Located in Smithville, Ohio

Smithville, Ohio

Smithville is a village in Wayne County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,333 at the 2000 census.Smithville is home to the historic "Smithville Inn" and "The Barn" restaurants, as well as the...

, Oak Grove Mennonite Church is an historical church that has made a significant contribution to the larger Mennonite

Mennonite

The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...

 denomination. Currently pastored by Doug Zehr. Oak Grove started as an Amish

Amish

The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...

 church in 1818, as many Amish started settling in Wayne County, Ohio

Wayne County, Ohio

Wayne County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States, and is named for General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. As of the 2010 census, the population was 114,520. Its county seat is Wooster....

. From humble beginnings the church grew and built a meetinghouse in 1862, one of the earliest of such meetinghouses the Amish have built.

A notable leader of the Amish church at this time was bishop John K. Yoder, who led the church from 1855-1906. Bishop Yoder's main contribution to Oak Grove was his progressive attitude toward Amish doctrine. In 1862, John K. Yoder moderated the first meeting of the Diener Versammlungen. Diener Versammlungen, from 1862-1878 were denominational meetings in which Amish ministers met to discuss changes in the Ordnung

Ordnung

The Ordnung is a set of rules for Amish and Old Order Mennonite living. Ordnung is the German word for order, arrangement, organization, or system. Because the Amish have no central church government, each assembly is autonomous and is its own governing authority...

. The very idea of a churchwide meeting for Amish was revolutionary; however once the meetings started, it became clear that the majority of the leaders there were more change-minded than interested in keeping with tradition. Thus, conservative opposition was given a chance to speak, and the opposition gave the leaders a clear ultimatum. After 1863, many of the conservative ministers removed themselves from the meeting, and as such, John K. Yoder led toward progress, forming an "orphan congregation" which became Amish-Mennonite. With John K. Yoder as Oak Grove's bishop, it was seen as the leading congregation in which as many as 5,000 Ohio Amish became known as Amish Mennonites. After several decades of relative obscurity, Amish-Mennonites later dropped Amish from their name and joined "Old" Mennonites in the Ohio Conference of the Mennonite Church

Mennonite Church USA

The Mennonite Church USA, or MCUSA, 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 Radical Reformation of the 16th century...

. Theologian John Howard Yoder

John Howard Yoder

John Howard Yoder was a Christian theologian, ethicist, and Biblical scholar best known for his radical Christian pacifism, his mentoring of future theologians such as Stanley Hauerwas, his loyalty to his Mennonite faith, and his 1972 magnum opus, The Politics of Jesus.-Life:Yoder earned his...

 is from this church.

Lead Pastors:

• Christian Brandt:1818-1866
• David Zook: unknown
• Peter Schrock: unknown-1846
• Solomon Zook: unknown-1870
• Peter Nafziger: unknown-1841
• John Fertenwald: 1831-1849
• Joseph Frey: unknown
• Hannes Yoder: unknown-1850
• Emmanuel Hochstetler:1855-1862
• Jacob Yoder: 1850-1858
• Peter Blough: 1855-unknown
• Christian Nafziger: 1844-1864
• Christian Schantz: unknown
• John K. Yoder: 1855-1906
• Christian Conrad: 1859-1890
• Christian K. Yoder: 1861-1871
• Jonathon Smucker: 1861-1887
• John Smiley: 1866-1878
• D.Z. Yoder: 1872-1929
• David Hostetler: 1880-1889
• Isaac Miller: 1891-1894
• Benjamin Gerig: 1895-1913
• J.S. Gerig: 1896-1925
• C.Z. Yoder: 1904-1930s John K. Yoder's son, John Smiley his father-in-law
• Peter R. Lantz: 1909-1927 Elkhart Institute
• Jesse N. Smucker:1931-1936 Princeton Seminary for one year, Hartford Theological Seminary
• William G. Detweiler: 1938-1947 Temple University. Started Mennonite radio show The Calvary Hour. First pastor of Smithville Mennonite
• Virgil O. Gerig: 1947-1960 College of Wooster, economics, Oberlin Graduate School of Theology, Michigan State, Harvard Divinity School, Princeton Theological Seminary
• Robert Otto: 1960-1965 Goshen College, Goshen Biblical Seminary
• Lotus Troyer: 1965-1971 Goshen College
• Peter Wiebe: 1972-1984 Goshen College and Goshen Biblical Seminary
• Jim Schrag: 1985-1994 Bethel College KS, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary
• Dennis Schmidt:1994-1996
• Norma Duerkson: 1993-2008 Bethel College KS, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary
• Will Shertzer: 2008-2009 Interim pastor
• Doug Zehr: 2009 - present

Further reading

• Creative Congregationalism by James O. Lehman
• Living Our Name by Schmucker, Wolfe, and Cohn

External links

• Official website
• Oak Grove Mennonite Church (Smithville, Wayne County, Ohio, USA) at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
  Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
  The Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online is an online encyclopedia of topics relating to Mennonites and Anabaptism. The mission of the project is to provide free, reliable, English-language information on anabaptist-related topics....