Our History

St. Charles United Methodist Church

As early as 1856, St. Charles was known as a “preaching place” in the area.  Many people who attended the meetings were of the Methodist faith.  In 1869, they established our first congregation known as the St. Charles Methodist Episcopal Church.  The church building was located on the corner of Saginaw and Clinton Streets on land donated by Charles Kimberley, the founder of St. Charles.  Unfortunately, the church building burned down in 1938.

The congregation then negotiated with a Baptist Church to acquire their unused church building on the corner of Belle Avenue and Fulton Street.  In 1960, we added a building which houses our Sunday school rooms, nursery, fellowship hall, kitchen, and church office.

In 1972, it was determined that the original church building was in need of numerous, very costly repairs and upgrades.  The decision was made to tear down the original building and build a new one at the same location.

In 1975, we built our current sanctuary, music room, classroom, pastor’s office, boiler room, and additional storage space.  Our sanctuary seats 258 people and has served us well since our first worship service in October 1975.

Brant United Methodist Church

The first “class” of the Methodist Protestant Church of Brant was organized January 14, 1872, according to a brief sentence written by Rev. Willis in 1885 in the Membership Book.  Alder A. Diamond was the first preacher. 

There were two separate governing boards of the Brant Church.  One was the Board of Trustees and the other was the Quarterly Conference.  Sunday School and worship were held in various school houses in Brady, Marion, and Brant Townships.

The first church building was a remodel of the Templar’s Hall in 1888.  The second and most current church building was built and dedicated February 4th and 5th, 1899.

On December 27th, 2015, Brant UMC held an open house to celebrate the more than 140 years they served the Brant community.  On December 31st, 2015, they closed their doors and merged with St. Charles United Methodist Church.

Pastoral History

(1940 – Present) 

Rev. Albert A. Ziarko (1940 - 1943)
Rev. Thomas W. Marshall (1943 - 1945)
Rev. J. Charles Dibley (1946 - 1962)
Rev. Harold Diehl (1962 - 1965)
Rev. G. MacDonald Jones (1966 – 1971)
Rev. John R. Crotser (1971 – 1979)
Rev. William W. Omansiek (1979 – 1985)
Rev. Edward C. Weiss, Jr. (1985 – 1994)
Rev. Dr. Charles W. Keyworth (1994 – 1999)
Rev. Kevin Harbin (1999 – 2002)
Rev. Dr. Harold Slater (2002 – 2007)
Rev. Art Norris (1/2008 – 2/2008)
Rev. Dr. William P. Sanders (3/2008 – 6/2008)
Rev. Ernesto Mariona (6/2008 – 9/2017)
Rev. Karen Sorden (1/2018 - 2022)
Rev. Brenda Gordon (2022-Present)