Coordinates: 41°40′31″N85°57′55″W / 41.675192°N 85.965164°W
Prairie Street Mennonite Church is a Mennonite Church located in Elkhart, Indiana. It is a member of the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA.
Prairie Street began in 1870 as a gathering of Mennonites who lived in Elkhart and regularly attended other churches in the county, such as Yellow Creek Mennonite Church, and Shaum Mennonite Church (now Olive Mennonite Church) which met every other week. John F. Funk bought a plot of land for the church building just outside the city limit to allay concerns about how the Mennonite faith would hold up in an urban context. The first meeting in the current location, on the eponymous Prairie Street, took place on 26 November 1871. [1]
In 1879, John S. Coffman was invited by John F. Funk to join the staff of the Herald of Truth and he began attending Prairie Street Mennonite Church, where he promoted Sunday school and preached. [2]
Other noted early leaders at Prairie Street Mennonite include:
In 1895, Prairie Street Mennonite Church member Lewis Kulp purchased 5 acres of land on what is now Hively Avenue, and the Prairie Street Cemetery was created. Land was added to the property over many years. [1] In 1998, the church donated the cemetery and surrounding undeveloped land to the City of Elkhart. [4]
In 1931, the Prairie Street Mennonite Church building was burned in a fire so severely that it needed to be rebuilt. [2]
Fourteen men from Prairie Street drafter during World War II opted to participate in the Civilian Public Service rather than participate in combat.
In 1934, Prairie Street women began canning fruits and vegetables for use at Goshen College, and during World War II, they did the same for Civilian Public Service camps, Mennonite Voluntary Service, and Bethany Christian Schools.
Nellie Mann Witmer, Minnie Graber, and Juanita Mann Wittrig, all Prairie Street members, served as president of the Indiana-Michigan Women's Missionary and Service Commission and Graber also served as the president of the church-wide WMSC from 1958-1969. [1]
Prairie Street was the first Mennonite church in its conference to: [2]
Both Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite Mission Network began in part through the initiative of Prairie Street Mennonite Church. [6]
Prairie Street was instrumental in beginning Belmont Mennonite Church and True Vine Tabernacle (Formerly Roselawn Mennonite Church), also in Elkhart, Indiana, and Pleasant View Mennonite Church in Jefferson Township, Elkhart County, Indiana. [1]
As of 2006, Prairie Street Mennonite Church had an average attendance of 130. Located in a neighborhood equal parts African-American, Caucasian, and Hispanic, Prairie Street initiated programs designed to reach out to the community, including Vacation Bible School (with Hively Avenue Mennonite), neighborhood block parties, and Jubilee House, a unit of Mennonite Voluntary Service. Congregation members often volunteer as tutors at the local elementary school. Prairie Street Mennonite partnered with the Elkhart Area Ministerial Association to organize tutoring in English as a Second Language, hosting the tutoring. Prairie Street Mennonite Church pursued a partnership with Community Missionary Baptist Church which is located down the street, through pulpit exchanges, joint tutoring, and an effort to save the local school building. [6]
Prairie Street Mennonite Church sponsored Jubilee House, a unit of Mennonite Voluntary Service located adjacent to the church. [7] In 2008, MVSers at Jubilee House appeared dressed as superheroes to promote awareness of male-pattern violence. [8] In 2010, MVS workers began the Jubilee House Neighborhood Demonstration Garden. Using recycled and reused gardening equipment, they created a garden to educate neighbors about the possibilities of urban gardening as well as to provide some free produce. [9]
Some of Prairie Street Mennonite Church's historical records are housed in the Mennonite Church USA Archives, while others remain in the congregation's possession.
Goshen is a city in and the county seat of Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. It is the smaller of the two principal cities of the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawaka Combined Statistical Area. It is located in the northern part of Indiana near the Michigan border, in a region known as Michiana. Goshen is located 10 miles southeast of Elkhart, 25 miles southeast of South Bend, 120 miles east of Chicago, and 150 miles north of Indianapolis. The population was 34,517 at the 2020 census.
Elkhart County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2020, the county's population was 207,047. The county seat is Goshen. Elkhart County is part of the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawaka Combined Statistical Area. It is also considered part of the broader region of Northern Indiana known as Michiana, and is 20 miles (32 km) east of South Bend, Indiana, 110 miles (180 km) east of Chicago, Illinois, and 150 miles (240 km) north of Indianapolis, Indiana. The area is referred to by locals as the recreation vehicle (RV) capital of the world and is known for its sizable Amish and Old Order Mennonite population.
Goshen College is a private Mennonite liberal arts college in Goshen, Indiana. It was founded in 1894 as the Elkhart Institute of Science, Industry and the Arts, and is affiliated with Mennonite Church USA. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and has an enrollment of 950 students. While Goshen maintains a distinctive liberal Mennonite worldview and Mennonites make up 43 percent of the student body, it admits students of all religions.
Harold Stauffer Bender was a prominent professor of theology at Goshen College and Goshen Biblical Seminary. His accomplishments include founding both the Mennonite Historical Library and The Mennonite Quarterly Review. He served as President of the American Society of Church History, and was a major scholarly influence on fellow Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder.
Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) is an Anabaptist Christian seminary in Elkhart, Indiana, affiliated with Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada. It was formerly known as Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary until its name was changed in 2012.
John Fretz Funk was a publisher and leader of the Mennonite Church. Funk published the Herald of Truth from 1864 until 1908 when it merged with the Gospel Witness to form the Gospel Herald. Jacob Clemens Kolb, in his preface to Bless the Lord, O My Soul quotes an unnamed commentator who said, "John F. Funk is the most important [Mennonite] man after Menno Simons."
The Mennonite Church USA Archives was founded in 2001 under the denominational merger of the (old) Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church. Prior to 2001, the two largest Mennonite denominations maintained separate archives: the Archives of the Mennonite Church, located on the Goshen College campus, housed materials pertaining to the (old) Mennonite Church, while the Mennonite Library and Archives on the Bethel College campus held the records of the General Conference Mennonite Church.
John S. Coffman was a leader in the Mennonite Church in the late 19th century. He promoted evangelical and progressive reform through his positions in the Mennonite Publishing Company, revival meetings and chairmanship of the Elkhart Institute.
John C. Wenger was an American Mennonite theologian and professor.
The Herald of Truth was a religious newspaper founded by John F. Funk in 1864. It was the first periodical of the "Old" Mennonite Church (MC) and was also published in German as the Herold der Wahrheit. Funk published the Herald through Charles Hess of Chicago, Illinois, until 1867, when Funk's own company, John F. Funk & Brother took over publication in Elkhart, Indiana. The newspaper was sold to the Mennonite Publication Board in 1908.
Yellow Creek Mennonite Church is a Mennonite Church located in Elkhart County, Indiana. It is a member of the LMC, a fellowship of Anabaptist churches.
A sewing circle is a monthly meeting of Mennonite women for the purpose of sewing bedding and clothing to be distributed by service and missionary organizations to people in need around the world. The Women's Missionary and Service Commission grew out of such sewing circles.
The Women's Missionary and Service Commission, previously known as the Women's Missionary and Service Auxiliary and abbreviated WMSC or WMSA, was a women's organization of the "old" Mennonite Church that originated out of the Mennonite Sewing Circle movement. Named the WMSC in 1971, there were many precursor organizations and it has since evolved into Mennonite Women USA, an organization with a much wider scope.
Olive Mennonite Church is a Mennonite Church located just outside Wakarusa, Indiana, and a member of the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA.
College Mennonite Church (CMC) is a Mennonite Church located in Goshen, Indiana, and a member of the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA.
Assembly Mennonite Church is a Mennonite Church located in Goshen, Indiana. It is a member of the Central District Conference of Mennonite Church USA. Beginning as a small group of Members from Surrounding Mennonite Churches, Assembly broke from that congregation in the mid-1970s.
Eighth Street Mennonite Church is a Mennonite Church located in Goshen, Indiana. It is a member of the Central District Conference of Mennonite Church USA.
George Jay Lapp was an American missionary to India for the Mennonites. He was ordained in 1905 and became a Bishop in 1928 while in India. Lapp served as interim president of Goshen College from February 1918 until June 1919.
Nelson Edward Kauffman was an American religious leader who served as a bishop and pastor of the (old) Mennonite Church. He served as secretary for home missions for the Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities from 1955–1970, as president of the Mennonite Board of Education from 1950–1970, and from 1934–1956 worked with his wife, Christmas Carol Kauffman, as a missionary in Hannibal, Missouri. He is father of James Kauffman.
Nellie Miller Mann was a prominent member of the Mennonite Church and a renowned figure in the Near East Relief, an organization to assist refugees of war and massacre in and around the Middle East. During her time in the Near East Relief, Nellie Miller Mann was instrumental in caring for hundreds of Armenian refugees who had survived the Armenian genocide. During her time working with the refugees, Miller Mann wrote and photographed much of what she experienced. Her writings and photographs have been recently been published in a book entitled, Letters from Syria 1921-1923.
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