OUR HISTORY

Vergennes United Methodist Church - Established in 1843

In the spring of 1843, families around the area met at the log home of Anthony Yerkes to form the first Methodist Church in Vergennes Township. Rev. Bush preached the first sermon. Regular meetings followed in barns, log schools, and homes. Circuit Riders did the weekly preaching until 1864.

By 1864, the existing church was built on land donated by the Smith Bailey family and was known as the Bailey Church. It was officially listed as the First Methodist Church of Vergennes. The church has been aligned at different times with Keene, Fallasburg, Grand Rapids Trinity, Lowell, and Snow Churches. Vergennes was associated with the Methodist Episcopal Church before the merger in the early 1900's.

In 1968, a room was added to the east of the sanctuary, called the Friendship Room. The Township Hall next door was used for activities involving food preparation and large gatherings... that was 104 years with no kitchen or water provisions on the premises!

In 1995 after researching the Vergennes Township and the expected growth an experiment was made by the West Michigan Conference of the UMC to partially support Vergennes’ first full time pastor.  After evangelistic work under the direction of Rev. , Rev. Than Johnson was appointed by Bishop Donald Ott in 1996.

By 1999, the Vergennes Church expanded again. The congregation grew considerably and had two worship services, a full-time pastor, part-time secretary, beautifully landscaped church grounds, and blacktopped parking lot. At the same time, the present sanctuary had reached its seating capacity. On June 13, 1999, Vergennes Church experienced a "Miracle Sunday" and received gifts well over our goal to finance the complete renovation of the sanctuary including reversing the configuration of the pews, creating a larger Pastor's office, and providing space for the church secretary. We were able to increase our seating capacity in the sanctuary by nearly 80%. The Miracle Sunday also raised enough funds to set aside money for further land acquisition when needed. 

In 2006 the land to the east and north of the church became available and 12 acres was purchased to support the future needs of the ministry of Vergennes UMC.

After much discussion about space limitations and proposed plans for expansion, in 2010 a phase 1 proposal was made to add 14 feet to the north end of the church and expand the parking lot to the east.  It was approved on January 30, 2011 and a Miracle Sunday on March 20, 2011 raised over $90,000 toward that goal.  The completion of the project was celebrated with a consecration on September 11, 2011.

By God's grace, Vergennes  is and will continue to make the commitment to serve Christ for many years to come. We will continue to invite people to join us in a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.

Point of Interest: The Vergennes Church is the oldest, continuously serving church in the Grand Rapids District of the West Michigan Conference of the United Methodist Church.