Our History
Beginnings of Stumptown
Stumptown Mennonite Church had its beginnings in 1781 when services were first held in homes. In 1815 the Stumptown schoolhouse was used for meetings, and then simple churches were built in 1846 and 1882. The present building was erected in 1916 on the opposite side of the road from the two former meetinghouses. There have been additions and renovations since that time. In 2005 there was a significant addition of a new sanctuary, church offices, a foyer and a larger fellowship hall, and many new classrooms with full handicap accessibility and air conditioning. For this, we say, “To God be the glory.”
Stumptown is part of LMC, with about 20,000 members.
About Mennonites
The Anabaptist movement began in Europe in the early 1500s. The name Mennonite came from one of the early leaders by the name of Menno Simons. Persecution led many Swiss and German Mennonites to the new colony of Pennsylvania in the 1700s, where William Penn offered a land with freedom of religion. The ancestors of many of Stumptown’s early members were of Swiss or German origin, but today we are made up of people from many cultures and backgrounds.