Development of Church Life in the Older Congregations / 23 7

The newly formed congregation purchased a former United Brethren church building in Elida and became known as the Central congregation of Elida.

A number of strong leaders were prominent in Allen County during the years of growth and dissension. Among them was John M. Shenk. Born in 1848 he was ordained to the ministry in 1876, and in 1889 he was ordained bishop. Shenk exerted a wide influence as an evangelist and Bible conference speaker, haying conservative conviction in times of change. His successor was a prominent evangelist, B. B. King, who was ordained in 1932. Shenk died in 1935 and the following year the Pike and Salem congregations withdrew from the conference. However, two ordained men, J. B. Smith and Perry Smith, did not sever their conference affiliation and formed a separate congregation, the Bethany Church, with eighty charter members. After some time the Salem congregation made its building available to the Bethany congregation, and since 1942 the former Bethany congregation is a part of the Salem congregation where Richard Martin is pastor.''

The Pike Meetinghouse at Elida, Ohio

The Pike congregation, a daughter congregation of the Salem congregation in Allen Count, originated in 1874. In this building, erected in 1888, the Mennonite General Conference was organised in 1898. Bishop John M. Shenk (1848-1935) stands in the foreground; he began to serve the congregation as minister in 1881 and as bishop in 1889.