Methodist Church celebrates 125th year during Heritage Days

The Columbia Falls United Methodist Church is celebrating its 125th anniversary of ministry to the community during Heritage Days, July 29-30. The church will enter a float in the parade and host an ice cream social, brunch, and special services during the celebration. The goal is to bring together all who remember the church’s past and participate in its present, while looking ahead to the future.

When the church was turning 80 years old in March 1972, Gladys Shay wrote a column about its history for the Hungry Horse News.

“Methodism in Columbia Falls dates back to bonnet and buckskin days when Sunday worshippers arrived behind a team or came down the boardwalk of the brand new town,” she declared.

Methodist services in Columbia Falls were first held in 1891 at Fullerton Hall, a long building resembling a store. It was used as a butcher shop for a time and later became the Pacific Power and Light Co.

The second meeting place was the first city hall, and the third was the Clingan building, which later became the Columbia Hotel and Bar and burned down around 1918.

The original Methodist Church was constructed in 1895 and opened for worship in 1896, Shay said. The first minister, J.M. Eastland, helped build the Columbia Falls church and others in Libby, Troy, Elk Park, and northern Idaho.

“Old-timers still remember the Rev. Mr. Eastland driving his buggy through the countryside, loudly singing hymns,” Shay wrote.

Even earlier in Columbia Falls history, editor Mel Ruder wrote about the church in November 1951. Ruder said Methodist prayer in Montana began in 1863 in Virginia City, then was brought to Columbia Falls in January 1892 with Rev. O.W. Mintzer. Mintzer built the parsonage and laid the foundation for the Methodist Church, then traveled to Kalispell in 1901.

According to Ruder, the first church building was completed in 1897 under Rev. Philo W. Haynes.

Haynes wrote, “Our church has been completed at Columbia Falls, free of debt, and is an ornament to the town.”

When it was opened, the church used a cast-iron stove for heat in the winter. In 1892, the real estate value was $2,000. In the late 1890s, the church was plastered for the cost of $90 and a bell was purchased for $80.

In the mid-1920s, the exterior of the church was refinished.

In 1951, at the time of the Church’s 60th anniversary, Ruder noted, there had been 31 pastors and over 460 members.

In March 1974, two years after Shay’s anniversary column, the original church building was purchased by R and A Heating Supply and then moved to a new location, where it was used as a warehouse. In May 1974, the congregation broke ground for the new church building in its current location. The first services in the new chapel were held Sept. 7, 1975.

Today the church has 125 members and is going strong, led by pastor Dawn Skerritt.

Following the Heritage Days parade, an ice cream social and open house will take place at the church at 117 Second St. West at about 1:30 p.m. At 7 p.m. that evening a vesper prayer service will be held. At 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 30, a special worship will be conducted, immediately followed by brunch and a short program.