St. John Bible Church (Pandora, Ohio, USA)
St. John Mennonite Church near Pandora, Ohio, USA was part of the larger Swiss Mennonite congregation in and around Bluffton. In 1888 the St. John Mennonite Church building was erected four miles north of the Ebenezer Mennonite Church.
Following 1900 members in outlying parts of the Swiss Mennonite community called for more frequent services in their area. The Bluffton group wanted worship services every Sunday and, in 1901, proposed that a church be erected in Bluffton. The St. John’s group also asked that services be held in the St. John building every Sunday morning.
St. John and Ebenezer remained united as one congregation under the ministry of William Gottschall, the last of the ministers to serve the united Swiss community. In 1923 this union was dissolved. The St. John Church formally organized on 12 February 1923 and selected John Schneck, Amos Hilty, and E. D. Kohli as its first deacons, while A. C. Diller, C. C. Steiner, and Menno Schumacher served as the first trustees. The St. John Church joined the Middle District Conference and also to the General Conference in the fall of the same year.
For the first few months after the separation, students at the Witmarsum Theological Seminary served the St. John Church. Beginning in June 1923, it called one of these students, Arthur S. Rosenberger, as pastor. After the division, St. John worshipped in the morning and evening on one Sunday and in the morning only on the following Sunday. The young people met every Sunday evening as a society. On the first Sunday of each month, worship was in German, though by 1927, German services became only "occasional."
The congregation purchased a parsonage for the pastor in 1939.
In late 2022 the congregation changed its name to St. John Bible Church.
Bibliography
Hirschler, Edmund John. A Brief History of the Swiss Mennonite Churches of Putnam and Allen Counties, Ohio: Written for the Centenary of the Origin of the Swiss Mennonite Churches Held on July 4, 1937 at Bluffton, Ohio. Bluffton, Ohio: Historical Committee, 1937.
Moeller, Bob. "Pandora's Secret: How a Rural Church in Ohio found Ways to Grow." The Mennonite 110, no. 22 (28 November 1995): 3-4.
"St. John Mennonite church,..." The Mennonite 39, no. 21 (22 May 1924): 2.
Additional Information
Address: 15988 Rd. 4, Pandora, Ohio
Phone: 419-384-3680
Website: https://sjm.church/
Denominational Affiliations: Central District Conference
Pastoral Leaders at St. John Bible Church
| John Moser (1826-1908) | 1853-1908 |
| Christian Zimmerly (1841-1916) | 1876-1900 |
| Benjamin Diller (1845-1919) | 1881-1919 |
| Friedrich Zeller (1820-1903) | 1891-1903 |
| John B. Baer (1854-1939) | 1894-1909 |
| Christian Hege (1878-1971) | 1904-1909 |
| William S. Gottshall (1865-1941) | 1909-1923 |
| Arthur S. "A. S." Rosenberger (1898-1968) | 1923-1930 |
| John Thiessen (1893-1967)(Interim) | 1930 |
| Edgar E. Toevs (1903-1999) | 1931-1936 |
| Daniel J. "D. J." Unruh (1885-1956) | 1936-1940 |
| Peter J. "P. J." Boehr (1886-1973) | 1940-1946 |
| Frank S. Harder (1917-1992) | 1946-1953 |
| Kenneth G. Bauman (1926-1986)(Interim) | 1953-1954 |
| John P. Suderman (1901-1979) | 1954-1961 |
| Wilmer S. Shelly (1893-1981)(Interim) | 1961-1962 |
| Richard D. "Dick" Tschetter (1918-2014) | 1962-1975 |
| Ted VanderEnde | 1976-1996 |
| Ted Kuschel (Associate) | 1979-1984 |
| Rennie W. Burrus (Assistant) (Lead) |
1993-1996 1996-2005 |
| Dorothy VanderEnde (Christian Education) | 1992-1996 |
| Steve Scott (Children and Family) | 1997-2003 |
| Bradlee T. Bame (Youth) | 1999-2003 |
| Duane Weaver (Children and Family) | 2003-2009 |
| XXX | 2006?-2013? |
| David Stratton (Associate) (Interim Lead) |
2006-2013 2013-2015 |
| Paul Ginther (Youth) | 2008?- |
| Jason Yost (Associate) | 2016?- |
| Paul Perkins | 2016- |
| Rachel Antrim (Children and Family) | ?- |
Membership at St. John Bible Church
| Year | Membership |
|---|---|
| 1923 | 261 |
| 1930 | 282 |
| 1940 | 245 |
| 1950 | 235 |
| 1960 | 203 |
| 1970 | 184 |
| 1980 | 221 |
| 1990 | 326 |
| 2000 | 376 |
| 2009 | 355 |
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By John P. Suderman. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 402. All rights reserved.
St. John Mennonite Church (General Conference Mennonite Church) one mile east and a quarter south of Pandora, Ohio, on State Highway 12, is a member of the Middle District Conference. Originally there was only one Swiss Mennonite church in the community; but as the membership increased and the community grew, more churches were built. In 1888 the St. John Mennonite Church building was erected four miles north of the Ebenezer Mennonite Church.
Before 1893 the organization of the church was rather informal and the only officers were the pastors and deacons. No regular congregational meetings were held, nor their proceedings recorded. On 2 January 1893, the congregation adopted a constitution and in October joined the General Conference. In 1956 the pastor was John P. Suderman, who took charge on 13 June 1954. The membership in 1957 was 206.
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | February 2023 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "St. John Bible Church (Pandora, Ohio, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. February 2023. Web. 23 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=St._John_Bible_Church_(Pandora,_Ohio,_USA)&oldid=177640.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (February 2023). St. John Bible Church (Pandora, Ohio, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=St._John_Bible_Church_(Pandora,_Ohio,_USA)&oldid=177640.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.