Lancaster Mennonite Conference (LMC) is a historic body of

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

churches in the Mid-Atlantic region of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, consisting of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

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, New York, and

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. There are also a few conference churches in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

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, and the city of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, as well as two located in

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. The conference was briefly (2002-2015) associated with the newly formed

Mennonite Church USA The Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the United States. Although the organization is a recent 2002 merger of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church, the body has roots in the Ra ...

(MC USA).

Organization

The churches of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference (LMC) make up 26 districts including: Bowmansville-Reading, Elizabethtown, Ephrata, Groffdale, Harrisburg, Juniata, Lancaster, Landisville, Lebanon, Lititz, Manheim, Manor, Martindale, Mellinger, Millwood, New Danville, New York City, North Penn, Pequea Valley, Philadelphia, Spanish, Washington-Baltimore, Weaverland-Northeast Pennsylvania, Williamsport-Milton, Willow Street-Strasburg, and York-Adams Districts. The conference office is located in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

. The Bishop Board, a collection of all the bishops from the districts in the Conference, is the executive board of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. The Conference Leadership Assembly, composed of all bishops, ministers, deacons, deaconesses, and chaplains in the Conference, is the governing body of Lancaster Mennonite Conference. Lancaster Mennonite Conference publishes a magazine ''Shalom News'', and oversees several agencies, including

Eastern Mennonite Missions Eastern Mennonite Missions (EMM) is a mission agency based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. EMM equips, sends, and supports mission workers in more than 30 countries. EMM's mission statement: Christ's transforming love compels us to cross cultures, e ...

, Friendship Community, Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, Lancaster Mennonite School, Landis Homes, Philhaven, and Sharing Programs.

History

The Lancaster Mennonite Conference first convened in 1711, only a few months after the Swiss-

Palatine A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.

immigrants had established themselves in what is now Lancaster County. In 1725, five representatives, Martin Baer, Hans Burkholtzer, Christian Herr, Benedikt Hirsche, and Johannes Bowman, attended the first general Mennonite Conference when the Dordrecht Confession was translated into English. Additional Mennonite immigrants joined the settlement in 1711, 1717, 1727, and at later periods. It is estimated that by 1735 over five hundred families had emigrated from Switzerland and the Palatinate and settled in Lancaster County. They overflowed into what are now neighboring counties and established daughter colonies in Maryland, Virginia, New York, Canada, and Ohio. The Mellinger meetinghouse was home to semiannual conferences each fall and at one of the three Rohrerstown meetinghouses every spring as far back as records exist, around 1740. But beginning in 1953, the spring meeting was moved to East Petersburg Mennonite Church. It was at this conference that decisions were made and either approved or rejected. Expansion and growth led to differences of opinion within the conference. In 1960, nine ordained men withdrew from the conference to form the ''Mennonite Christian Brotherhood''. Differences over issues related to divorce and remarriage, television, and relaxed dress requirements resulted in the formation of the Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church in 1969. Two hundred members left in 1975 to formed the Conservative Mennonite Churches of York and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania.

Affiliations

In 1971, after repeated invitations, the Lancaster Mennonite Conference joined the Mennonite Church (MC), sometimes known as the "Old" Mennonite Church. The conference reorganized to more closely follow the structure of the Mennonite Church in 1977. After five years of provisional membership, Lancaster Mennonite Conference joined

(MC USA) as a full member in 2006. MC USA was a merger of the (Old) Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church, which occurred in 2001. On November 19, 2015, citing a "cultural and theological divide" over MC USA's increasing support for same-sex marriage and LGBTQ relationships, a proposal by the Board of Bishops to leave MC USA was ratified by 82.3% of those voting. The withdrawal was effective immediately and to be finalized by congregations on or before the end of 2017, but allowed individual congregations an option of continued participation with MC USA, if so desired. At the time, the conference had 13,838 members in 163 congregations. Most congregations opted to exit the Mennonite Church USA, leaving only 1,091 members from Lancaster Mennonite Conference remaining with the MC USA.

Ordination of women

Lancaster Mennonite Conference leaves it to the member congregations whether or not to ordain women, but reserves oversight roles and bishoprics to men.

Notes

References

* Landis, Ira D. and Carolyn C. Wenger (1987)
"Lancaster Mennonite Conference (Mennonite Church USA)."
Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved on 2009-01-30

External links

Lancaster Mennonite ConferenceShalom News - a magazine published by Lancaster Mennonite Conference
{{Authority control Mennonite denominations Mennonite Conference Mennonitism in Pennsylvania Mennonitism in the United States Mennonite Church USA