Mennonite Heritage Center
The Mennonite Heritage Center tells the story of Mennonite faith and life in southeastern Pennsylvania. Its architecture, with lines modeling the simplicity of traditional Pennsylvania Mennonite meetinghouses, points toward the spiritual center of Mennonite life. The concept was that "church" was congregation, not the building in which they "met." The building also suggests rural images of mill, barn and house, while exhibits show the movement toward a more urban society, giving contemporary expression to a deep-rooted heritage.
Begun in 1525 in Switzerland, the "Anabaptist" fellowship was later named for a leader, Menno Simons, from the Netherlands. In 1683, the first Mennonite couple helped to settle the village of Germantown near Philadelphia, the oldest continuing Mennonite community in the New World. The story of local Mennonites and their neighbors is introduced through an interpretive video presented in a room designed to resemble an early meetinghouse.
The Mennonite Heritage Center houses a permanent exhibit "Work and Hope," fraktur and changing exhibits, an historical library and archives, and a museum store.
Mission
The mission of the Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania is to collect, preserve, and interpret the Anabaptist-Mennonite heritage in order to educate, inspire, and witness to the church and broader community.
Staff
Sarah Wolfgang Heffner, Director heffners@mhep.org
Joel D. Alderfer, Librarian/Curator alderferjoel@mhep.org
K. Eric Clymer, Custodian
Sara J. Kolb, Volunteer Coordinator/Museum Store Manager kolbs@mhep.org
Daniel W. Lapp, Director of Development lappd@mhep.org
Forrest L. Moyer, Project Archivist moyerf@mhep.org
Rose A. Moyer, Assistant Director moyerr@mhep.org
Dylan High, Summer Intern highd@mhep.org
Board of Trustees
Christopher J. Detweiler, President
John L. Ruth, Vice President
J. Oliver Gingrich, Secretary
Jeffrey L. Godshall, Treasurer
Kathy Q. Bauman
Gerald A. Benner
S. Duane Kauffman
Andrew S. Lapp
Donald L. Nice
Trustee Emeriti
Ray K. Hacker
Mary Jane Lederach Hershey
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