Whitefish church celebrates centennial

As it prepares to celebrate its centennial, Whitefish United Methodist Church has much to be thankful for.

What was a few years ago a dwindling congregation meeting in a former medical clinic has turned into a thriving group of around 300 in a new and attractive facility on Wisconsin Avenue.

The congregation will hold a centennial celebration on Sept. 17-18 with an open house and concert given by Betsi Morrison and Luke Walrath on Saturday, and a worship service led by Bishop Warner H. Brown of Denver on Sunday. A picnic will follow the service.

The church was officially begun in 1905 with the construction of the Spokane Avenue building that is currently the home of the Whitefish Foursquare Church.

In 1985 the building was sold, mostly out of concern for future expansion and parking prohibitions, and the members acquired a building at 625 Park Ave. with future plans for expansion at that site.

Even though the congregation was down to about 60 regular attenders, members decided that the area did not provide an amenable location for expansion, and they secured the five-acre Wisconsin Avenue property.

"It was a huge leap of faith, and some amazing things happened," said the Rev. Deborah Schmidt, the current pastor of Whitefish United Methodist.

Life-long attender Carol Newbury remembers thinking that if people truly wanted to attend the church, they would make the effort to find the building.

But with the growth she's seen at the new site, the 72-year-old has changed her attitude.

"I've become a believer that if you have space, parking and a pastor that is welcoming, people will come," she said. "The new church is attractive, so people come to check it out."

It's important for Newbury to see her church be healthy.

"It's been one of the most important things in my life," she said. "I started in Sunday School at a young age, and grew up in the church. I've taken an active part because it's very important. The church is like family."

Jane Barnes, 82, shares Newbury's sentiments. She and her family were baptized in the church in 1948.

"It's been our life," she said. "You get involved. You teach Sunday school, you cook and clean. It's not just going on Sunday mornings for an hour. When something was going on, we were there."

Schmidt has been at the church for four years. When she arrived, fewer than 100 people attended regularly.

The growth, she believes, is due mostly to the attitude of the congregation.

"I think one of the strengths of this congregation is they have a huge spirit of hospitality," she said. "We have Methodist visitors from all over the country visit in the summer and they say, to a one, how amazingly warm and welcoming this congregation is."

Along with the growth has come an increase in the youth presence. The church opened a day care this fall, and the youth group and children's Sunday school programs have burgeoned dramatically.

For Schmidt, the centennial celebration is an opportunity to learn more about the congregation.

"I think it's going to be a wonderful time to look back and since I've only been here a short time, it will be great to see people I've known only as adults, to see their faces in Sunday school pictures as young people," she said.

"And it's a great time to look at Whitefish's heritage. So many pioneers in the community were also pioneers in the church."