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Establishment
of the
Methodist
Church
The missionary outreach
of the Methodist Episcopal Church in
America
(1784) rested with the circuit riders.
Preaching in homes, barns, crude chapels, dance halls, saloons, courthouses,
school buildings and under open skies, these men followed the trail of the
pioneers. They traveled on horseback
with nothing in their saddle bags but scant clothing, their Bible and hymnal and
books to sell. The circuits covered
large areas and the visits of the circuit rider were infrequent, usually only
three or four visits a year to any one community. When
one such preacher was asked to serve a new charge, he called attention to the
fact that it made the "thirtieth appointment on his field".
The first recorded visit of any Methodist minister to
St. Joseph
was in 1828 when Erastus Felton visited as a
circuit rider.
In 1830 a mission was established, the first record of any church in
St. Joseph. Erastus
Felton and Leonard Gurley were the circuit riders assigned to serve the mission.
Almost nothing is known of this early effort except that success would
not come easily for
St. Joseph
which had the reputation of being "a very
rough place". Throughout the
1830's, 1840's and the major part of the 1850's, the church continued as a
mission, first with the LaPorte District of the Indiana Conference and later
with the Michigan Conference of the Methodist Church.
During this time the church services, if any, were held in the town hall
on Church Street by one account and in the schoolhouse at the corner of Main and
Ship Streets (where the Post Office is presently located) by other accounts. In
either event these were the only places to hold services until the Methodist
Church
building was constructed.
In 1846, the St. Joseph
Mission had only 18 members and was considered by the ministers as a "hard
place". However, in the winter
of 1848-49 a revival was held under Reverend Ransom Goodell in
St. Joseph
which greatly increased the strength of the
local church. By the mid 1850's a
regular minister, William C. H. Bliss, was appointed to the mission. Through
his efforts the circuit was divided so that
St. Joseph
became a separate church on
June 13, 1857. The
original trustees of the church were Lychester Olds, John Spink, Charles Marsh,
Franklin Pew and Theodore Pew.
Immediately after the
incorporation of the church, plans were made for a building. A
lot was acquired from the village at the corner of
Main
and Broad Streets. This
lot was formerly known as the Courthouse lot. A
contract for a brick foundation was let to the firm of Barhight & Moulton. A
frame church with the approximate dimensions of 38 x 56 x 18 was built (some
reports have the size of the church 38 x 58 x 18). The
cornerstone was laid in May 1858. The
original plans had been for a brick building; however the Congregationalists,
who had been meeting with the Methodists, indicated their intent to build a
church of their own. This dissension
led to a lack of funds and the frame church was constructed. When
the church was dedicated in May of 1859, nearly all the building costs were
pledged, including that of a bell purchased for five hundred dollars.
Establishment
of the Evangelical
Church
in St. Joseph
The first report of
activity by the Evangelical Association in
Berrien
County
was a visit by Bishop Seybert in 1849. He gave a glowing report on the
possibilities of the area upon his return to
Pennsylvania. (The
Evangelical Association had originated in Pennsylvania in 1803 as an outgrowth
of the ministry of Jacob Albright to the German-speaking people.) Following
Bishop Seybert's visit, a minister was appointed over the area, but no record
indicates he visited St. Joseph.
Until
the Michigan
conference was formed in 1864,
Berrien
County
was first a part of the
Illinois
and then the Indiana
(1851) Conference of the Evangelical
Association. Bernhardt Ubhaus was appointed missionary to Berrien
County
in 1855. At the Indiana
Conference of June 1856, he reported 36 members for the Berrien Mission.
During the 1850's and the 1860's, meetings were held in the homes of members or
in the old schoolhouse which the Methodist
Church
had used until the erection of their building in 1858-59.
In 1868, J. M. Haug was appointed pastor to the St. Joseph Mission. The
church was strong enough to consider purchasing a facility of their own, but
because of costs it was decided to find a building in the "country". (Someone
has said that in those days, children who lived south of Broad Street
were considered "country kids" by
their classmates who attended the
Old
White
School, corner of Ship and Main Streets.) They
bought the brick building at the corner of Elm and Main Streets from the English
Baptist Society in 1858 at a cost of $2,643.39 for which the local church was
able to raise $2,170.07. Conference gave the local minister permission to
collect wherever he could throughout the conference to pay the remaining
indebtedness.
The old brick church was
just a box-like structure, with plain glass windows, benches, and a big heavy
iron stove in the center of the room. The
ladies sat on the north side and the men on the south side. The
congregation faced the east where there was a platform with a pulpit and a small
organ. The church at that time was
built at the back of the lot, and the door on the Elm Street
side was generally used by the congregation, as
many came from the country and their horses were tied along Elm Street. The
church had no steeple and, of course, no bell.
The Evangelicals were considered by some people a
German
Methodist
Church
in keeping with the origin of the denomination.
In fact, the ministry of the
Evangelicals in Michigan
was mostly to the German people. The services
of the St. Joseph
church were all in German. As
the Evangelicals were not afraid to shout when they were happy, they also earned
the name of Jumping Methodists or Shouting Methodists.
Growth
of the Churches
In 1860, the Methodist
Church
gained possession of the property at 515 Court Street for a parsonage. In
the fall of that year the building was raised and partially enclosed. The
next pastor at his own expense carried the project along getting the house
enclosed and plastered one year and adding a "cook room", putting in a
cistern, and painting the inside the next year. In
1862, four rooms of the parsonage were papered, a portion of the lot was spaded
up and shrubbery and strawberries planted. In 1864, more work was completed on
the parsonage—a barn was constructed, the house was painted with three coats
of paint, 13 1/2 rods of picket fence were built, fruit and ornamental trees
were planted, all at a cost of $252 which was "collected on subscription
and paid".
Not only did the holdings of the church increase but also the membership. There
were 66 members in 1863. A revival
held in 1864 (the first time since 1849) brought in 33 members. By
1865 the membership of the Methodist
Church
had grown to 107.
The report submitted to Conference that year by the pastor stated,
"There are no church debts on the charge...The Pastor's, Presiding Elder's
and Sexton’s claims, amounting to $753.00, were met in full—and the church
property is also clear, estimated to be worth $6,500."
On June 16, 1866, the Methodist
Church
suffered a disastrous setback in its growth. Sparks
from a planing mill fifty feet to the south of the church started a fire in the
steeple and the church burned to the ground. (It
is interesting to note that there is a discrepancy as to the actual date of the
fire. Church records indicated in
addition to June 16, a June 21 or even a February 21 date.)
In August of 1866 the cornerstone was laid for a new building at the same
location, the corner of Broad and Main Streets. A
two story brick building was erected. The
first floor was completed for immediate use and the second floor was finished
later. The Reverend Robert Hatfield
of Chicago, Illinois, and the Reverend B. Ives of Auburn, New York, were the morning and evening speakers
respectively at the dedication June 25, 1869, of the completed church, then one of the
finest in this part of the country. (This
building with some later remodeling served the
Methodist
Church
from its dedication until 1970. It
was torn down in December, 1970, after the congregation occupied the building on
Leco Court.)
Prior to the burning of the old church, church music had been provided by an
organ loaned by the Plum
family who lived at the corner of Broad and Court Streets. The
Plums, there were thirteen of them, carried the organ over to the church every
Saturday night and carried it back to their home every Monday morning. In
May of 1867 an organ (parlor-type with some pipes which were removable) was
purchased for two hundred dollars. A
Mr. Chamberlin held the note for the loan of that amount.
During the 1870's both
churches continued to experience growth. In
the Methodist pastor's report for 1870, he reported 113 members; however, he
stated that only fifteen or so attend the "means of grace" (meaning
class meetings) and that “persons who we have reason to believe are faithful
in all other matters are recklessly unfaithful to Class Meetings." By
1878 the
Methodist
Church
had 216 members. From 1873
to 1893 the
Evangelical
Church
was supplied ministers who traveled a circuit, usually working in
addition to
St. Joseph, the Bainbridge and
Royalton
Churches.
An anecdote is told by an earlier historian of this period. "One
well-liked pastor had much to say against the young people riding bicycles on
Sunday afternoons. But he was the
force the saloonmen feared. The
story is told of his having expressed a desire for a trip to the Pacific
Coast. One
day he was approached by a member of his congregation saying he would like to
have the privilege of giving him this trip. Of
course, the pastor was delighted, but did not know until nearly ready for the
train that the saloonmen had supplied the money in hopes of getting him away,
until after election. Of course, the
trip was not taken." Another
minister reported that there was much back sliding from recent revival converts
to cards, dancing, and concerts. Elsewhere
we read that the ministers warned the young ladies about the evils of bangs and
bustles, curls and corsets, and face powder.
In 1887 the Methodists
disposed of their old parsonage and constructed a new one next to the church on Main Street. A
porch was added later. To the church
itself were added four rooms to the rear, two upstairs for Sunday School, one
downstairs for Sunday School and one for a kitchen.
The appearance of the
Evangelical
Church
property in the late 1880's indicated that hard times had fallen on the
congregation. Even the Bishop
reported the matter in the Evangelical Messenger, and Annual Conference
appointed a committee to take steps to make the necessary repairs and
improvements. The local church took
action in 1892 instructing the trustees to sell the old church and lot and
purchase a cheaper lot. This was not
done, but they did sell one half of the lot and used the money realized from the
sale to build a new church. The old
brick building was torn down and the new building erected nearer the front of
the lot.
 The
dedication services for the new building were held December 10 and 11,
1892. An account describing the
event, presumably from the newspaper, in part said, "The new
German
Evangelical
Church
on Main Street
was formally dedicated on Saturday and
Sunday.... Excepting Sunday morning,
the services were in English and all meetings were attended by people from all
denominations and the sermons were all well delivered and full of
encouragement.... The building is a
neat structure, papered inside, well seated and carpeted, and will accommodate
several hundred people. The cost of
it is about $3,000 of which some $2,400 is already paid or assured. Over
$800 was subscribed Sunday. Services are to be held regularly hereafter, the
Sunday morning sermon will be in German and the evening sermon in English."
Starting in 1895 the Zion's
Evangelical
Church
(the name used from 1895 until as late as 1904 when the name seems to
have been dropped) showed new life. It
was taken from the Royalton Circuit and made a separate Mission, a parsonage was built, and the Ladies Aid was
organized. A newspaper item
(September 28, 1895) stated "hereafter, preaching will be wholly in the
English language in that church". By
1899 the church membership was 70. There
was a Young People's Alliance
with a membership of 40.
In 1892 the Ladies
Aid of the Methodist
Church
started the Washington Day Dinner as a fund raising project. This
festive occasion continued until the mid 1960's when it was discontinued.
Both churches benefited from a city-wide evangelistic campaign in January 1914. A
large tabernacle was erected on the corner of Ship and Main Streets where the
George Stevens (Stephens) Evangelistic Party conducted the services for about
six weeks. There were many conversions and at the close of the campaign the
converts made a selection of their own church. The
Methodist
Church
received its due share of the converts some of whom became the most
loyal and best church workers. The
Evangelical
Church
was more than doubled overnight, from 110 to 260 members. Strengthened
dramatically, the
Evangelical
Church
at the Annual Conference of 1914 asked to be taken from the list of
mission churches to become a self-supporting congregation.
Needing more room as a result of the increase in membership, the
Evangelical
Church
undertook major remodeling and enlarging of their building. Sunday
services were held in the City Hall Chambers during the period of construction. Dedication
day,
May 30, 1915, was a grand day with three services. The
church was filled. Both the orchestra and choir performed. The
mayor of the city and some of the aldermen attended one of the services. The
entire cost of the project, estimated at $5,800, had been pledged before the
evening service closed.
In 1924 the Methodist
Church
was remodeled at a cost of $20,000. An
annex holding the Sunday School rooms was added on the
Broad Street
side, the front hall remodeled, and the
auditorium decorated. Mr. Neil Ward
gave the church a pipe organ in memory of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Ward. A
former choir member recalls the organ recital in which the Ward Memorial Organ
was dedicated. "During one of
the organ numbers, a chip evidently shifted and caused a pipe to keep playing to
the consternation of all present. Among
those present however were those who had valuable experience... and showed their
skill by correcting the trouble enabling the program to proceed." This
organ continued to serve the congregation until 1969.
During
their remodeling, the Methodist Church like their sister church also found
temporary quarters. The high school auditorium was satisfactory and there were
sufficient Sunday School classrooms. However, those facilities were not
available for the entire period and the smaller quarters of the City Hall
Chambers had to do for the remainder of the time. One member remembers a
Christmas party held in the Council Chambers, but the New Year's Watch-night
service was in the completed church parlors. The
rest of the building program was completed in time for Easter at which time the
choir, newly robed in white over black two piece vestments, marched down the
aisle in its first processional.
The Methodists in 1925
authorized the minister to purchase a grand piano for the church, but as a
condition to acquiring the piano he had to remain silent as to the cost.
Disaster again struck the
Methodist
Church
on April 29, 1926. Fire
originating in the attic caused an estimated loss of $10,000 with the sanctuary
receiving most of the damage. An
electrician examining the church after the fire discovered pennies had been used
to keep the fuses from blowing which in his judgment was the cause of the fire. A
happy day indeed for the Evangelical
Church
was
December 31, 1929,
when the mortgage was burned eliminating all
the debts which had haunted the church since its beginning.
As the Depression hit
the country, hard times hit the churches. From
the minutes of the Official Board of the Methodist
Church
entries read: "An
approval was given to the Pastor to paint the parsonage on
April 7, 1931, however, it could not cost anything." "An
approval was given to the church to borrow $150 from Farmers & Merchants
National Bank in order to pay the coal bill."
Circumstances had improved by 1935 and the Methodist
Church
installed chimes in its tower to celebrate 105 years as a congregation.
A brief mention should be made of denominational developments that left their
mark in varying degrees upon the local congregations.
In 1922 The Evangelical
Association (1816) and the United
Evangelical
Church
(1894) came together as the Evangelical
Church. The
St. Joseph
church, which had been affiliated with the
Evangelical Association, of course, functioned under the new name. The
Civil War had split the Methodist Episcopal Church, but in 1939 the Methodist
Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and the
Methodist
Protestant
Church
(1828) became the
Methodist
Church. Though the cornerstone
might still read Methodist Episcopal, the
St. Joseph
church functioned under the new name. In
November of 1946 after many years of discussion and preparation, the Evangelical
Church and the Church of the United Brethren in Christ (their founders Jacob
Albright, Evangelical; Philip Otterbein and Martin Boehm, United Brethren shared
a common spiritual heritage) officially united and took on a new denominational
name The Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB). For
all the impressive denominational action the local churches were not basically
changed—services and activities continued within the same walls and among the
same people.
The 1950's were times of
change and expansion for both churches. When
the First Congregational Church built their new building on Niles Avenue, their old property on Main Street
was for sale. The
Evangelical
United
Brethren Church
had felt the need for a more adequate church plant and saw fit to buy
the Congregational Church property for $55,000.
The congregation took possession of the new property September 15, 1955, and immediately began an improvement program
in the new building that cost approximately $10,000 and involved over 2,000
hours of volunteered labor. The
unity and spirit manifest in the building project carried over to the challenge
of entertaining the Michigan Annual Conference in 1958, no small task for a
church with a membership of about 230.
Church growth and Church
School
growth led the
Methodist
Church
to the hiring of a Director of Religious
Education in 1955. Needing space for
the expanded program, the congregation added an education wing to the south side
of the building at a cost of $95,942. The
staff was increased by the addition of a second pastor in 1964.
Both churches purchased
new parsonages. At the time of
purchasing the Congregational Church the Evangelical United Brethren bought the
house at
548 Archer Avenue
($16,500) only to sell it five years later
(1960) to buy a brand new ranch-style parsonage at
979 Wadena Drive
($21,500). The
Methodist
Church
in August of 1966 bought a house at 2820 Willa Drive
($28,000) to use as a parsonage along with the
property at 838 Greenwood.
The
United Methodist
Church
Nineteen sixty-eight was
a memorable year. For the
Evangelical United Brethren church it was their Centennial Year, 1868-1968. Even
as centennial events were being planned, changes were transpiring at the
denominational level that would lead to the dissolution of the congregation as a
separate and distinct body. The Methodist
Church
and the
Evangelical
United
Brethren Church
had shared a common historic and spiritual heritage. Their
doctrines and forms of church government were similar. Their
only major difference, that of language, had long since disappeared. On
April 23, 1968, following many years of conversation and
negotiation, the two became one under the name, The United Methodist Church.
Mergers heretofore had
not significantly changed the local congregations. This
one was to be different. With the likelihood of national approval of a merger of
the denominations, steps were taken in
St. Joseph
to merge the two local congregations. A
merger committee was formed with representatives from each congregation. This
group had twenty meeting nights and over fifty hours of work preparing the
merger agreement. Once the plan was
ready, it was presented to the membership meeting in homes in small groups where
discussion could take place easily and freely. The
General Conferences had merged in April. The
local congregations voted on May 27, 1968. The
merger was approved. (The Methodist
vote: 111 in favor, 47 against, 3
abstentions—total 161. The EUB vote: 66
in favor, 13 against—total 79.)
Centennial Sunday, July 14, 1968, took on added significance for the former
Evangelical United Brethren congregation. The
name United Methodist did not slip easily off the tongue as yet, and
understandably the festivities were marked by an underlying sadness. Following
the morning service, a potluck meal was held. The
Master of Ceremonies was one who had gone out from this church into the
ministry. Older members of the
congregation were recognized. Pictures
had been gathered and organized to tell the story of a valiant congregation. Forty-three ministers had served in those one hundred years and six persons had been
either recommended for ministerial license or were a product of the congregation
for the ministry.
More was to come in this
memorable year. An impressive
service on unification was held
September 8, 1968. With
Sunday School boys in advance carrying the Christian and American flags and led
by their pastor, the congregation of the
Evangelical
United
Brethren
Church
walked the two blocks from their church at Market and Main Streets to
the corner of Broad and Main Streets where the Methodist congregation led by
their pastor joined the procession. Coming
four abreast down
Broad Street
to
Lake Boulevard, the group assembled for the unifying service
at the band shell (at that time an old wooden band shell was located on the
bluff between Broad and Ship Streets). The
service advanced the spirit of oneness. The
words of the hymn sounded out "We are not divided. All one body we, one in
hope and doctrine, one in charity." The
scripture from Jeremiah spoke of unity, "And they shall be my people and I
will be their God. And I will give
them one heart and mind to worship me forever, for their own good and for the
good of all their descendants." Two choirs sang as one. The
people voiced the historic confession of the Christian Faith, "I believe in
God the Father Almighty ..." The Methodists in St. Joseph
from 1830 and the Evangelicals from 1868
serving from this time forth as the First United Methodist Church of St. Joseph.
Throughout the 1950's
the Methodist
Church
had felt in order to survive it should follow the southward movement of
the St. Joseph
population. Authorization
was given to investigate available sites for a future location of the church
when time would indicate the necessity to build. Opportunity
presented itself in 1962 when Leco Corporation
made an offer of land in the Leco Square Subdivision. The
land was a gift to the church with the stipulation that a church was to be built
upon it within ten years or the property would revert to the company. By
1964, the congregation had voted to relocate. A
building committee authorized an architect to draw up plans for the new church,
but the financial drive in the fall of 1966 was not successful enough to move
ahead with the building program. The plans were abandoned.
A new building committee
was formed about the time of the merger of the two congregations. This
building committee had members of both the former Evangelical and
Methodist
Churches
in membership. New
plans were examined and approved by the church. The
key to the success in moving ahead in the construction of a new church building
was the sale of the old Evangelical
Church
and the offer by the contractor of the building, Holland Construction
Company, for the purchase of the old
Methodist
Church
building for $100,000. Ground
was broken for the new Church in May of 1969. The
new church, costing in excess of $600,000, was dedicated on
March 1, 1970. The
mortgage indebtedness incurred in the construction of the new church was retired
in 1980.
The United Methodist
Church of St. Joseph, resulting from the merger of the Evangelical and the
Methodist Churches, with a record of service to this community since 1830, and
occupying a new and totally owned church property, now faces the next 150 years
with renewed spirit and determination to serve our Lord Jesus Christ and this
community in the spirit of Christian love.
The years since the merger have seen a steady growth in staff and ministries.
Membership has fluctuated.
Whereas
a history tells of buildings, members, disasters, and celebrations, it is to be
remembered that for 175 years from the humble beginnings as a mission in 1830 to
a leading church of the community in 2005, this church as a community of the
followers of Jesus Christ has been a steady witness to His love, grace and
power.
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St.
Joseph First United Methodist
Church