Written by Forrest Moyer on May 19, 2021
This article was written by Jill Davidson, edited by Joel Alderfer, and originally published in the MHEP Quarterly (Spring 1999). Thanks to Jill, a longtime member and supporter of MHEP, for allowing us to republish. Images are courtesy of Archives of the Bible Fellowship Church.
When John H. Oberholtzer and other progressive Mennonites left the Franconia Conference in 1847 and formed the East Pennsylvania Mennonite Conference, or “New Mennonites,” not all were satisfied.
In 1858, Preacher William Gehman of the Upper
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Written by Forrest Moyer on May 15, 2020
(Updated 9/17/2020)
The first part of this post, about Lydia Gross’s leadership in the Doylestown Mennonite Sewing Circle and proposed Women’s Missionary Society, was written by Mary Jane Hershey and published in the MHEP Newsletter in March 1996.
The rest of the post, written by myself, is about Lydia’s brief marriage to a tattooed ruffian named Henry Howlett, and how the marriage was intentionally forgotten by her Mennonite church and family. Though divorced, Lydia retained the respect of the church and
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Written by Forrest Moyer on April 29, 2020
Title image: Women cleaning benches before annual communion at Deep Run in the 1940s.
Until the mid-20th century, Deep Run East Mennonite congregation — like many Anabaptists — held communion only once a year. Some members viewed the Lord’s Supper as a Christian version of the Jewish feast of Passover, which occurs annually (Timothy Rice, Deep Run Mennonite Church East: A 250 Year Pilgrimage, 1746-1996, p. 43).
The following interesting account was published in the newspaper Bucks County Intelligencer (Doylestown), May
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Written by Forrest Moyer on April 24, 2019
Alma Ruth (1900-1975) was the daughter of bishop Joseph and Mary Kratz Ruth of Line Lexington. She was a long-time worker at the Diamond Street Mennonite Mission in Philadelphia. These memories were transcribed by John L. Ruth from a manuscript purchased at the auction of the property of Clarence Ruth, Alma’s nephew. The manuscript is now archived at the Mennonite Heritage Center, along with Alma’s scrapbooked memories of Philadelphia mission work (Hist. Mss. 518).
Alma Ruth (front left) with a group
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