CASSOPOLIS — The pastor and congregation of the Cassopolis United Methodist Church at 209 S. Rowland said the church invites the community to join them in celebrating the 180th year of the church’s founding.

At 10 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 30, the celebration will begin with worship in the church sanctuary and continue with a church provided brunch in the Wood Fellowship Hall. The church parking lot and handicap access is available from the O’Keefe Street parking lot.   

According to archival records, the first church services conducted in Cassopolis were led by an Episcopalian Bishop in 1832. At about the same time, Methodist “Circuit Riders” appeared in the area, perhaps preaching in Cassopolis once a month. In 1838, the first Methodist Church society was organized in Cassopolis. CUMC takes the 1838 date as its time of origin. These early churches met in schools or the court house.

Records show that two lay persons, one Episcopalian and one Methodist, erected a church building on Rowland Street for joint use of both denominations in 1846. Methodist-Episcopal services continued in this first structure until 1874, when a new church structure was built on the same Rowland Street site. The cornerstone on the northwest stone, stair entrance of the present building records this date. The church claimed 48 members and 90 children in Sunday School at that time.

Two hundred members and 150 Sunday school children were active in the church by its 100th anniversary. Renovations took place to the church, such as indoor plumbing and heat and air conditioning to accommodate the comfort of the growing population. In 1958, 1963 and 1988 structural additions were added to the church building, and yet the sanctuary remains much the same as it was when first built with beautiful beadboard side walls and its unique two steeple front entrance.

The denomination’s name has also changed over the years from Methodist-Episcopal to United Methodist. Fifty years ago in 1968, the Methodist Church joined with the United Evangelical Brethren Church to become the United Methodist Church, as it is known today. The UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley in England as well as the Great Awakening in the United States. 

Changes in population, worship style and structure have not changed the central message of today’s CUMC: Christ crucified, Christ risen, Christ will come again. The Apostles Creed, sometimes spoken in a more modern version, is still professed weekly at worship and “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors” are still found at Cassopolis United Methodist Church.