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{{More citations needed|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox Christian denomination|name=Lancaster Mennonite Conference|image=Lancaster_Mennonite_Conference_logo.svg|imagewidth=|main_classification=[[Protestant]]|orientation=[[Mennonite]]|theology=|polity=[[Presbyterian polity|Presbyterian]]|leader_title=|leader_name=|fellowships_type=|fellowships=[[Mennonite Church USA]] (2002-2015)|associations=[[Mennonite World Conference]]<br />[[Eastern Mennonite Missions]]|area=North America|headquarters=|founded_date=1711|founded_place=[[Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Lancaster County]], [[Province of Pennsylvania]]|merger=|congregations=179 (2018)|members=15,357 (2018)|website=https://lmcchurches.org/|logo=}}
'''Lancaster Mennonite Conference''' ('''LMC''') is a historic body of [[Mennonite]] churches mainly concentrated in the [[Mid-Atlantic (United States)|Mid-Atlantic region]] of the [[United States]]. While including churches in other regions of the United States, it also has congregations in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Directory |url=https://lmcchurches.org/directory/ |access-date=August 2, 2024 |website=LMC Churches}}</ref> The conference was briefly (2002-2015) associated with the newly formed [[Mennonite Church USA]] (MC USA).<ref>Mylin, Christa. "Right Fellowship: Reactions to Lancaster Mennonite Conference’s Withdrawal from Mennonite Church USA." ''Journal of Mennonite Studies'' 38 (2020): 85-110.</ref> The LMC has been a member of the [[Mennonite World Conference]] since 2018.
==Organization==
The churches of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference (LMC) make up
The conference office is located in [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]]. The Bishop Board, a collection of all the bishops from the districts in the Conference, is the executive board of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. The Conference Leadership Assembly, composed of all bishops, ministers, deacons, deaconesses, and chaplains in the Conference, is the governing body of Lancaster Mennonite Conference.
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==History==
The Lancaster Mennonite Conference first convened in 1711, only a few months after the Swiss-[[Palatinate (region)|Palatine]] immigrants had established themselves in what is now [[Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Lancaster County]].
Additional Mennonite immigrants joined the settlement in 1711, 1717, 1727, and at later periods.{{Citation needed|date=September 2016}} It is estimated{{by whom|date=September 2016}} that by 1735 over five hundred families had emigrated from Switzerland and the Palatinate and settled in Lancaster County. They overflowed into what are now neighboring counties and established daughter colonies in Maryland, Virginia, New York, Canada, and Ohio.{{Citation needed|date=September 2016}}
The Mellinger meetinghouse was home to semiannual conferences each fall and at one of the three Rohrerstown meetinghouses every spring as far back as records exist, around 1740.
In the 1940s, missionaries from the LMC traveled to [[Ethiopia]]. This mission led to the founding of the [[Meserete Kristos Church]], which is the largest Mennonite denomination in Ethiopia and one of the largest in the world with over 300,000 members.
Expansion and growth led to differences of opinion within the conference. As of 2018, the LMC had 15,357 members in 179 congregations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anabaptist Statistics |url=https://mennonitelife.org/anabaptist-statistics/ |access-date=August 2, 2024 |website=Mennonite Life}}</ref>
=== Affiliations ===
In 1971, after repeated invitations, the Lancaster Mennonite Conference joined the Mennonite Church (MC), sometimes known as the "Old" Mennonite Church.
After five years of provisional membership, Lancaster Mennonite Conference joined [[Mennonite Church USA]] (MC USA) as a full member in 2006. MC USA was a merger of the (Old) Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church, which occurred in 2001.<ref>Redekop, Calvin W. "Mennonite Defection and Fundamentalism." ''Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage'' 31.1 (2008).</ref>
In 2018, the LMC was accepted as a full member of the [[Mennonite World Conference]]. The LMC is also associated with the [[Eastern Mennonite Missions]].
=== Ordination of women ===
While some congregations continue to reserve leadership roles for men, LMC network ordains women for ministry and includes women in top leadership roles.<ref>RW Adams. "''A history of the conversation on the ordination of women in the Lancaster Mennonite Conference.''" Lancaster Theological Seminary. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2009. 3361038. https://www.proquest.com/openview/6bb2a15081275243e8804e4c2ee0ef72/1</ref>
==See also==
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