History

Springfield Mennonite has a rich history in the community!


It is not known when the first meetinghouse was built, but the Mennonite settlers reached the area before the middle of the 18th century; Peter Meyer, the first known preacher, located there in 1741. The second meetinghouse, "in a little grove, delightfully located on high ground, ... a low stone building," was built in 1824 and is still standing. This second meetinghouse is present-day Springfield Mennonite!


The congregation divided in 1847, the deacon and part of the church following John H. Oberholtzer and the two preachers and the other portion of the congregation remaining in the Franconia Conference. The two groups then alternated in the use of the meetinghouse until about 1948, when the Franconia Mennonites discontinued services.


The congregation left the Eastern District Conference and became a charter member of the new Alliance of Mennonite Evangelical Congregations (AMEC) in 2002. The division was over matters of faith and doctrine at the time the General Conference Mennonite Church was merging with the Mennonite Church to form Mennonite Church USA.