Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1894-2018 (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent and medium
3.80 Linear Feet; 2 records cartons, 1 archive box and 2 half archives boxes
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
Sonnenberg Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church USA), located in Kidron, Wayne County, Ohio, now a member of the Ohio Mennonite Conference, was founded by Swiss immigrants from the canton of Bern in the early decades of the 19th century. The first settlers arrived in Wayne County in 1819 in what is now the Sonnenberg neighborhood north of the village of Kidron. The congregation made a steady growth but gradually withdrew, culturally, from its kindred Swiss Mennonite congregations in Allen and Putnam counties, Ohio, Adams County, Indiana, and Moniteau County, Missouri. After 1878, when the last conference of all the Swiss congregations was held at Sonnenberg, the congregation, under the wise and able leadership of its bishop (or elder) Christian Sommer (ordained preacher in 1844 and elder in 1862), remained independent, but gradually formed cultural and informal organizational ties with the Wayne County Amish Mennonite and Mennonite congregations.
In 1886 a few members withdrew, partly under the influence of the "Oberholtzer" Mennonite school at Wadsworth, Ohio, to found the Salem Mennonite (GCM) Church.
In spite of difficulties relating to the transition from German to English and similar matters, chiefly cultural, the congregation continued to grow until in 1935 there were over 500 members. Sonnenberg collaborated more and more with the Amish Mennonite and Mennonite congregations in Bible conferences, Sunday-school meetings, and similar religious activities.
In 1935, 330 members withdrew and organized the Kidron Mennonite Church under the Ohio and Eastern Conference. The Sonnenberg congregation suffered a later division which resulted in the organization of the Bethel Mennonite Church (unaffiliated) near Apple Creek, Ohio, with 49 members.
The Sonnenberg Church had a membership of 168 in 1957, with Louis Amstutz as bishop and James Stauffer as minister.
The congregation met in homes until 1834. The first meeting house, a log structure, served also as a school house. A second building was erected in 1861, and a third meeting house was constructed in 1907. The new 1989 facility was combined with the Fellowship Hall which was originally built as a church school.
The church joined the Ohio Conference of the Mennonite Church in 1977.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Records, primarily bulletins, of a Mennonite congregation in Wayne County, Ohio, historically affiliated with the (old) Mennonite Church. Of particular interest is a photocopy of the 1894 handwritten church history and register, in German.
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
- German
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
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Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
2015-04-07
Language(s)
- English