ABOUT US
RECONCILING CONGREGATION
Missoula First United Methodist Church welcomes all people of any age, gender, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, economic status, or physical ability into the full life and membership of this congregation. We are a Reconciling Congregation.
Accessibility
Our church is handicap accessible through the street level door at the back alley of the building. There is an elevator there that will bring you up to the office and sanctuary or take you down to the fellowship hall. We have large-print bulletins with hymns, large print hymnals, and hearing assistance devices for those that are hard of hearing. We also have video screens for hymns and scripture. Ask the ushers for help when you arrive and they will find what you need.
The Building
Our church went through a massive renovation from 2016-2018. The plumbing, wiring, heating, kitchen, and bathrooms were all upgraded. On Sunday morning our newly enclosed front entrance has stairs up to the sanctuary level or down to Fellowship Hall.
The elevator is just off the back entrance and will take you to all the floors of the church building.
We have handicapped accessible bathrooms and hearing-assisted devices are available during worship.
During the week the back door is usually open
from 9 am-12 pm Monday -Thursday but is closed on Friday.
If the back door is locked, call the office. The office and sanctuary are located on the first level,
from the back entrance, go up the stairs to the first landing
and turn left. If using the elevator push floor 1.
Renovations
This report reviews significant events during construction and an approximate accounting of the cost. A final accounting of the overall project has not yet been completed, but it is hoped that some idea of what, when and where is presented here.
Now we continue the effort to cover the financial obligations. Again, our thanks to all of those who have contributed to the success of this project.
Annual or monthly gifts of any size also help to pay our debt. The largest single donation has been $375,000. If it is within your means we encourage you to help pay off the building loan by making a gift of money, stocks, insurance, houses, IRAs, and other financial resources you might have and be willing to donate.
HISTORY
The beginning process of forming a women’s group involved the growth of the church as well as happenings in the state and nation. The earliest years of Methodism in Missoula were rocky, hardship bound and financially hazardous. Organized religion first came to the area more than twenty years before gold was discovered. The black-robed Jesuits set up their first church in Stevensville in 1841.
Montana became a territory in 1864 and spasmodically itinerate Methodist preachers brought the message to the area, but never stayed more than a few days.
Rev. George Comfort, however, stayed throughout 1869. In his time, a Board of Trustees was formed and Block #4 was bought for $100.00 for the purpose “to build a church”. In 1872, Rev. Thomas Iliff was called from Ohio to build the church.
W.H.H. Dickinson, a bachelor, was not only chairman of the Trustees but also Postmaster and a local merchant. In 1872, he married Emma Slack, who had come west to visit her brother Jasper who had settled on a farm near Stevensville.
Emma Slack, born in 1838, had grown up in a Methodist Episcopal home in Maryland. In the Butte Western District registry, Emma was the only Methodist in Missoula in 1870. At about this time Virginia Speck’s (long-time member of First UMC) grandfather started a church in Whitehall. Emma, while visiting Jasper, was hired to teach fifteen students in Missoula for a three-month summer session. She did so for two summers. Emma’s 1872 wedding was the first performed by a protestant minister in Missoula.
In her new home Emma began teaching a Sunday School class on Sunday afternoons. Also, the Board of Trustees held their meetings in the Dickinson home. Emma served coffee and pastries to them, soon enlisting the help of a couple of other women. Was this the first Ladies Aid Group?
Our Staff
Pastor: John Daniels
Admin Assistant: Genevieve Padget Slote
Admin Assistant Sub: Cheryl Bauer
Financial Secretary: Leslie Uhlenbruck
Treasurer: Leslie Lindley
Custodian: Craig Gohl
Chancel Choir Director: Greg Boris
Pianist/Organist: Luke Larson
Handbell Choir Director: Sarah Schmill
The Office is next to the new elevator on the 1st level. Pastor John’s office is just to the east of that. If you can, call the church office before coming so you can find out when the staff will be there. Office hours are 9 am -12 pm Monday - Thursday.