Clarence Center Mennonite Church (Clarence, NY)

Title: Clarence Center Mennonite Church fonds

Dates of creation: 1920-1969

Physical description: 5 cm. of textual records

Administrative history: The church is located at 11500 Clarence Center Rd., Akron, New York.

The congregation began services about 1828. The first settlers came from Lancaster County,  Pennsylvania. Because of the proximity to the Niagara Peninsula the congregation related to the churches in Ontario. Jacob Krehbiel, already ordained as a minister, came from Germany in 1831. He became a bishop in 1839. Initially a stone church was built west of Clarence Center; it was called Good's Church. John Lapp was a long-serving minister and bishop. Jacob Krehbiel, Jr. became a minister in 1872 but withdrew in 1875, and affiliated with the General Conference Mennonites. The congregation weakened after Krehbiel's departure. The Mennonite Conference of Ontario supplied ministers until about 1920 when a new building was erected after the arrival of new families to the area.

In 1973 the Clarence Center congregation left the Mennonite Conference of Ontario to join the newly formed New York Mennonite Fellowship. The change was marked by a special ceremony at the 1973 annual conference. The congregation in 2000 was known as the Clarence Center-Akron Mennonite Church

For further information see: Mennonite Encyclopedia, "Clarence Center Mennonite Church";; L.J. Burkholder, A Brief History of the Mennonites in Ontario (1935)

Custodial history: The congregation made occasional donations to the Mennonite Archives of Ontario

Scope and Content: There are three series: Formal records, Informal records and Church bulletins.

Notes:
For photographs related to this congregation search the Mennonite Archival Image Database.

An encyclopedia entry for this congregation may be found in GAMEO.

Original archival description created April 2000 by Sam Steiner,

File list:

Series 1: Formal records

1. Annual reports, 1954-1955, 1959

Series 2: Informal records

1. Programs, 1930s
2. Correspondence, 1920-1952 (primarily with Conference Executive Committee)
3. Correspondence, 1942 (Clarence Center Committee from outside congregation to settle difficulties) (photocopies from S.C. Yoder collection at Archives of the Mennonite Church)

Series 3: Church bulletins

1964-1969 (incomplete)

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