Editing Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (section)

===Religious history===
The oldest surviving dwelling of European settlers in the county<ref>[http://www.hansherr.org/ Hans Herr House – Lancaster, PA – Hans Herr House Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060815131820/http://www.hansherr.org/ |date=August 15, 2006 }}. Hansherr.org. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> is that of [[Mennonite]] Bishop [[Hans Herr]], built in 1719. In 1989, [[Donald Kraybill]] counted 37 distinct religious bodies/organizations, with 289 congregations and 41,600 baptized members, among the [[plain sects]] who are descendants of the [[Anabaptist]] Mennonite immigrants to Lancaster County.<ref>{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20061023083314/http://www.adherents.com/adhloc/Wh_274.html By Location]}}. Adherents.com. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> The Mennonite Central Committee in [[Akron, Pennsylvania|Akron]] supports relief in disasters<ref>[http://www.mcc.org/news/ News| Mennonite Central Committee] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821185839/http://www.mcc.org/news/ |date=August 21, 2006 }}. Mcc.org. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> and provides manpower and material to local organizations in relief efforts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MCC Service Opportunity: Canner Operator #1 |url=http://mcc.org/sites/mcc.org/files/media/hr/documents/canneroperator1.pdf |access-date=December 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228192935/http://mcc.org/sites/mcc.org/files/media/hr/documents/canneroperator1.pdf |archive-date=December 28, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The town of [[Lititz]] was originally planned as a closed community, founded early in the 1740s by members of the [[Moravian Church]]. The town eventually grew and welcomed its neighbors. The Moravian Church established Linden Hall School for Girls in 1746; it is one of the earliest educational institutions in continuous operation in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lindenhall.org/content_09.aspx?cat=History|title=Lititz PA|publisher=Linden Hall|date=July 28, 2007|access-date=October 9, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002160747/http://www.lindenhall.org/content_09.aspx?cat=History|archive-date=October 2, 2011}}</ref>

In addition to the [[Ephrata Cloister]], the United Brethren in Christ and the [[Evangelical United Brethren]] (EUB) trace their beginnings to a 1767 meeting<ref>[http://www.mcusa-archives.org/historicalmarkers/1767_Issac_Long_Barn.html 1767 Isaac Long Barn] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070811032620/http://www.mcusa-archives.org/historicalmarkers/1767_Issac_Long_Barn.html |date=August 11, 2007 }}. Mcusa-archives.org (June 16, 1960; retrieved December 23, 2010.)</ref> at the Isaac Long barn, near the hamlet of Oregon, in [[West Lampeter Township, Pennsylvania|West Lampeter Township]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.topozone.com/viewmaps.asp?method=place&placename=oregon&statefips=42|title=www.topozone.com showing Oregon, Pennsylvania|publisher=Topozone.com|access-date=October 9, 2011}}</ref> The EUB, a German Methodist church, merged in 1968 with the traditionally English [[Methodist Episcopal Church]] to become the [[United Methodist Church]].<ref>[http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=346 History: Our Story – UMC.org]. Archives.umc.org (April 23, 1968; retrieved December 23, 2010.)</ref>

The first Jewish resident was Isaac Miranda {{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}, from the [[Sephardic Jewish]] community of London, who owned property before the town and county were organized in 1730. Ten years later several Jewish families had settled in the town; on February 3, 1747, a deed to Isaac Nunus Ricus (Henriques) and Joseph Simon was recorded, conveying {{convert|0.5|acre|ha}} of land "in trust for the society of Jews settled in and about Lancaster," to be used as a place of burial. This cemetery is still used by Congregation Shaarai Shomayim;<ref>[http://www.shaarai.org Congregation Shaarai Shomayim] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231235250/https://www.shaarai.org/ |date=December 31, 2018 }}. Shaarai.org. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> it is considered the nation's fourth-oldest Jewish cemetery.

As of 2010, Lancaster County is home to three synagogues: the Orthodox Degel Israel; the Conservative Beth El; and the Reform Shaarai Shomayim. In 2003 [[Rabbi Elazar Green]] & Shira Green founded the Chabad Jewish Enrichment Center, a branch of the [[Chabad Lubavitch]] movement, that focuses on serving the Jewish students of [[Franklin and Marshall College]], as well serving the general community with specific religious services. The Lancaster Mikvah Association runs a [[mikveh]] on Degel Israel's property. Central PA Kosher Stand is operated at [[Dutch Wonderland]], a seasonal amusement park.

This area was also settled by [[French Huguenots]], who had fled to England and then the colonies in the late 1600s and early 1700s to escape Catholic persecution in France. Isaac LeFèvre and a group of other Huguenots settled in the Pequea Creek area.