War II they advised young men not qualifying for a farm deferment to accept jail terms instead of Civilian Public Service, the alternate used by other Anabaptist conscientious objectors. Population and distribution The group consisted of about 500 members in their beginning in 1927 and grew to about 1,200 members in 1954. In 1957 there were 1,450 members. In 1992 the estimated membership grew to 5,464. As of 2002, the conference has grown to 49 congregations with 8,542 members and a total population of 17,775, with 20% and 66% of population below 5 years and below 21 years respectively. In 2008/9 membership reached 10,000 in 50 congregations. In 2015 the group had a total population of 22,305 people of which 9,620 lived in Pennsylvania, 3,934 in New York, 2,395 in Wisconsin, 1,805 in Ohio, 1,545 in Missouri, 1,112 in Kentucky, 995 in Indiana, 600 in Iowa and 300 in Michigan. The population had grown to 24,060 by the year 2018. The population has an annual growth rate of 3.7 percent, doubling about every 19 years, and is comparable to the growth rate of the Old Order Amish. See also John W. Martin Mennonites Ontario (Old Order) Mennonite Conference Stauffer Mennonite Orthodox Mennonites Noah Hoover Mennonite References Literature Donald B. Kraybill and James P. Hurd: Horse-and-Buggy Mennonites - Hoofbeats of Humility in a Postmodern World, University Park, PA, 2006. (This 362-page book about the Groffdale Conference Mennonites is the most in depth study of any Old Order Mennonite group) Stephen Scott: An Introduction to Old Order and Conservative Mennonite Groups. Intercourse, PA 1996. Donald B. Kraybill and Carl Bowman: On the Backroad to Heaven: Old Order Hutterites, Mennonites, Amish, and Brethren. Baltimore 2001. Thomas J. Meyers and Steven M. Nolt: An Amish patchwork: Indiana's Old Orders in the Modern World. Bloomington, IN et al. 2005. Donald B. Kraybill: Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites. Baltimore 2010. Donald B. Kraybill and C. Nelson Hostetter: Anabaptist World USA. Scottdale, PA and Waterloo, Ontario 2001. External links Groffdale Old Order Mennonite Conference at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Mennonite denominations Mennonitism in Pennsylvania Christian organizations established in 1927 Anabaptist denominations established in the 20th century Old Order Mennonites