IA SR110

Zion Mennonite Church in Donnellson, Iowa, celebrates its 175th anniversary, tracing its origins to the first Mennonite settlers west of the Mississippi River who arrived in Lee County on November 1, 1839.

The Zion congregation held its first service in late autumn 1851 and adopted its first constitution on November 5, 1853, under the name German Evangelical Mennonite Congregation in Franklin Township.

The congregation established the first Mennonite school west of the Mississippi River on August 2, 1853, which operated until 1918 when anti-German sentiment during World War I forced its closure.

A meeting at Zion's first stone church on March 21, 1859, is considered the beginning of Mennonite unification efforts that led to founding the General Conference Mennonite Church in 1860.

The current church building was dedicated on February 2, 1909, and the congregation is now led by its 37th pastor, Rachelle Luitjens of Olds, Iowa.