July 5, 2010 issue
Europeans visit historic Germantown
By Christopher Friesen Germantown Mennonite Historic TrustPHILADELPHIA — The oldest Mennonite community in America recently hosted a member of its mother church in Germany.
Rainer Wiebe, left, of Germany, and David Hersch, Germantown Mennonite Historic Trust board president, exchange gifts. — Photo provided by Christopher Friesen
Rainer Wiebe, a member of Krefeld Mennonite Church in Germany, visited Germantown June 15 after participating in Mennonite Central Committee’s 90th anniversary celebration in Akron.
Mennonite and Quaker linen weavers from Krefeld settled Germantown, now a city neighborhood, in 1683.
Wiebe visited the historic Germantown Mennonite Meetinghouse, built in 1770 and operated by the Germantown Mennonite Historic Trust. He saw historical markers in Germantown dedicated to the Krefeld founders, visited the current Germantown Mennonite Church building and had lunch with members of the congregation and the trust’s board. Wiebe and his hosts exchanged gifts of books, pamphlets and prints.
Wiebe, co-chair of the Internationale Mennonitische Organisation (International Mennonite Organization) in Europe, was accompanied by his co-chair, Sjoukje Wethmar, from the Netherlands, as well as Jantine Huisman, a youth minister from the Netherlands.
Krefeld Mennonite Church, founded in 1607, is the largest Mennonite congregation in Germany, with nearly 840 members.
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