(PHOTO BY INDIA KENNER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
SCHEDULED FOR DEMOLITION … The First United Methodist Church in Montpelier is set for demolition after being purchased by the Williams County Land Bank.
(PHOTO PROVIDED / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
BISHOP HAROLD MASON
By: India Kenner
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
india@thevillagereporter.com
Hiraeth, a homesickness for a home to which you cannot return; a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past.
Many Williams County and surrounding area community members are saddened by the news that the church across the street from the Montpelier Police Department is being transferred to the Williams County Land Reutilization Corp. (Land Bank) with plans for it to be demolished through the state’s Site Revitalization and Demolition Program.
Originally built in the 1890s, the building was once home to the First United Brethren Church. The church moved to E. Main Street in the 1960s and is now First United Methodist Church.
After the First United Brethren left the old building, the Church of the Nazarene occupied it for years. Residents commented on the beautiful construction and classic stained glass and attended services and weddings there.
On April 1, 1894, the Montpelier Liberal United Brethren Church was dedicated. The Montpelier United Brethren in Christ congregation was reportedly organized in the 1830s. If so, the congregation predates the village of Montpelier, which was surveyed in 1845.
In 1853, the congregation erected a house of worship on the west side of Jonesville Street, between Jefferson and Ohio streets.
In 1889, the United Brethren denomination nationally split into so-called “radical” and “liberal” factions over the issue of membership in secret societies such as the Masons.
In February 1893, the Radical United Brethren (now known as Central United Brethren) congregation dedicated a house of worship on the northwest corner of Lawrence and Broad streets.
On April 1, 1894, the Liberal United Brethren (now known as First United Methodist) congregation dedicated this brick house of worship on the northeast corner of Empire and Jefferson streets.
The historic brick structure served the First Church of the Nazarene congregation from 1963 to 1994 and the House of Prayer from 1994 to 2009.
On the history of the church, the following are accounts from two men who ministered there.
Harold Mason was born on November 9, 1888, in Kunkle, Ohio. When elected bishop in 1921 at age 32, he was the second-youngest bishop ever elected (Jacob John Glossbrenner was four months younger when elected in 1845).
Mason served just four years as bishop and spent the rest of his life in academia, including seven years as president of Huntington College—arguably saving the college.
Harold’s father ran a general store until 1892, when he became a United Brethren minister. So, Harold mostly grew up as a preacher’s kid.
In 1904, at age 15, Harold entered the Central College (now Huntington University) Academy to finish high school, and in 1907 graduated with a bachelor’s degree.
North Ohio Conference assigned him to what was called the Ransom Circuit in rural Hillsdale County, Michigan. Harold met a girl named Alta, who would become his wife.
However, he resigned in defeat during that first year–it’s unclear what happened, even to Robert—and took a teaching job at a Free Methodist school near Rochester, New York. In that community, he experienced healing. He moved back to Michigan and married Alta on December 25, 1909.
They both taught in public schools until 1911, when Harold sensed God pulling him back into the ministry. He served the UB church in Adrian, Michigan, and then the Etna Avenue congregation in Huntington, Indiana.
Then, in 1913, he was given a plum assignment—the UB church in Blissfield, Michigan, one of the conference’s most prominent congregations.
During the next five years, the church grew and completed building projects. Sons Robert and Wendell were born there. It was a good situation.
In 1918, the conference moved him (back then, they didn’t ask if you wanted to move) to the small congregation in Montpelier, Ohio. There, again, the church prospered under his leadership, and people across the denomination noticed.
In 1921, Harold Mason was elected bishop, largely based on eight years as a successful pastor (he hadn’t taken the usual paths of being a conference superintendent or denominational official).
He was assigned to the Pacific district. Making the rounds of his churches in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and California required a journey of up to 6000 miles, most of it by train.
But in year three, he moved the family to Ann Arbor, Michigan, cut back his church traveling, and enrolled in graduate school at the University of Michigan.
He graduated in 1924 with a Master’s in English and Philosophy, headed west to conduct his annual conferences, and in the fall, began teaching philosophy at Adrian College.
When his term as bishop ended in 1925, he became Academic Dean at Adrian College. He was drawn to higher education.
Mason was superintendent of schools in Blissfield, Michigan, from 1929 to 1932. Then, he was asked to become president of Huntington College. The school was on the verge of closing in those early days of the Depression.
In 1939, Mason left to pastor the flagship Free Methodist church in Winona Lake, Indiana, while also pursuing a doctorate at Indiana University. In 1943, he began five years as Professor of Christian Education at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary.
He finished his career in 1961 after 12 years as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Christian Education at Asbury Theological Seminary.
Professionally, he gave about 20 years to the United Brethren denomination and about 30 years to non-UB educational work. He passed away on June 2, 1964, in Winona Lake, Indiana.
Bruce Gerencser and his wife moved to Bryan, Ohio, and in February 1979, started attending Montpelier Baptist Church.
Pastored by Jay Stuckey, a Toledo Bible College graduate, the church was affiliated with the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches (GARBC).
In March, Gerencser became the church’s bus pastor — an unpaid position. The responsibility was to build up the bus ministry, which consisted, at the time, of one bus.
On average, the bus brought in 15 or so riders. He went to work aggressively canvassing Montpelier in search of new bus riders. Several church members helped him with this task. A few weeks later, on Easter Sunday, the bus attendance was 88.
Several months later, the church bought another bus. On the first Sunday in October, the church had a record attendance of 500. Bus attendance was around 150.
The Sunday morning service was held at the Williams County Fairgrounds. They had dinner on the grounds, a quartet provided special music, and Ron English from the Sword of the Lord was the guest speaker. Tom Malone was scheduled to speak, but, at the last moment, he canceled.
The church started an expansion program to accommodate the growing crowds. The next week after the big Sunday, Gerencser resigned as bus pastor, and he and his wife packed up their household goods and moved to Newark, Ohio. Stuckey left the church soon after, and the church hired a new pastor.
Attendance began to decline, he left, and another man became pastor. About a decade later it closed its doors, unable to meet its mortgage payment. The Montpelier First Church of the Nazarene then bought the building.
Montpelier Village Deputy Manager Justin Houk explained via email that a contractor has not yet been selected for demolition.
Residents interested in obtaining pieces of the church can contact the village office to be added to an email list for updates once a contractor is chosen.
