HERSEY, Mich. — This congregation has undergone many name changes through the decades, but the faith, devotion and denomination have remained constant.

The origins of the church date to 1862 when pioneers of German descent came to this area of dense timber in Richmond Township of Osceola County in Hersey, Mich. Land was cleared to build their log homes.

These early pioneers – Henry Bittner, John Peffer, Philip Nagel and John Gerhardt – organized the First Evangelical Society. The next year Christoph Schwalm, F. Fulmerhouser, the Faist and Finkbeiner brothers and their families joined. Bittner was chosen as lay leader.
The congregation took the name of Bethlehem Hersey Society in 1866. Services were in homes until a log church was built in 1867, on the Schwalm homestead. Other churches branching out were Reed City, Hersey, Pinora, Maple Hill, Leroy and Evart.

The development of the congregation was tied to the growth of Osceola County. Delos Blodgett, the first settler in the area, platted the village of Hersey. In 1869, he offered to the Michigan Evangelical Conference two lots and all the lumber necessary to build a new church, provided construction began within two years.
The conference accepted the offer and Salem Hersey Class was organized. The church was built on its present location and dedicated in May 1873. The sanctuary has only half of a basement. It is told there are three pine stumps remaining under the other half of the sanctuary.

All sermons and singing were in German until 1897 when Rev. Henry Voelker gave only the sermon text in English. In 1922, services were finally all in English.

The Evangelical congregation continued to grow and in 1905, the church was remodeled, with 11 stained-glass windows. These windows came by train from Chicago.

In 1920, a Sunday School annex was built, a two-story, six-classroom addition at a cost of $2,500. This involved moving two of the large stained glass windows with horses, pulleys and ropes.
In 1943, the Fellowship Hall was built at a cost of $6,600. The uniting of the Evangelical denomination and the United Brethren denomination in 1946 changed the church’s name to Hersey Evangelical United Brethren Church. Uniting with the Methodist church in 1968, it is now the Hersey United Methodist Church.
In 2008, the dedication of a historical marker, giving a brief history and naming the 79 charter members, took place.

Farm World will publish the story of a rural church each week. To have your church included, please send a 400-word summary of the church and photographs to davidb@farmworldonline.com