Then and Now: Chelsea United Methodist Church

From the Chelsea Region Historical Society

A Methodist Society was founded in 1853 and became part of Lima Township with services held at a school. The congregation grew and Elisha Congdon donated land for a church in 1858, and a wooden church was built on Park Street the following year. Following the civil war, a presbytery was built in 1866 right next to it. Forty years later, the wooden church building burned down in 1899.

The stone church consecrated in 1900

The present stone church building, modeled after an earlier Scottish church, was constructed of fieldstone donated by local farmers and was consecrated in 1900. The building was funded mainly by the prominent men of Chelsea at the time–Frank Glazier, William Bacon, John Schenk and George Palmer.

The membership and building of the church grew over time, and a two-story educational wing was added sixty years later. In 1992, the expansion continued with the addition of a main entrance including an elevator, a cloakroom and toilets. Another wing was added in 1996 to complete the impressive building as it appears today on Park Street.