History of Kalkaska Unified Ministries for Christ
(formerly known as Kalkaska United Methodist Church)
The Methodist Church in Kalkaska had its early beginnings in the mid-1800s. According to county records and published histories of Kalkaska County, the Methodist Episcopal Church was incorporated in 1879. During the first few years, services were held in both the school house and later in the newly completed Congregational Church building. Rev. Joseph Greenstead served as the pastor.
The Methodist Episcopal Church building was completed in 1882 at the corner of Cherry and Dresden Streets. The spiral steeple on the church was considered a landmark for both the people and the visitors of Kalkaska. This building was used for approximately fifty years of services and the building was closed in the 1930s when the congregation joined what is now The Peoples Church.
In the early 1980’s, several families in the area began exploring the possibility of again establishing a Methodist Church in Kalkaska. In 1983, with permission of the then District Superintendent, Leon Andrews, the families began holding services in their homes. Rev. Wirth Tennant, a retired pastor of the Asbury United Methodist Church in Traverse City, became the small congregation’s first pastor.
Those who gathered each Sunday were from many different church backgrounds, but they all had a desire to see something different in Kalkaska. On Aug. 7, 1983, the worship service was moved to the Kalkaska County Senior Center (the Bingo Palace) on Cherry Street. Sunday school was held in the COA kitchen and coat room. The group had progressive dinners, pot lucks, and a Christmas pageant, along with Sunday school from the very beginning. Kyle DePeel was the first baby born on Nov. 2, 1983. The first membership group of 22 joined in the fall of 1983 and a second group joined the congregation within six months, bringing the total to about 30.
With steady growth, a search for a full-time pastor began, but first a parsonage had to be built. Deciding to hire a full-time pastor was a big step. The parsonage was built on Shawn Drive, on the outskirts of the Village of Kalkaska, by members of the church and a group of retired couples called the Thirty-Niners from the West Michigan Conference. In June, 1984 Rev. Richard Riley began his duties as the first full-time pastor. There were officially 28 members when Dick began serving KUMC and by the end of 1984 there were 26 new members
With 108 people present for the service, Charter Sunday was held June 9, 1985. There were a total of 70 charter members. Baptisms were held at nearby lakes as well as during Sunday worship services. Helen Luck financed most of the costs of children going to camp by baking loaves of bread. There were euchre tournaments, children and adult choirs, Christmas caroling, Christmas Eve services, a fun-filled talent show and dramatic Biblical presentations. Ike and Mae Parsons made the altar, pulpit, lecturn, chancel rails, and baptismal font for the church.
About 1986 the congregation began meeting in 1/3 of the Ace Hardware building owned by members Randy and Sheila Atwood. Sunday school was held in between aisles. The mortgage for the parsonage was paid off in 1987 and a dedication was held Feb. 14, 1988.
Ground breaking for the new church building on Beebe Road, just north of the Village of Kalkaska and next to the subdivision where the parsonage is located, was held April 30, 1989. By Aug. 13, 1989 the first worship service was held in the new building. During construction, Sunday worship was sometimes held in the woods on the property. Wilbur Hatley was the chair of the construction committee.
The first wedding in the church between Tammy and Mark Rowell was held before the carpeting was installed.
In 1993, Chuck VanLente became KUMC’s pastor. He brought DeColores (a Christian renewal weekend ministry) into the church family and established KAIR (Kalkaska Area Interfaith Resources). KAIR is a nonprofit group supported by local churches that manages a food pantry, clothing and other items given out to those in need in the community, or items can be purchased and the money used to buy additional food supplies. We continue to be actively involved in supporting KAIR.
Following the first DeColores Weekend in 1993 the men began having a weekly prayer breakfast at the former Vivian’s Restaurant (now RiteAid) The place and day of the breakfast has changed over the years, but the men still meet weekly to pray, study the Bible, and eat breakfast together.
Several members of the congregation served as counselors at church camp and a large group of kids attended. There were bazaars or harvest auctions and road kill dinners to raise money for special church needs.
Charles Stanley took over the pulpit in 1996 and served for two years before he changed denominations and moved to Indiana to serve a Congregational church near Indianapolis. At that time Stan Hayes, a retired United Methodist pastor, served as interim pastor for nine months.
The turn of the century, 2000, brought Rev. Bob Stark to KUMC.. The roof was replaced during this time and Rev. Stark told the congregation if enough money was collected to pay off the loan for the church roof, he would preach from the new roof. The congregation came through and a big celebration was held as the Sunday sermon came from the roof of the church.
In 2005 Miracle Sunday was held and over $200,000 in money, goods, and donated labor was pledged. Plans were drawn up for a ministry center and expanded sanctuary.. Tom Carey and Dave Stockford were co-chairs of the project and Ryan Williams, also a member of the congregation, was in charge of construction. The ministry center was dedicated Sept. 10, 2006. That fall Jill Jestes challenged the congregation to help fulfill her dream of serving meals to those in the community free of charge. These community meals have continued each Wednesday to this day.
Petrel Harrison was hired as Administrative Assistant to organize Bible studies and assist with other ministry duties.
Between 2006 and 2007 KUMC reached its highest point in church attendance, an average of 183 per service. There was a discussion of having two services.
June of 2008 brought the retirement of Bob Stark and our new pastor Greg Wolfe. The Ad Council authorized a six-month trial run with two services, one early morning service with a praise team and one later more traditional service, with a Sunday school program for all ages between the services. Because the vast majority of the church family attended the praise service, and we did not want to separate our church family, at the end of the trial period we instituted a blended service of traditional and contemporary worship that continues today. The church began the Vital Church Initiative program sponsored by the West Michigan Conference. Several churches in our district met monthly at our church to study, discuss, and brainstorm ways to revitalize our churches for the future. These studies culminated in an in-depth review of our church’s programs and a list of five prescriptions that we have been implementing since 2014.
A mission trip to Indiana was made in Oct. 2012 to help those who had homes destroyed and lives lost in twin tornadoes. There also continued to be an annual arts and crafts fair, mother/daughter banquet, visits to shut-ins, family game nights, a Father’s Day strawberry social, and the annual summer picnic at Log Lake Park.
Greg retired in 2013 and Bob Freysinger became our pastor. He continued to lead the congregation through the Vital Church Initiative prescription process to build a new history.
During the 40-year history of the Kalkaska United Methodist Church, we have mentored and celebrated the pastoral callings of ten of our members: Howard Seaver, Kevin Abbott, Melanie Chalker, Todd Shafer, Noreen Shafer, Michelle Merchant, Mike Neihardt, Gil Smith, Bill Davis and Justin Bluer. We continue to serve community meals to between 60 and 150 people each week; host a weekly prayer group for men from throughout the community; work to support KAIR, both with money and food, and as a place to hold some of their events or projects; allow Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H, AA, NA, DeColores, DecoTEC, and TOPS to meet in our building; and help those grieving the loss of a loved one with a weekly Grief Support Group and by providing funeral dinners. For Christmas each year we fill shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.
We periodically have Bible studies both in the church and in homes; for many years we held children’s worship in the Children’s Worship Center following a children’s story in the main sanctuary; we currently send our youth to Crossroads Farms in South Boardman, have fellowship time after worship each Sunday; send children to camp each summer and often provide counselors, as well. We have a praise team to lead us in music during the worship service.
At various times during our history volunteers have participated in KERYX prison ministry, DeColores and DecoTec Weekends, Adopt-A-Highway on M-72, cut wood for those in need, visit shut-ins, provide lap quilts for those in long-term care, provide baby quilts for newborns, and many other projects around the church and in the community as the needs arise. We collect coins in the noisy offering each month for special projects such as KAIR and our missionary Paul Webster at Mujla Falls Agriculture Centre in Africa, and Freedom Builders, among others. We collect other throw away items such as stamps, grocery slips, and returnable bottles and cans to benefit various organizations and church programs.
There is a welcome center in the middle of the foyer so we can greet newcomers, help them find their way around, invite them to fellowship time, and make them feel wanted and welcome.
We have a time during the worship service to share our blessings and to request prayers for needs and praise for blessings.
With the guidance of the Vital Church Initiative Prescriptions, strong leadership, and lots of prayer, we are seeking new ways to love God and love others in our community and world. We want all to know they are welcome and their presence will strengthen our church family, as together we grow in Christ. We exist to develop faithful followers of Jesus Christ.
(More to come soon………..)