant Hill Sunday School." Gospel Herald 23, no. 33 (13 November 1930): 717.
Smith, Willard H. Mennonites in Illinois. Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History, 24. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1983: 212-213, 217, 549.
Weber, Harry F. Centennial history of the Mennonites of Illinois, 1829-1929. Goshen, Ind.: Mennonite Historical Society, 1931: 314-316. Available in full electronic text at https://archive.org/details/centennialhistor00webe.
The Workers. "Pleasant Hill Sunday school." Gospel Herald 23, no. 43 (22 January 1931): 925.
Additional Information
Address: 400 South Pleasant Hill Road, East Peoria, Illinois 61611
Phone: 309-699-6768
Website: https://visitcrosspoint.com/home
Denominational Affiliations: Illinois Mennonite Conference (until 2003)
Mennonite Church USA (until 2003)
Superintendents & Pastoral Leaders at CrossPoint Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| John Roth (1884-1969)(Superintendent) | 1920-1924 |
| S. Jay Hostetler (1901-1978)(Superintendent) | 1925-1926 |
| Carl A. Magnuson (1894-1975)(Superintendent) | 1926-1928 1930-1931 |
| John D. Conrad (1878-1958)(Superintendent) | 1928-1930 1931-1935 |
| Visiting ministers | 1931-1935 |
| J. Norman Kaufman (1880-1966) | 1935-1945 |
| Roy D. Roth (1921-2005) | 1945-1951 |
| Roy C. Bucher (1920-2006) | 1951-1955 |
| D. Richard Miller | 1956-1958 |
| Wayne D. King (1931-2021) | 1958-1962 1970-1974 |
| Paul O. King (1921-2016) | 1962-1970 |
| Stanlee D. Kauffman | 1970-1976 |
| Lester Zook | 1975-1979 |
| Jason "James" Detweiler (1926-1994)(Interim) | 1979-1980 |
| Terry Rediger | 1981-1989 |
| Robert R. Coon (1931-2021) | 1989-1993 |
| Terry Rogers | 1993-after 2001 |
CrossPoint Church Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1924 | 19 |
| 1930 | 11 |
| 1940 | 104 |
| 1950 | 134 |
| 1960 | 98 |
| 1970 | 78 |
| 1980 | 65 |
| 1990 | 35 |
| 2001 | 28 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Roy D. Roth. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 190. All rights reserved.
Pleasant Hill Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church), earlier known as the Pleasant Hill Rural Mission, a member of the Illinois Mennonite Conference, and located about 4 miles northwest of Morton, and 5 miles southeast of Peoria, Illinois, was organized as a congregation on 8 March 1924. In 1958 it had a membership of 91, with Wayne King as pastor.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | March 2024 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "CrossPoint Church (East Peoria, Illinois, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. March 2024. Web. 19 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=CrossPoint_Church_(East_Peoria,_Illinois,_USA)&oldid=178610.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (March 2024). CrossPoint Church (East Peoria, Illinois, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 19 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=CrossPoint_Church_(East_Peoria,_Illinois,_USA)&oldid=178610.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.