North Powder Community United Methodist Church nearing a milestone

Aug. 20—NORTH POWDER — It may be the most memorable dollar ever spent in North Powder's long history.

In 1882, Sarah and James W. Welch sold a block of property in North Powder for $1 to the United Methodist and Episcopal churches, according to records. The Methodists and Episcopalians built a church on the block in 1883, which they shared for four years before the Methodists assumed full ownership.

Today, the North Powder Community United Methodist Church is on the verge of joining a select circle — a limited number of other churches in Oregon to have operated in the same building for at least 140 years.

It is not hard to imagine what the church looked like in 1883. The building is filled with links to its past, including a few wooden pews believed to be the same ones the church first had in the 1880s and a bell in a tower that congregants still ring with the pull of a rope before Sunday services.

These vestiges to the past are in a well-maintained building that looks much like it did 139 years ago, according to Jeff Nielsen, a member of the church's congregation.

"It is pretty unique. Most churches this old have been remodeled at least five times," he said. "It is an original pioneer church. It is pretty phenomenal."

The church also has ledgers filled with the names of almost all the members of the congregations dating back to the 1800s.

"If these walls could talk, they could tell so much about the generations of people who grew up here," Nielsen said.

The North Powder Community United Methodist Church has about twice the square footage it had when it opened in 1883, according to Linda Dixon, a member of the congregation. In the 1940s an east-side addition was built on. Today, this addition houses the church's Sunday school program, one temporarily shut down after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the community's food bank.

The food bank, an outreach of the church, is run with major help from Dixon and her husband, Floyd, who travel to Island City each month to pick up supplies from the Northeast Oregon Regional Food Bank.

Older is sometimes betterIn an ironic twist, operating the older half of the building is today less expensive than running its newer half, since the older section has no plumbing. This means it does not need heat to keep water pipes from freezing, said Joyce Lawyer, a member of the church's congregation for more than 60 years.

The church's sanctuary is instead reliant on a woodstove in the winter.

"It can get so hot that it almost drives people out of here," Linda Dixon said with a smile.

Messages to rememberA focal point of services in the sanctuary are Bible-centered talks given on alternating weeks by Dixon and Susanne Watson, also a congregation member.

Watson said she feels blessed to be able to help give the talks because preparing for them has been so enriching.

"I have learned so much more about the Lord and the Bible," she said.

The North Powder Community United Methodist Church today has a congregation of fewer than 20 people — much smaller than what it once had. Nevertheless, the church's future appears solid because it has a long-running tradition as a focal point for community events. This means that whenever help is needed to keep the building operating, people step forward instantly, many of whom are not members of the congregation.

"Whenever we need help, all we have to do is ask," Dixon said.

Volunteers who help the church, but are not members, include Ted Golden, who assists in delivering food from Island City to North Powder for the food bank.

The church also hosts community events, such as the annual silver tea that has happened for 102 years, Lawyer said. Pews are temporarily removed from the sanctuary to make room for the tea, which draws at least 50 people each year.

Another popular event at the church is its annual Easter egg hunt, typically attracting about 100 children. This year's Easter egg hunt, Dixon said, was run with several inches of snow on the ground.

Such events are under the direction of a congregation that is remarkably close, Watson said.

"The people who attend are not just friends and neighbors," she said. "We are more like a family."

And this family has no shortage of generosity.

"We want to help as many people as we can," Watson said.

Dick Mason is a reporter with The Observer. Contact him at 541-624-6016 or dmason@lagrandeobserver.com.