On a long drive off Bowman Road in the village of Landisville, a brick meeting-house built in 1996 anchors a Mennonite congregation that traces its beginnings to the arrival of Mennonites in the area in 1721. Landisville Mennonite Church, part of the Atlantic Coast Conference of Mennonite Church USA, gathers about 150 members for worship, Christian education, youth ministry, service projects and a church-operated preschool. The community describes itself with a single line: "Joining with Christ in God's work."
Three Centuries on Bowman Road
Mennonites have lived in the Landisville area since 1721. The first official meeting-house was a log structure that was likely built between 1740 and 1756, and the congregation considers it one of the oldest meeting houses still standing on its original site in the country. The current building at 3320 Bowman Road was constructed in 1996 and now serves as the home for worship, Sunday School, youth events and the church's preschool.
The congregation also acknowledges that the land it inhabits once belonged to the Susquehannock peoples and seeks to honor those who tended the ground before them.
Mission and Beliefs
Landisville Mennonite describes itself as an Anabaptist, Christ-centered people who live and bear witness to the message of peace, love and wholeness in Christ. The congregation's stated commitments include welcoming all who seek to accompany its work, deepening relationship with God through Bible study, prayer and worship, agreeing and disagreeing in love, and practicing hospitality in creative and graceful ways.
The mission statement also names an openness to LGBTQ members. The congregation "seek[s] to honor the image of God residing in those who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning, and extend[s] to them all of the privileges and responsibilities of church membership." It also commits to peacemaking and justice work, to creation care, and to recognizing and undoing the harm caused by the sins of racism, sexism, patriarchy, homophobia and greed. The document closes by calling itself "a work in progress" and trusting that "God is not yet done with Landisville Mennonite Church."
Sunday Mornings at 9:00
Worship begins at 9:00 a.m. and lasts about 60 to 75 minutes. A typical service includes a call to worship, congregational singing, a children's time, scripture reading, sermon, offering, and a time of congregational sharing and prayer. Most people dress casually, and children of all ages are welcome in the room. Nursery care is offered during worship and Sunday School for families who prefer it.
Music is a defining feature of worship. The congregation sometimes sings a cappella, sometimes with instrumental accompaniment and sometimes with a worship team, and it welcomes the musical gifts of all who wish to lead. The preaching ministry draws on many voices, both pastoral and lay, and the congregation says it trusts the Holy Spirit to guide learning, growth and challenge in loving ways.
Congregational sharing time is an open moment for prayer requests, praises or observations about how God is at work, and the service typically closes with prayer for those concerns.
After the service, coffee and cold drinks are available in the fellowship hall, and many people linger before moving to classes. Sunday School runs until about 11:15, with multiple adult classes choosing their own material (including the Salt and Light curriculum from Menno Media, sermon discussion, video or book studies) and children's and youth classes using material primarily from Menno Media.
What a First-Time Visitor Should Know
The long driveway leads to a main portico entrance and continues around the back of the building to additional parking and a rear entrance. The building is fully handicapped accessible and offers audio support for those who desire it. Visitors are invited to come as they are; most dress casually and children are welcome throughout the service. The live stream runs at the same 9:00 a.m. start time for those joining from home, and a sermon archive goes back several years.
Pastoral and Lay Leadership
Del Glick began serving as half-time interim and bridge pastor in early July 2026. His roots are in Belleville, Pennsylvania, and his vocational background includes teaching at elementary, high school and seminary levels, coaching soccer and basketball, and pastoring and conference ministry in Indiana, Florida, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania and Mississippi. Del and his wife Twila moved to downtown Lancaster from Washington, D.C., in July 2025.
Gina Burkhart has been a member of the congregation since 1989 and has held a variety of leadership positions before stepping into pastoral ministry. She and her husband Dan have five children and one cat.
Brook and Laura Musselman serve as the congregation's Youth Directors.
A Leadership Team composed of four lay members and the pastoral staff handles vision-setting, oversight of congregational life and ministries, administration and budgeting, with the congregational treasurer also a regular member. Currently serving are Carolyn Rudy (chair), Marta Horst (treasurer), Janice Greenleaf, Steve Horst, Dan Rice, the Musselmans, Pastor Burkhart and Pastor Glick. A Pastor Congregation Relations Team (Jeremiah Denlinger, Lindsey Frye, Nancy Stauffer) supports and counsels the pastoral staff, and a Visitation Team (Mike and Lena Brown, Carl and Marian Metzler, Byard and Judy Yoder, and the pastors) oversees visitation, crisis care and the congregational sharing account. Christy Kauffman serves as church administrator.
Children and Youth
Children are described as a priority, and the church says it works to tend to them and to share God's unconditional love with them just as they are. Children of all ages are encouraged to participate in the worship service by reading scripture (often with a parent or mentor), leading processions such as the Easter Sunday flower procession, serving as junior ushers, and playing musical instruments or singing during the offertory. A children's spot is offered periodically throughout the year to remind children of God's love and to highlight an aspect of that day's worship.
Nursery care is provided during worship and Sunday School, and Sunday School is available for children from preschool through high school. The church operates a Safe Sanctuary Program and maintains a Child Protection Policy.
The youth ministry, led by Brook and Laura Musselman, gathers junior and senior high students for events such as campfire nights in LMC's meadow with s'mores and banana boats, fall afternoons at a nearby farm with wagon rides and a wildflower maze, and progressive meals that move from home to home. The youth also take part in Atlantic Coast Conference gatherings, including a capture-the-flag evening hosted at Landisville Mennonite, a regional Friendsgiving hosted by another conference church, a junior youth winter weekend at Laurelville Retreat Center, and a senior high winter retreat at Camp Swatara.
Congregational Life Beyond Sunday
The church describes congregational life as something that happens day to day, not just in a sanctuary pew. Members grow in relationship through one-to-one and small group meals, coffee and conversation; through Sunday School study of scripture; and through hands-on service. A monthly Wednesday Night Out brings the congregation together for food and inspiration, and an annual Winterfest gathers members for a shared meal and a showcase of talents within the congregation.
A monthly outdoor worship gathering called Wild Hope Fellowship meets on the church property for those who prefer to worship outside.
Serving the Wider Community
Landisville Mennonite partners with several ministries locally and globally. Members volunteer and collect donations for the Hempfield Area Food Pantry and serve a monthly meal at Zion Lutheran Church in Landisville to people from the broader community. A clothing bank is open to the surrounding community during the school year, and a sewing group meets monthly for fellowship and to assemble school kits, kits and blankets for Mennonite Central Committee.
A Trees, Bees and Butterflies group provides resources and opportunities for creation care on and beyond the church property.
The congregation supports the broader Mennonite family through partnerships with Mennonite Central Committee, Mennonite Mission Network, Mennonite Disaster Service, Eastern Mennonite Missions, and Church World Service, and it advocates with Advoz and the Parish Resource Center. The church also takes part in the Palestine Twinning Initiative through the Mennonite Palestine Israel Network. Mission engagement includes overseas service, summer service with SWAP (Serving with Appalachia People), Mennonite Disaster Service deployments, and everyday attention to neighbors.
Landisville Early Learning Center
The church operates the Landisville Early Learning Center, a play-based preschool for children ages 3 to 5 with weekly rates beginning at $50. Beginning in the 2027-2028 academic year, the program offers a nurturing, community-focused environment where children grow socially, emotionally, academically and physically. Caring educators from Hempfield recCenter lead a whole-child curriculum inside a classroom at the church.
The preschool runs Monday through Friday from 9:15 to 11:45 a.m. and supports cognitive, social and emotional, language and physical development through hands-on activities, cooperative play, storytime, songs, conversations and indoor and outdoor play. Information and tours are available from Jen Browne at jbrowne@hempfieldrec.com or 724-898-3102, ext. 133.
Anabaffine Identity and Wider Connections
Landisville Mennonite belongs to the Atlantic Coast Conference of Mennonite Church USA and, through that relationship, to the global Mennonite family through Mennonite World Conference. Mennonites have been around for almost 500 years, with roots in the Reformation-era Anabaptist movement and an insistence on separation between church and state. The church teaches that baptism and church membership should be voluntary, that peacebuilding is an achievable way of life, and that scripture is best understood through the lens of Jesus' life and teaching.
The congregation's heritage is reflected in its worship and its ministry: a peace church that values both Protestant and Catholic origins, that has long been involved in conflict resolution and restorative justice around the world, and that welcomes new members and visitors into a community life that is at once rooted in three centuries of local presence and open to the work of the Holy Spirit in whatever comes next.
Getting Connected
Landisville Mennonite Church is located at 3320 Bowman Road, Landisville, Pennsylvania 17538. The phone number is 724-898-0071 and messages left on the answering machine are returned promptly. Email reaches the office at office@landisvillemennonite.org. Giving is available through the church's online giving page, and past sermons are available through the sermon archive. The Landisville Mennonite Cemetery is unaffiliated with the congregation; cemetery inquiries go to Bernard Nissley at 724-653-1575.