The "Anabaptists Arrival In Lancaster County: Part l - The Groffdale Congregation" Story

Preface:  At times it amazes me how very little I really know about the community in which I have spent my entire life.  This blog has caused me to discover an entirely new world that I didn't know existed.  Today and tomorrow my stories will deal with the Anabaptist movement, or Radical Reformation, and its entrance into Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  I must admit I learned so much while researching information needed to tell the story of the 300th anniversary of the Mennonite Church in Lancaster County.

Groffdale Mennonite Church in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

It was an ordinary day.  Standing along North Groffdale Road taking a photograph of the Groffdale Mennonite Church.  The area surrounding the church in Lancaster County is at its best...fields of sky-high corn shocks and soon to be harvested soybeans.  Throw in a couple of Amish buggies passing by and a Plain sect young woman riding by on a bicycle and I was ready to take my photos of the church.  

Date stone telling that this church was built in 1909
after the previous frame and stone church was demolished.

Groffdale Mennonite Church is one of two celebrating their 300th anniversary this year.  You read that right...300 years!  It was in the late summer of 1717 that three ships sailed from a Dutch port to the New World.  On those ships were 363 Mennonites from the Palatinate which is the German region just north of Switzerland that was home to several generations of Mennonites.  Eight years prior Mr. Martin Kendig had arrived in Lancaster County and purchased land.  

A young church member is headed to the church after
parking her horse and buggy near the church cemetery.

When the ships arrived in 1717, the majority of Mennonites on the ships that landed in New Castle, Delaware and Philadel- phia, PA headed west to Lancaster County, settling in an area bounded by New Danville, Strasburg and Weaverland.  Many congregations of Mennonites came from those immigrants with two of the congregations, the Groffdale and Mellinger congregations, now celebrating 300 years of religious celebration.  Mennonites are Christian groups which belong to church congregations of Anabaptist denominations named after Meno Simons of Friesland, a province of the Netherlands.  The early teachings of the Mennonites were founded on the belief in both the mission and ministry of Jesus which the original Anabaptist followers held to with great conviction despite persecution by various Roman Catholic and Protestant states.  

A windmill stands behind the Groffdale cemetery.

Mennonites have long been known for their commit- ment to pacifism and one of the historic peace churches.  The oldest Mennonite meeting- house in the United States is the Hans Herr House in West Lampeter Township.  Today there are over 2 million Anabaptist's worldwide which include Amish, Hutterites and a variety of Mennonite congregations.  The Lancaster Mennonite Conference is an organization of more than 170 congregations.  I made visits today to both the Groffdale and Mellinger congregations, taking photographs of their churches and graveyards.  As stated in the beginning of my story, I first visited the Groffdale Church.  The church looks much like any other red brick church except for the buggies that stood along a nearby railing.  The graveyard behind the church dates back nearly three centuries to when the congregation began by accident.  It was back then that horses owned by Hans Groff of nearby Strasburg, PA ran away and when he and other Mennonites searched for them, they found them in an area northeast of present day Leola.  

Many of the tombstones bear the name "Groff."

They noticed that the land had large trees and extremely fertile land.  Groff bought 1,500 acres of the land and was soon surrounded by others who were also attracted to the land.  The area became known as Groffdale. A Mennonite congregation was soon formed and met at members homes for services.  Eventually a log meeting house, church if you will, was built and used until 1823 when it was replaced by a stone church.  50 years later a frame addition was added for additional seating.  In the spring of 1909 the old stone and frame building was demolished and the  church building I am standing near, known to some as Groffdale brick church, was  built.  In 1936 an addition was added to the west end of the building and has been updated several times since then.

Another church member leaves the parking lot on her bike.

The nearby cemetery has been enlarged several times with the oldest section containing the graves of Hans Groff and other Groffdale pioneers.  300 years ago the vision of the Mennonite congregations was to be separate and keep to themselves with a vision to serve and bless their community.  The church now has 170 members with a Learning Center, children's school and mental health center for members of their congregation.  Their webpage proclaims them to be a Christian church who worships Jesus as Savior and Lord and through the empowerment of the Hold Spirit, to live as Jesus taught us.  They list their ten values along with an invitation to come and worship with them. Check their webpage: www.groffdale.com for more information about the church. Tomorrow I will take you with me to the Mellinger congregation church and cemetery and tell about a special service that the congregation has given to other citizens of Lancaster County, PA.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.