Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1899-1958 (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent and medium
1.00 Linear Feet; 2 archives boxes
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
John Robert Shank (1877-1958), a Mennonite bishop and editor, was born 19 August 1877, at Versailles, Missouri, a son of Lewis and Mary Wenger Shank. Ordained a minister in 1905, he served first at Pea Ridge, Missouri, until 1908, then at Carver, Missouri, and in the surrounding Osage River district. In 1941 he was ordained bishop. Besides his rural missionary work he served widely in Christian educational work as editor and writer for the Sunday-school periodicals of the Mennonite Church, and editor of YPBM topics. He was secretary of the Missouri-Kansas Conference 1907-34, and long-time member of the Mennonite Publication Board. He was married to Clara M. Brubaker; there were no children. He died 26 April 1958.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Personal papers of an (old) Mennonite Church pastor and bishop, including correspondence, sermon notes and outlines, reminiscences, pastoral letters, and notebooks. Of particular note are Shank's journal entitled "Our Gospel Tour," which describes a preaching junket he undertook with other Mennonite men in a borrowed car in 1925-1926. Also of interest is Shank's unpublished book manuscript entitled, "Vital Issues of Our Times," Researchers should also note that membership and other records of the Carver Mennonite Church (Carver, Mo.) can be found in this collection.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Flat
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
These materials are open for public research.
Conditions governing reproduction
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. Copyright not owned by the Mennonite Church USA Archives.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Mennonite Church -- Clergy (Subject)
- Shank, J. R. , 1877-1958 (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
0012-12-12
Language(s)
- English