First United Methodist Church

1858—2008  

Celebrating 150 years in service for Christ.

History

In 1858 Henry Singenstrue, a German Methodist missionary, made his way across the Minnesota River from LeSueur to New Ulm. His first services, beginning on May 5, 1858, were held in the John Fenske home, three miles west of New Ulm, in Lafayette Township. The church was organized on October 18, 1858 and land purchased at 300 North State Street in New Ulm.

Early in 1862 construction of a small log structure began. It was the first Methodist church to be built in the county by a permanent congregation. In August of that year the nearly completed church was destroyed during the Dakota Conflict.

 

The next year, in 1863, a small log church was built by the Lafayette Society in what is now Klossner. This little church was replaced by a brick one in 1872, and was thereafter known as the “Salem Methodist Church.” All that remains of Salem Church is the cemetery, which adjoined it. One minister served the New Ulm congregation and the Salem Church, with services held on alternating Sundays.
Text Box: The second “New Ulm Mission Church,” with a brick veneer and three windows on each side, was built in 1866 with a steeple holding the first church bell in town. This church was destroyed by a tornado in 1881, the bell left perched on top of the rubble.

 

Rebuilding of the church again took place in the summer of 1882. The new church, dedicated in November of that year, was the third structure in twenty years. The bell that survived the tornado was used for a short time until it cracked and had to be replaced.
Text Box: In 1920 sermon delivery changed from German to English. Though still remaining in the Northern German Conference, the name of the church was changed from the “German Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church in New Ulm” to “First Methodist Episcopal Church of New Ulm.” Shortly after, in 1924, the Northern German Conference disbanded. Because the small church was being outgrown, the present church was built on the corner of Broadway and Center Streets in 1924. The cornerstone was laid on April 13, 1924, and the dedication of the church took place in 1925. In 1939 it was officially designated as the “First Methodist Church,” and in 1968, with the merger of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren, it became “First United Methodist Church.”

Photos provided by Elroy Ubl