Providence Mennonite Church (Newport News, Virginia, USA)
In 1897, a group of Midwestern Amish and Mennonite families moved into the Denbigh area Denbigh neighborhood of Newport News, Virginia. Disagreement over building a meetinghouse for the Warwick River Mennonite Church led to a division in group after a meeting with Bishop John M. Shenk of Elida, Ohio. David Z. Yoder led the Amish Mennonite families to form a separate congregation known as the Providence Amish Mennonite Church.
On 3 November 1900, the group purchased one acre of land from a Jones family for $10. It built a meetinghouse on the property and dedicated its church in summer 1901. Founding members were David Z. Yoder, J. Z. Mast, C. K. Miller, and D. S. Yoder. The congregation reconstructed the building on a new foundation. The first service in the restored facility took place on 29 November 1975.
Originally the congregation joined the Eastern Amish Mennonite Conference. In the 1920s that conference joined the Ohio Conference to form the Ohio and Eastern Mennonite Conference. In 1978 the "Eastern" part formed the Atlantic Coast Conference. In 1996 Providence changed its affiliation to the Virginia Mennonite Conference to be linked to geographically-closer congregations.
Bibliography
Butcher, Gloria P. "Atlantic Coast Conference Church." Atlantic Coast Conference Currents 6, no. 1 (January-February 1985): 1.
Fifty Years: Building on the Warwick. Denbigh, 1947: 32-35.
Kraus, Jo Anne. Holy Experiment: The Warwick River Mennonite Colony 1897-1970. Harrisonburg, VA: Herald Press, 2021: 111, 114-119, 122, 147, 277, 322-323.
Providence Mennonite Church. "A Short History of Providence Mennonite Church." 22 March 2013. Web. 29 March 2014. [broken link]
Additional Information
Address: 13101 Warwick Blvd., Newport News, Virginia 23602
Phone: 757-249-2702
Web site: Providence Mennonite Church
Denominational Affiliations:
Ohio and Eastern Mennonite Conference
Providence Mennonite Church Ministers
| Minister | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| David Zook Yoder (1849-1929) | 1900-1904 |
| Joseph Zook (1845-1918) | 1905-1918 |
| George M. Hostetler (1883-1952) | 1914-1937 |
| Orrie D. Yoder (1895-1973) | 1937-1943 |
| Levi M. Hurst (1903-1999) | 1943-1944 |
| Kenneth G. Good (1910-1997) | 1945-1946 |
| Emery E. Glick (1889-1980) (Deacon) | 1946-1953 |
| Herbert N. Troyer (1889-1954) | 1950-1954 |
| Wilbur H. Smoker (1915-1972) | 1954-1972 |
| H. Wesley Boyer | 1973-1980 |
| Ernest M. Godshall | 1980-1996 |
| Mark Marvuglio | 1997-1999 |
| R. Todd Bowman | 2001-2003 |
| Kenneth J. Peterson | 2004-2010 |
| Carl E. Mericle | 2010?-present |
Membership at Providence Mennonite Church
| Year | Membership |
|---|---|
| 1920 | 33 |
| 1930 | 17 |
| 1940 | 57 |
| 1950 | 40 |
| 1960 | 32 |
| 1970 | 57 |
| 1980 | 54 |
| 1990 | 39 |
| 2000 | 67 |
| 2007 | 42 |
| 2020 | 27 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Melvin Gingerich. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 223. All rights reserved.
Providence Mennonite Church (MC), Denbigh, Virginia, located on Route 60 near Oyster Point, is a member of the Ohio and Eastern Mennonite Conference. The congregation was organized in 1900 and its church dedicated the following year. D. Z. Yoder was the first minister. It had 31 members in 1957. Wilbur H. Smoker was minister.
Maps
Map:Providence Mennonite Church (Newport News, Virginia, USA)
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | February 2022 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Providence Mennonite Church (Newport News, Virginia, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. February 2022. Web. 19 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Providence_Mennonite_Church_(Newport_News,_Virginia,_USA)&oldid=173081.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (February 2022). Providence Mennonite Church (Newport News, Virginia, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 19 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Providence_Mennonite_Church_(Newport_News,_Virginia,_USA)&oldid=173081.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.