Grace Methodist Church
The story of our beloved church dates all the back to 1854. Then, the
Methodist Episcopal Church held services irregularly at the home of
William Fowler in Mantorville by a traveling colporteur and local elder,
D.L. King.
December of 1855 brought the church to officially be established as the
Mantorville Mission under the jurisdiction of the Wisconsin Annual
Conference.
1856 saw the organization of the Minnesota Annual Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. The Mantorville Mission, led by Rev. N. Moon at this point, was part of the Red Wing District. During this year, a committee was also formed to discuss and table a building for Worship as well as cost for a circuit preacher.
1860 saw the the start of a stone structure being built out of native stone in the area as the new church. The church wasn't dedicated until 1868.
1873 saw the building of the first Methodist Church of Kasson. This gave way to selling the Mantorville church to the First Congregational Church in 1875. In this same year, Mantorville and Kasson classes formed into one known as the Kasson Circuit. This also saw the district change from Red Wing to Rochester. One of the most prominent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church was the founder of the town, himself, Mr. Jabez Hyde Kasson. He would remain a consistent member for 30 years.
1880 shows record of our first organized Sunday School lessons. 9 years later in 1898, the church went under heavy remodeling and was rededicated. Large stained glass windows adorned two sides of the structure and many gifts and memorials were given by pioneers of the church including MR. & Mrs. J.H. Kasson, Mr. & Mrs. D.K. Dibble, Mr. & Mrs. A. Walrath, MR. & Mrs. S.T. Jones, MR. & Mrs. M. Littleton, Amelia M. & C.J. Alexander, Clinton & Elizabeth Hemingway, and Mary A. Crouch.
From 1900 to 1909, various improvements to the church were made, such as installing carpeting and painting and installing a new furnace. Membership increased and Sunday School flourished. The First Methodist Church was well endowed in spirit and community outreach.
In 1925, a ceiling was constructed in the south room to provide for a primary room above it. The basement also went through an extensive remodel as well.
1931 notes the purchase of the Parsonage.
1947 saw the purchase and installation of a Hammond electric organ for use to lead in hymns during services.
1948 had another new furnace installed as well as many memorials given. Some of those include 51 folding chairs, an organ lamp, and a beautiful six foot by three foot painting of "Christ at the Door." This painting is still on display in our sanctuary to this day.
1949's big project was the construction of cement steps leading to the church entrance as well as sidewalks around the church and parsonage and a driveway to the garage. Restrooms and a back entry to the basement were also big projects at this time.
In 1955, the church celebrated their Centennial. 100 years as a congregation! Other notable things that happened that year and leading up to the celebration included things like redecorating the sanctuary, putting blocks in the ceiling, the beginning of the Sunday School Library with help from memorial funds, just to name a few.
During the winter of 1957-1958, the basement of the church was used as the 5th grade classroom for the public school while the actual school building was being constructed. The church also received an altar bible, hymnals, a baptismal font, the outside bulletin board, and communion linens through memorials.
An extensive remodeling and refurnishing of the sanctuary took place between 1961 & 1963. The basement also went through remodeling.
1966 brought about yoking the First Methodist Church with the Pleasant Corners Evangelical United Bretheren Church. To this day, the two congregations remain yoked. Two years later, in 1968, the two churches were coordinated into the United Methodist Church. The parsonage of the Evangelical United Bretheren was decided upon to host the pastors and their families and is still used to this day.
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1973 marked another milestone for our congregation. It was the Centennial celebration of the church building. Sadly, this building no longer exists, but it was right across the street from the original Elementary school.
The congregation continued to grow over the years and brought to the table the idea of needing a newer and bigger space to accommodate growth. Mother's Day of 1983 saw the ground breaking for construction of the new church building with seating capacity almost doubling what the original sanctuary could allot. What was constructed was a single level building that would accommodate handicap accessibility. It took approximately six months to build and saw its first gathering of worship in December of 1983. A year later, in 1984, the cornerstone was laid and the building was dedicated to God.
The stained glass windows from the old church were brought in and incorporated into the new sanctuary. The wall of windows sits along the south wall of the sanctuary and the cross with windows adorn the west walls upon the altar and pulpit.
In 1990, The Kasson United Methodist Church celebrated 135 years and continued to grow. In 1999, ground was broken for an extension onto the church to, again, accommodate for growth. This time, it was an addition that included a bigger kitchen, fellowship hall, additional Sunday School rooms and offices for the pastor and secretary. The addition was consecrated in the spring of 2000.
Over the years, the new fellowship hall would see many community uses and church fundraisers and is still well used for such things.
2005 was a big year for our congregation as we celebrated our Sesquicentennial. 150 years as a congregation! Some things to celebrate such an amazing milestone included a specialty quilt was made and dedicated to our church, wagon rides toured the locations of our churches and history was dictated, a big potluck was enjoyed by all! We never go hungry in this congregation due to the culinary talent we share. We also released a commemorative cook book of the congregation's favorite recipes. Proceeds went back into the church for various projects and events.
2020 brought struggles as Covid-19 took a hold of the nation. Worship could not be held in our sanctuary as normal. To combat not being able to worship indoors, we turned our parking lot into a makeshift sanctuary and held services in the safety of our own vehicles. We also developed a way to live stream our
services for people who chose to stay within the comforts of their own homes and
still utilize this option today.
In 2022, discussions were began and deliberated upon as to our future as a denomination. Members of our church had to vote upon whether to remain a constituent of the United Methodist Church or part ways. In April of 2023, majority vote decided to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church. Our name had to change as well and was decided upon as Grace Methodist Church.
Today, our church is still thriving and growing by the grace of God.
Ministers Through the Years
1857-58 J.M. Rogers
1858-60 E.R. Lathrop
1860-61 T.P. Morse
1861 J. McMannus
1861-64 J.W Powell
D.F. Halleck
W.A. Chambers
B.Y. Coffin
A.V. Hiscock
1870-72 B.A. Kemp
1872-73 M.O. McNiff
1873-76 Robert Forbes
1876-79 Levi Gilbert
1880-82 Alfred Cressey
1882-85 M.L. Hutton
1885-98 B.C. Gillis
1898 George S. Parker
1900-09 James Castles
1909-11 O.V. Siniff
1911-16 W.W. Brown
1916-17 J. D. Hollister
1917-21 R.J. Rice
1921-23 W.J. Walker
1923-26 J.W. Mettam
1926-27 T.S. Mondale (Father of former Vice President Walter F. Mondale)
1927-30 W.R. Palmer
1930-36 A.W. Brown
1936-39 A.C. Green
1939-47 Gilbert H. Rogers
1948-52 B. Lambert
1952-56 W.R.C. Baker
1956-62 Forrest Strnad
1962-64 Alden Keiske
1964-68 Gary Bruenning
1968-73 Allyn Hanson
1973-77 Norman Witt
1977-85 Kenneth Rogers
1985-88 Gordie Wiegrefe
1988-94 John Morris
1994-95 Richard Smith
1995-02 John T. Conklin
2002-13 Karen Seavey (First female pastor and longest tenure to date)
2013-18 Joel Xavier
2018-Present Jacob Hanson