The Leland Community United Methodist Church along with its preceding congregations have influenced Leland and the surrounding area for well over one hundred years. A few things are certain, there has always been financial deficits, challenges have been plentiful, but dedication to sustaining the church has always prevailed. It is fair to say that the determination of our congregation reflects the solid character of all Leelanau County residents.
As is often the case there were many players and random acts that led to the origins of Leland Community United Methodist church. The wheels began to turn in 1857 when Reverend L. J. Griffin was requested by presiding elders to form congregations in Northport and Carp River, as Leland was called at that time. When Reverend George Thompson returned from missionary adventures in Africa in 1865 he came to Leland, organized a “Congregational Society” and became the first pastor. Then in 1871 Fredric Cook generously provided a warranty deed for the property where our current church is located to The Trustees of the Congregational Society and that is the reason we worship every Sunday on Fourth Street up on the hill.
In 1872 when the Leland Iron Company first ignited its furnace there were two thriving saloons in Leland, but only enough support for one church. The Congregationalists built their first church for $2500. For financial reasons they reached out to the Methodists to join them and both groups were served by Congregationalist clergy from Northport. Funds remained scarce and after not receiving payment for an extended time, Pastor Barton B. Elles sued for back wages. The Sherriff of Leelanau County sold the property to Ada K. Pratt, a Traverse City woman known for her generosity and for providing the area with its first library. A second setback came a year later when young boys were playing in the belfry and the building caught fire and was destroyed. On May 19, 1898, for the sum of $25 Ada gave a quit claim deed to the Trustees of the First Methodist Episcopal Church transferring the property to their ownership.
During that same year Dr. James Brady, a Leland based one legged physician and surgeon organized local Protestants and with his own contribution dominating funds collected enough money was raised to start construction for a new church in May. Reverend P.E. Whitman of Northport was the first pastor to serve the congregation at the new church.
A rotation of pastors served the congregation through the year. During the winter Reverend Stautow from Northport skied to Leland once a month to conduct the service. Sometime around 1905 the tradition of inviting guest pastors from among summer visitors to preside over services. Included among them were distinguished clergymen from many denominations including a Rabbi from the Sinai Temple in Chicago. This custom evolved into “Summer Church” which had a major impact on the congregation both financially and spiritually.
Sadly, there is not much information available regarding the history of the church from 1905 until 1954 when the building saw a major renovation. This effort began when at the direction of Pat Warren, the “Summer Church” group determined that it would be advantageous to the community to build a summer chapel at the cost of approximately $125,000 that was yet to be raised. Mr. Warren presented his proposal to the Methodist Church and they suggested that it might more advantageous to renovate the existing church for a much smaller investment and resulting in a facility could be used year-round.
The groups came to an agreement and a church building committee was formed. They hired Bud Andersen and his fathers to be the contractors, and Larry Stiffler agreed to do the architectural work at his costs. The sanctuary was reconfigured and the entire building was restored. The original plan had been to purchase new pews, but instead the existing pews which had been donated from the Muskegon Methodist Church 25 years earlier were refinished at huge savings. The total cost of the project was about $35,000.
More history to come.
