Photo courtesy of Eicher Emmanuel Mennonite Church.

A local church will be having its sesquicentennial this weekend.

Eicher Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Wayland is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the construction of its first church building. Amish Mennonite families had been meeting in member’s homes since about 1850, but from the work of Bishop Joseph Goldsmith and the first church pastor Benjamin Eicher, the first Amish Mennonite church in Washington and Henry Counties was constructed. Current Pastor Dave Schooley comments on the church’s tenure, “A lot has changed in 150 years. The origin of the church, these were actually Amish folks and they decided that hooks and eyes weren’t necessary and that buttons were okay. And now we’ve gone from hooks and eyes to iPhones so there’s been a lot of changes over the years but being faithful remains the same.”

The church will reflect on its history with a video presentation this Saturday at 6:30 p.m. followed by an ice cream social in the church fellowship hall. Activities will continue Sunday morning with coffee and rolls at 9 a.m. and worship at 10 a.m. featuring several former Eicher pastors. A noon luncheon will be served and local historian Michael Zahs will give an Eicher Cemetery tour at 2 p.m. Anyone who has been a part of or is interested in Eicher’s history is welcome to attend.