'It's a family:' This Wauwatosa church is celebrating 175 years of history this year

In 1848, before Wisconsin even received its statehood and before Wauwatosa was known as Wauwatosa, a small group of worshippers started the first Methodist church in what was then known as "Harts Mills."

Twenty years later, about 40 people helped purchase a lot for $200 to construct a church at what is now 1529 Wauwatosa Ave.

Now, 175 years later, Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church members are still worshipping at that same site.

And this year, they're celebrating their rich and storied history.

Carolyn Dressler has been a member of the church since she moved to Wauwatosa in 1967. But even after 175 years have passed, she believes the current and past members are not all that different.

"These people, we think of all of the things that were so different, and yet they were the same in their faith and in their importance of having a congregation," Dressler said.  "We see that as continuing. The differences have made us realize the sameness of us."

Located on Wauwatosa Avenue in the heart of the Village area, the church is hard to miss.

The earliest church building, constructed in 1869, had an incredibly narrow steeple that was known as a “Methodist toothpick.” After that building burned in 1919, a new church was constructed in its place.

That one still stands, next to another church, St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church, and adjacent to the Wauwatosa Woman's Club.

"When you are in Wauwatosa, as a church member or as a resident, you know you are in a community that cares about something, and we feel this ecumenical feeling that yes, we’re Methodist but if you're not a Methodist it's not like you're separate … our beliefs as a community bring us together,” Dressler said.

Celebration and reconciliation

This year and next year, members of the church will celebrate their "dodransbicentennial"  — a $10 word for the 175th anniversary — in several ways.

They'll be in the Wauwatosa Fourth of July parade this summer. They're hosting a summer concert series on Sunday afternoons. They'll also have coffee house events on Saturday evenings, with different programs planned.

And they'll also collect video interviews with older members of the church.

Why is this so important?

"I think it's important to capture those because obviously people move on or pass away. and then it's lost," explained the Rev. Don Francis.

This is all in addition to the regular work and ministries of the church, which include tutoring groups for local schools, healing services, food pantry programs and working with Habitat for Humanity.

It's all par for the course for the congregation.

In the 1960s, members of the church supported Catholic priest James E. Groppi's social justice marches throughout Milwaukee. The church lost some members at the time because of the stance the church took in support of the movement.

"We have a long history of civil rights here," Dressler said, adding, "The Methodist Church is not a stranger to some upheaval."

More recently, the church has been tackling topics such as gay marriage and how to be an ally for the anti-racism movement.

In November 2019, the church formalized its "all are welcome" positions, becoming a Reconciling Congregation. This generally means the church welcomes people of all backgrounds.

“In our quest to love one another better, understanding where they're coming from and how we interact with them is important,” said member Wendy Kamerling.

"We've seen people come for that specific reason; they've seen the welcome signs," she added.

A rich history

Methodists first came to Wauwatosa in the 1830s and 1840s with the Methodist circuit riders. Circuit riders would commonly travel on horseback between distant churches.

The circuit riders started holding small church services in various homes across the area, in what was then known as "Harts Mills." Two local preachers assisted and when more people moved into the area, a small group started the first Methodist church in Wauwatosa, on May 22, 1848.

The church, then known as the First Methodist Church of Wauwatosa, was still without a preacher. But circuit rider preachers gathered worshippers in the village school, which was also shared by other denominations for religious services, according to an unofficial history from the church.

By the late 1860s, the congregation had grown to 40 members, so members decided to buy a lot of their own. They purchased a half-acre lot for $200 on the location where the church building is still located today.

Work began on the church in 1869, with cream color brick being placed on the facade of the building.

Some of the contributors at that time might be noticeable in Wauwatosa, as they now have streets named after them:

• L. l. Gridley (Gridley Avenue)

• J. S. Stickney (Stickney Avenue)

• W. O. Underwood (Underwood Avenue)

• Oliver Hoyt (Hoyt Place)

A former member, who was a bricklayer, laid all of the brick for the church. The women helped make church cushions for the seats, also doing much of the inside work.

A furnace was purchased for $200, while an organ was bought for $140.

The total cost? $5,400.

Some church members even mortgaged their homes to help make the payments.

The footprint of the church grew over the years:

In 1877, a parsonage was built to the north of the church.

In 1881, a summer kitchen was built and a barn was added for the minister's horse and buggy.

In 1897, Wauwatosa became a city, meaning grades were established, and the lot the church was on was lowered 15 feet so the church could be at street level. According to one church history, "The cost for lowering both the church and the parsonage (no mean feat by the way) was over $9.000.00, nearly twice what the church had cost 18 years before."

In the early 1900s, sewer, water and electricity were installed.

Early Methodist churches often had many pastors, unlike other religious groups at the time. The Methodist church in Wauwatosa had 26 different ministers in the first 40 years of the church.

By 1919, the church had grown to 200 members. Later that year, tragedy struck. On May 25, the building burned to the ground because of an overheated furnace.

"The fire department labored valiantly, and folks trouped to the scene to rescue any possible furnishings," one unofficial history said.

Later that same afternoon, the church board met with the current minister to launch plans for a new building.

Within two weeks, $15,000 had been pledged for the new building. Four years later, the new building opened at the same site.

But what about the organ, which had also been lost in the fire?

Members of the "organ committee" ventured to Chicago to buy a Moller organ that had been used by the Stratford Theatre in Chicago. They bought the organ for $7,000.

In the 1940s and 1950s, the congregation had grown so large that more room was needed and even more leadership.

"In the '50s, on Sunday, you went to church," Dressler said.

At its peak, the church had about 2,500 members.

In 1946, the church hired an associate pastor to help with the extra work. The church also built a new educational wing, an enlargement of the sanctuary and the chapel wing.  An extra church service was added on Sundays.

Recent years

In recent years, the church has adapted to fit the needs of the congregation.

Like many churches, services went virtual at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

But the church also had to deal with the death of its pastor in 2020. That's where the Rev. Don Francis, who was retired at the time, comes in.

Francis' roots in the church go deep, as his grandfather and father both attended the church.

"Don got us through this whole pandemic," said member Travers Price.

The church has two services now and continues to offer virtual options as well.

So why have members stayed so long?

Dressler has been attending for 55 years. She stays because of the music, the commitment to civil rights and of how accepting the church is.

“I came become I'm a Methodist and I could walk to church — but I stayed because I found something that spoke to me,” she said. 

Price has been attending the church for more than 30 years. In that time, he's served on just about every committee.

“I stayed because of the community, the family. It's a family, and you feel the love so that just keeps you in here,” Price said.

Evan Casey can be reached at 414-403-4391 or evan.casey@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @ecaseymedia. 

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wauwatosa Ave. United Methodist Church celebrates 175 year anniversary