# Martinites, Wenger Mennonites, and the Horning fellowship

1893; division in 1926–1927 · Overview

In 1893 Bishop Jonas H. Martin and fellow believers withdrew from the Lancaster Mennonite Conference amid disagreements over Sunday schools, church furnishings, and other practices. Their fellowship became the Weaverland Conference and was popularly known as the Martinites. This Pennsylvania use of the name refers to Jonas Martin, distinct from Abraham Martin's Ontario fellowship.

After Jonas Martin's death in 1925, automobile ownership became a dividing question. Moses Horning declined to continue excluding members who owned cars. Those maintaining the prohibition separated under Joseph O. Wenger in 1926–1927 and formed the Groffdale Old Order Mennonite Conference; Wenger became its bishop in 1927. Wenger Mennonites and Wengerites refer to that fellowship. Those continuing with Weaverland became known as Horning Mennonites or Horning people, explaining the chart's Horning Church label. Both conferences shared an earlier congregational history and continued to share some meetinghouses.



- [GAMEO: Weaverland Mennonite Conference, Martinite beginnings and Horning name](https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Weaverland_Mennonite_Conference)
- [GAMEO: Groffdale Old Order Mennonite Conference, separation and establishment](https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Groffdale_Old_Order_Mennonite_Conference)
- [GAMEO: Old Order Mennonites, Pennsylvania, shared history and meetinghouses](https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Old_Order_Mennonites%2C_Pennsylvania)
- [Supplied Church History chart, IMG_9380: named Old Order Mennonite subgroups](https://github.com/trueChristian/history.truechristian.church/blob/main/sources/church-history/photos/IMG_9380.jpg)

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Page: https://history.truechristian.church/en/events/weaverland-groffdale-division/

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