Mennonite Churches "East of the River"

[Biblical Anabaptist]

I was told that Isaac Sensenig supposedly said that in Bible times Jerusalem was the center of the Church, It is now Lancaster Co.

That is a staggering statement... It reveals a lot about the thinking of those in the East.

Was he joshing?

I don't know the context of that statement. In his lifetime, Isaac "ruled" EPMC, so I guess he thought he was James

[Ernie]

That is a staggering statement... It reveals a lot about the thinking of those in the East.

Was he joshing?

I don't know the context of that statement. In his lifetime, Isaac "ruled" EPMC, so I guess he thought he was James

Well, he named his conference Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church... And then made all church plants around the globe part of that conference and using that name, so it would make sense if he thought that. I know that converts on the west coast weren't sure why they needed to be part of something that was named after a locality in Pennsylvania.

But it is a mindset. Many denominations and conferences have started something in a certain locality and then made that the headquarters for their worldwide endeavors. Even if they do not use a region in their name, they still have the same mindset and operate that way functionally. Everybody worldwide needs to report to headquarters.
A recent example of this is the fledgling denomination in Boston, FOTW.

[Josh]

Interestingly, in my last 9½ years as a converted Anabaptists and a few years hanging around non-plain circles before that, I’ve never once cared about Mennodom east of the Susquehanna. It could be that Ohio is its own “power centre” now.

For whatever reason Holmes Co. has not emerged as a new Zion. Many people from there speak disparagingly of it actually. Eastern PA seems to have far more unity and fewer splits.

[Soloist]

Interestingly, in my last 9½ years as a converted Anabaptists and a few years hanging around non-plain circles before that, I’ve never once cared about Mennodom east of the Susquehanna. It could be that Ohio is its own “power centre” now.

For whatever reason Holmes Co. has not emerged as a new Zion. Many people from there speak disparagingly of it actually. Eastern PA seems to have far more unity and fewer splits.

I certainly don’t want to move there.

[JayP]

Well, given that Isaac has been dead a long time now does it matter?

FWWIW I am sure he did not mean that in any way that you should take it as a negative
Context is everything in such statements

[ohio jones]

For whatever reason Holmes Co. has not emerged as a new Zion.

That idea sort of dissipated after White Jonas Stutzman's prophecies failed to come true in 1853.