Mears United Methodist Church

Just after the Civil War, the Mears Methodist Church was formed. One of the life-long residents of Golden Township, Rosa Hunter Reid (1884-1966), wrote the following: “Few people living in the Village of Mears today know there were two Methodist church (buildings) in our town before the beautiful red brick church on the corner was dedicated on June 23, 1902. Long before there was a Village of Mears, there was a log church located in what is now block 48.

Charles Mears, one of the founders of our village, made a record in his diary of this church. His daughter Carrie Mears came to one of the home-comings of the church and read from her father’s diary, which describes this location of the church. Just when it was built, I don’t know. The pastor was half indian and half white. The church was called the Methodist Mission.

My parents who were early settlers in this vicinity knew about this church and the people who attended services there. Indians and a few white people made up the congregation. My father, Liberty Hunter, lived near Silver Lake on Hunter’s Creek, came to Golden Township in 1866. To better understand this generation, one has to go back many years and try to picture a virgin wilderness of pine, maple and beech, ready for the lumber man to clear the land and build homes, schoolhouses, churches and places of business. The log church burned to the ground in 1874. With the settlers coming to build their homes, a new church had to be built. As I recall, the log church was caught in the path of a forest fire which could not be stopped and the church quickly burned to the ground. After the log church burned, a frame church was built on the S.E. corner of Joy and 7th street, almost cross the street from where the log church once stood. This church was used until 1902, when the new red brick church was built, on the S.E. corner of Joy and 4th street. The old church was sold to the Macabees and used as a meeting place where they had a stage built for Vaudeville shows and was also used as the gymnasium for the Mears School.

The new church was built by the sacrifice and dedication of many people who wanted a beautiful church where they could worship God. The red brick structure was built on a field stone foundation and contains a bell, lovely furnishings and beautiful stain glass windows. The windows were made in Belgium with silver and gold mixed in the glass to reflect the light. These things make the Mears United Methodist Church one of the most beautiful country churches in the area. A fitting structure, build by some of the Christian pioneers of this area. The church is dedicated to the Glory of God and to spreading the Gospel, (the good news of salvation).”

(Addendum) In 1948-49 a basement was built under the current church. The sanctuary retains much of the beauty that must have been present when the church was first built. In 1992, Rev. Ken Snow was the pastor of the church and his health began to fail. Attendance was on the decline with winter attendance in the 10-15 range. At the urging of some of the members, the DS of the Grand Traverse District invited Rev. Ken Vanderlaan to fill in for a time until a decision could be made on the future of the church. Pastor Ken began his ministry in July of 1993 and it continues on until today. We completed a beautiful new addition in 2002 and remodeled the old basement in 2003 for a total cost of around $400,000. The attendance of the church has continued to grow since 1993 with some summer Sunday attendance in excess of 200. It remains our fervent hope that God will continue to bless the ministry of the Mears United Methodist Church in the year 2011 and all the years following...as He did in the 146 years leading up to today! Mears United Methodist Church is currently served by Pastor Beverley Williams.