1874 to 1933
It has been told, that at the dedication of the new church, several men of the community marched up to the altar and laid down twenty-five silver dollars each. This amount of money in those days represented many sacrifices for them and was an example of the belief these people had in their new church.
Records show that the first minister to preach in the new church was Rev. Artemus Brown and he reported to the Methodist Conference in December 1874, that the new church has been practically paid for and is a permanent improvement.
In the Methodist conference minutes of Aug. 19, 1876, the following report was made: We, the Trustees of the Pleasant Grove Chapel would beg leave to report to the quarterly conference, as that we had for the use and benefit of the Methodist Episcopal Church the Pleasant Grove Chapel. The Property is new and in a good state of repair and free from indebtedness and is estimated to be worth at this time, $2000.00. The Trustees: Charles M. Minkler, Thomas R. Hughes, George W. Sowers, J. E. Hoover and Adam McGloflin.
The minister in November, 1882, was Rev. E. Kendall and in December, 1883, it shows the minister to be Rev. D. Thompson.
According to Methodist records, Pleasant Grove Church severed their relationship with the Ames Circuit in 1886. At this time Pleasant Grove was served by Rev. Fegtley.
* See minister list from Methodist Conference Records for years from 1855 through 1890, as prepared by Helen Black, Historian for the Ames Methodist Church.
In Des Moines Conference records in 1888, it states that for the year 1886-1887, A very excellent revival took place at Pleasant Grove on the Gilbert work last winter, under the labor of Rev. Ostrander, one of the most faithful pastors of the District. The whole neighborhood was stirred for miles around and the society has been greatly built up. There had been no revival in the community for a great many years. Brother Ostrander's return to the work is much desired by all the people. The Pastor during 1889, was Rev. E. E. Raymond and Rev. J. S. Throckmorton in 1890.*
The elements of mother nature displayed its effects in 1882, as the snow and rains posed problems for the church. In April, the pastor reported that we have two Sunday Schools in this charge. The one at Pleasant Grove, owing to the very bad state of the ponds for months, just is not in as good condition as would be desirable, yet we hope that with the returning of spring, a little better interest will awaken. In February, 1883, the pastor reported, At Pleasant Grove, school closed because of the almost impassable state of the roads. I have not preached to the children during the quarter.
The Trustees listed for Pleasant Grove for 1874 were: M.O. Minkler, T. R. Hughes, George W. Sowers, J. E. Hoover and A. McGloflin. The Trustees for 1877 were: George W. Sowers, C.M. Minkler, and Adam Scott.
In 1886, Pleasant Grove was served by the Gilbert Circuit and after 1888 no further mention was made of Pleasant Grove in the Methodist Conference
Records for the Gilbert Circuit. Apparently, some of the area meeting places (classes) shared ministers, as these classes are mentioned in records we have for this time period. The places mentioned in these records are: Lone Tree schoolhouse; Oak Grove Church; Bethel schoolhouse; Presbyterian Church, Gilbert; and Pleasant Grove Church. Times for services at these different sites are listed as 11:00am. Pleasant Grove, 4:00 to 4:30 pm. at Oak Grove Church; and 4:30 at Bethel schoolhouse. This was in years 1895 and 1896.
Ministers listed for 1895 and 1896 were A. W. Harned and William. L. Cox. Rev. Harned was appointed minister in 1892 and 1893. William L. Cox was appointed in Sept. 1895. They were followed by M. J. Butterfield. Rev. Harned and Rev. Butterfield returned later to take part in homecoming events of the church.*
Pleasant Grove Church since this period has been a community church and self-supporting and independent of any denominational ties. Pleasant Grove was referred to in those days as "The Little White Church in the Oaks." It was also known to be the most modern church in Story County because it was the only church that had a stable to protect the horses from the weather during meetings. I understand that the stable was built on the west side of the church yard, close to the road. Probably in front of our annex (outhouse). It is interesting to read that we were such a modern church at one time in our history because one modern convenience we do not have at the church yet is running water and indoor plumbing. Because of the proximity to the cemetery the earlier congregations could not dig a well for the church.
A pump organ was purchased for the church in 1884 and is still in the church today. The first organist was Miss Libby McClain and beginning in 1883, Mary Kate Bickelhaupt became organist and continued to play for many years. Wooden pews were hand hewn and these are still used in the church. These are said to be unique as the backs and seats were cut from one piece of wood. The old school desk was moved to the church when the schoolhouse closed. The school clock is still used by the church also.
Somewhere in the back of the church sat a pot-bellied wood stove with a stove pipe running the length of the church and up over the heads of the congregation to the front of the church. There it joined into the stove pipe of another stove, before reaching up to the chimney. I imagine that in the winter, the choice seats to sit in were not the pews in the middle. For many years, the church was heated with wood stoves and the people of the church would gather together for a day or two of chopping wood and hauling it up to the church for winter use.
The church sits in a wooded area near the Skunk River so they would have easy access to firewood and in those days. Many wooded areas were divided into "wood lots" for people to have access to wood to heat their homes. As usual, this was a family project and we were told that while the men chopped wood, the ladies used this trip to clean the church. They brought along their lunches and made a day of it.
Travel in those days was much slower and different than now. A horse and buggy was the best you could get or maybe a surrey with a fringe on top, if you were lucky. Some people remembered riding horseback or on a mule, or if there was ice, you could skate to church on the river. There was always a lot of people who walked. In winter, Abner Nash used to stop by each farm house along his way to the church and pick up all the smaller neighborhood children in his sleigh and take them to Sunday School. He would put warm bricks in the bottom of the sleigh to keep their feet warm.
The ministers came from far distances in those days and the good men of the church took turns meeting the preachers in Ames, on Saturday, with horse and buggy. Some member families of the church would take turns boarding them until Sunday evening or Monday morning and then take them back to Ames to meet the train that would take them home. One lady remembers hearing her father tell about one minister who always wanted to stay at the George Sowers' home. The Sowers family lived on the corner across from the church. He particularly would enjoy Mrs. Sowers' breakfasts. Her father would recall the minister saying, "More cod fish gravy and buckwheat cakes, please, Mrs Sowers, mam." It must have been breakfasts like this that kept them coming back and also kept them warm in those cold winters and long buggy rides back to Ames.
Families took turns boarding the ministers and a couple of the families mentioned in our records were the Ed Sanders, the Henry Jacobs and the Nobel families. One of the ministers who preached at the church was Rev. Main. He was staying at a hotel in Des Moines, Iowa, while attending a convention and a man came into his room and tried to rob him. Rev. Main chased the man out of his room and down some stairs and the man turned, shot at the minister and Rev. Main was killed. Among the many ministers who came to Pleasant Grove was a woman from Gilbert, Iowa, named Maude Robinson. Many liked having her, especially the children, but some felt at that time, that the pulpit was no place for a woman.
I was also told that they had what they called "protracted" meetings. I believe, from what I have heard that they are now known as revival meetings. The minister would come and stay for one to two weeks. There were meetings every night. People would come in from all over the area to hear him speak. Many were converted then and it became quite an emotional time. Their lives were much simpler then and this was an unusual event for them to attend.
Travelers coming through the prairie by wagon at one time buried their baby in front of the church, just east of where our sidewalk is now at the base of the oak tree.
On March 29, 1896, Sunday School Book shows: Sunday School Superintendent, E. W. Sanders; Assistant, Mrs. M. Smith; Secretary, Willie Smith; Treasurer, Fred Minkler; and Librarian, Genevive Minkler. April 5, 1896, teachers for Sunday School were Mr. Kimble, Mr. J. W. Bateman, Mr. E. W. Kimble, Mr. George Gum and Mrs. M. Smith, collection for that Sunday was 49 cents. On January 3, 1897, the Sunday School officers elected were: Supt., E. W. Kimble; Asst., E. W. Sanders; Secretary, Mamie Warren; Treas., Laura Morgan; Organ, Myrtle Morgan; Asst., Nellie Kersey and Librarian, Claud Sanders.*
*More information from this book will be added to this site later.
Church services continued uninterrupted from pioneer days until the first World War. The war changed the church attendance. The young men of the families were called away to serve overseas and the parents of the young men were so despondent, they seemed to give up. One of the boys whose family attended the church was killed in the war and the church closed, remained closed for a period of seven years.
Church Secretary records from July 12, 1925, stated "Having been without services of any kind at Pleasant Grove since the epidemic of Flu, in the year of 1918, and when so many of our boys left for service in the World's War, it was decided to try and organize a Sunday School. Everyone in the community seemed interested and a goodly number met at the church and the following officers and teachers were selected: Supt. Mr. J. W. Matters; Asst. Supt. and Organist, Casper Thompson; Asst. Organist, Mrs. C. O. Dotson; Sec. and Treas. Mrs. T. R. Sowers."
Teacher for Men's Bible Class: Ray S. Brown; Women's Bible Class, Mrs. Mills; Junior girls, Mrs. Ray S. Brown; Junior boys, Mrs. Benjamin Moms; Primary girls, Mrs. Charles Alfred; Primary boys, Clare R. Sowers; Young peoples class, Miss Katherine Moms. Amount of collection that day was $3.30." Signed by Mrs. George R. Sowers, Secretary.
At one time, three sets of twins attended Sunday School at Pleasant Grove Church. They were the Nobel twins; the Tom Sowers' twins, John and George; and the James Sowers' twin girls, Sylvia and Sybil. During the 70's, Dale and Dolores Swanson's twin daughters, Jean and Joan attended here. Both Jean and Joan were married at Pleasant Grove.
The community people opened the church again in 1925 and into the 1930's the Church and Sunday School again flourished. One listing for Sunday School during this time was: E. W. Sanders, S.S. Supt.; class teachers were: Mrs. Chet Davis, Mrs. J. W. Matters, Casper Thompson and Mrs. Mills. Through 1926 to 1931, once again the community had many young people. With a student pastor named Harold Bare ,the Sunday School and Church again flourished.
Evening meetings were held once a month. Everyone took turns taking part in the program. Sunday School teachers included Mrs. Bessie Alfred, Mrs. Benjamin Morris, Mrs. William McCoy, Mrs. Lois Arrasmith, Casper Thompson, and Dorothy Sowers. A local newspaper was edited and read by Lois Arrasmith.
During 1933 the church dwindled in size and closed again. I can find no reason for its closing then except for the small attendance and possibly the hard-times of the depression years. No regular church services were held again until 1939, although, the church was used occasionally during these years for other meetings, etc.
Pleasant Grove Church continued active during these years but sometime in the early 1950's, Rev. Lookingbill's health failed and he could no longer carry on his duties as minister at the church. Though the congregation wanted to continue, they could not function without a minister. In 1960, Rev. Hector Thompson, who was a retired Episcopal Pastor from Ames, was asked if he would be interested in preaching at Pleasant Grove. He helped the community people get the church open again. Rev. Thompson started an Easter tradition that we still observe today. Small potted, blooming plants are given to the children at the Easter Sunday Service as an example of new birth and new growth. Thanks to the help of Rev. Thompson in reopening the church in the 1960's the church has been able to continue to hold services and other church activities until the present time.
Rev. Thompson continued to serve as minister for 5 l/2 years until his health failed. The church continued to have services with part-time ministers, until Rev. Clay Lumpkins agreed to fill our pulpit. Rev. Clay Lumpkins was pastor at the Congregational Church in Gilbert. Again we had a connection with Gilbert. Rev. Lumpkin continued to serve for a period of 4 years.
This period of time in Pleasant Grove gave the ladies of the church a chance to gain some insight into what it was like to direct church services. As the time for services at the Gilbert church overlapped the time for services at Pleasant Grove, someone had to fill the time at the beginning until Rev. Lumpkins could get to the church from Gilbert. This task became the job of various ladies of the church. ( We could never seem to persuade the men of the church to take on this task.) All of the preliminaries of the service, including music, announcements and lessons or scripture, etc. were taken care of before Rev. Lumpkins arrived. He only had to walk in and preach the sermon for the day. This was a great learning experience for us who took part. During his time at Pleasant Grove we had our first confirmation class on Mar. 19, 1967. Three young men of the church were confirmed. They were Robert Rahto, James Roberts, and David Keltner.
In 1967, an altar was built for the church by Oscar Trueblood of Ames. A new gas furnace was installed to replace the old coal furnace. The old furnace had given up and in the process had blackened the basement with soot. From the annual report for that year, I find it said, "that a flurry of fund raising began and the furnace became a fact. It was installed by the men of the church and was a great improvement over the old coal furnace."
A work day was scheduled and the sooty basement became clean again and with a new coat of paint over the walls and ceiling, and also on some of the workers. On June 15th, 1968, it was decided that the outside of the church needed a new coat of paint. Volunteers were needed again. The word went out to all the members to bring sack lunches, paint brushes, scrapers, water, ladders, and elbow grease and to come early, and the job was done.
Following Rev. Lumpkins, we had a student from Iowa State University. His name was Randy Pelham. He served the church for almost 4 years. Many part time ministers have also preached here. Oliver Knott and Terry Yocum served the church for several years each and returned later to fill the pulpit when needed. The church continued to be served by retired ministers, students and lay preachers. One of the biggest challenges for a small congregation is the problem of finding and supporting ministers.* A more extensive list of ministers and dates of service will be added later.
In 1968, a Sunday School report showed that we had an average of 17 attending each Sunday. There were 20 to 30 people attending Sunday Worship Services. At this time the Sunday School Supt. was Mrs Glen Keltner. Sunday School Teachers were: Pre-school: Mrs. Carl Samson; Primary: Mrs. Glen Keltner; Intermediate: Mrs. Martin Jacobs, Jr.; Juniors: Mrs Ronald Rahto: Adult Leader: Mr. Clint Sheffield. The youngest student was Brian Jacobs, age 4, and the oldest person attending was Clint Sheffield, at age 89.
Board of Trustees at this time were: President, Carl Samson; Vice President, Mrs. Rhoby Matters; Treasurer, Mrs. Stella Roberts; Secretary, Mrs. Donna Jacobs. Other board members were: Mrs. Hilda Petrus, Mrs. Dorothy Keltner, Mr. Louis Osborn.
The Ladies Club of the church was organized in January, 1964.
At this time the Ladies Club consisted of 13 members. Stella Roberts was President; Vivian Osborn was Vice President; Dorothy Keltner was Secretary; Harriet Durby was Treasurer, and Norma Keltner was Historian. The ladies of this club were busy raising funds for the church and many times came to the rescue of the church to help with paying bills. They held money raising projects, such as bake sales, selling cook books, tearing rag strips to make rugs and selling them. Vivian and Wayne Osborn sold us chickens one year, and we had them dressed and frozen and sold them to make money. Many good chicken dinners came from that project.
The annual ice cream socials were always a big event of the church and community. The ice cream was always hand cranked and made the Saturday before the social at one of the members' homes. One of the grocery stores in the area would let us store the gallons of ice cream in their freezer until the following Saturday. The first few socials that we held, we made the ice cream the same afternoon that we served it and were still making ice cream when the people were arriving. Many people enjoyed watching this process. There were children and adults who had never seen ice cream made this way.
In order to save on the cost of ice, we would all freeze half-gallon milk cartons of ice to use to chill the ice cream. Dorothy Keltner also froze rhubarb for pies in milk cartons. All were surprised when two cartons were broken open and inside was frozen rhubarb. Even the day of the ice cream social was a busy day. The people of the church arrived around noon to start carrying all the tables, chairs and benches up the stairs to be put on the east lawn. Pies and cakes and drinks had to be put out and then all hoped that it would not rain. We had very few times when it rained on us through all those years of socials.
Eventually, our congregation got small enough that it was felt that there was not enough people to do all the work necessary to hold ice cream socials, so the socials were discontinued for a few years. Friends and people from the community kept asking when we were going to have ice cream socials again. So we have started the tradition again.
These years at Pleasant Grove were very busy and all members and young people were very active. The Sunday School had a good turn out every Sunday. During the summer, some years, we had Bible School for the younger children. This was for a one week period, usually held in June. One of our volunteer teachers was Legatha Petersen from Story City. She was especially liked by the children and after the children got to know her they all called her Grandma Petersen.
Our teens during that time formed a group called the Apostles. This group, also, took part in activities to raise funds for special church projects. Many of this group attended CFO camp. Their sponsor and leader was Dorothy Keltner, who also chaperoned them on their trips and when they attended the CFO camp.
In September of 1964, the city of Ames, Iowa, celebrated their centennial.
We were invited to enter a float in their parade. One of our members had a hayrack we could use. We decorated it, added a sign about the church history, put the old pump organ on the hayrack and added three church pews. Some ladies of the church dressed in pioneer clothing and rode in the pews while Wanda Rahto played the old pump organ and we sang old hymns as we rolled along.
Two of our young men from the Sunday School sat on the back of the hayrack as pioneers. We really enjoyed the day and we received a trophy as runners-up in the organization category of the parade.
1950 to 1964
1939 to WWII
Another New Start
After 1933, the church was only used occasionally. In 1939, Mr. and Mrs. Jay Wilson's daughter, Dolores, pleaded with Rev. C. E. Lookingbill to reopen the church so she could go to Sunday School there. The Wilson's lived a short distance just northeast from the church. Rev. Lookingbill became interested and apparently the people of the community were ready and willing to do what was needed to have their church open again.
​ People of the church collected donations from the community and pledges of labor to reclaim the original appearance of the church. Men and women from the community and neighboring towns had an old fashioned pioneer "busy bee" day. That day 60 men and women came early and worked late. By night the outside of the church had been brushed and painted a first coat. The inside of the church had been cleaned, the pews, woodwork and wainscoting had been given their first coat of paint.
Some of the people who came for a work day in 1940
An article was published in the Nevada Evening Journal on September 27, 1940, about the " rehabilitation" of Pleasant Grove Church. These are some of the comments that were in the paper. "A group of 28 men and as many women and children gathered here, Thursday, for a day of real work. Ladders, paint brushes, hammers and saws were brought along by the men and when the afternoon waned, the old church, built in 1873, had received a new coat of paint and by tonight the new roof will be on"all work and funds for material being donated.
Later, it is expected to have another bee and excavate a basement which in time may house a heating plant. While the men were busy laying shingles and wielding the paint brush on the outside, part of the women were preparing the dinner, as the others were busy with paint brushes, cleaning and repainting the seats, wainscoting and other woodwork in the interior.
But that dinner "well it was one of the outstanding feeds in the lives of at least a couple of Nevada men who happened to drop in at feed time. "Never saw so much well prepared food in my life, and for once I learned that chickens were not all necks," remarked one of them. Workers were served a second feed about 4 o'clock and even then there was plenty left to pack in the baskets and take home for a snack for supper."
Soon, the people of the church had put on a new shingled roof, and had finished the second coat of paint to the outside and inside of the church. The walls were papered with a beautiful colonial pattern of wallpaper in soft grey tones. The wallpaper was donated by Mrs. Andrew Buland of Cambridge, who was a former school teacher of the community. Now, they felt that the church was a place to do just tribute to the old pioneers who built the church. A rededication was held in October at the church and there was an attendance of about 300 people. A former member of the community, Dean, C. F. Curtis, was the guest speaker for the day.
Rev. C. E. Lookingbill and Dorothy Bielefeldt appeared on Herb Plambeck's Saturday Farm and Home Hour to tell about the reclaiming of Pleasant Grove Church. This program was aired on WHO radio in those days and was a popular farm and news show.
A decision was made that the church should be raised and a basement put underneath. This was started in 194l, as near as we can tell, from the records we have. There is a record of donations for this project and also for pledges of labor to finish the basement.*(See list added later) The basement was dug by hand and with volunteer labor. People who helped on the project have told us that a team of horses was used to pull the loads of dirt out of the basement. A log chain was attached to a slip (sled) and the men would fill this with shovels of dirt and when it was full the team of horses would pull it out and it would be emptied and this process would start all over again. Concrete block were laid to form the basement walls. A floor was poured, steps built to the basement and the church now had a dining room and kitchen and also a better place to hold Sunday School classes. During 1939, electricity was installed in the church, in the form of Delco Light. Later the church was hooked up to the Rural Electric Cooperative power and is still serviced by the REC at this writing.
Once again the people of the church were busy. Ladies Guild was formed and their activities included selling lunches at farm sales, selling vanilla to raise money, holding bazaars, and serving chicken suppers, all this to help in the support of the church. Officers for Ladies Guild in 1941 were: President, Mrs. Bertha Johnson; Vice President, Mrs. William McCoy; Secretary, Mrs. Jay Wilson; Hostess, Mrs. Lookingbill. The new church improvements were paid for and a coal furnace was installed in the new basement.
In the summer of 1945, a bad storm soaked the wall at the front of the church and ruined the wallpaper. The wall needed repairs and needed new wall paper. The wall was repaired and new wall paper was put up by Dorothy and Glen Keltner.
Some of the best lecturers and ministers in the state came to speak at Pleasant Grove. I am told that Billie Sunday came through Story County and once spoke to a large group here. Gov. of Iowa, B.B. Hickenlooper was the speaker here one Sunday. Ida Honderd told us that 7 or 8 ladies of the church cooked the dinner that day for the crowd. The Story City band came and played early in the day. Just when they thought that they were through serving the huge crowd that stayed for the dinner, the Nevada Band came early to play for the afternoon meeting. Rev. Lookingbill thought that they should be fed, too, and so the ladies added more water to the chicken and noodles, made more sandwiches and coffee. The cooks did without, but the rest of the people got fed. This was in 1943.
Not only did people come to church in early days but, in 1944, a ground hog had managed to find his way into the church and, of course, couldn't find his way back out. Edna Hughes found the ground hog in the church and went home and got a gun and shot it. George Roberts, at another time, found a skunk in the church furnace room and had to shoot it. We have also had a squirrel visit in the church some time in the past, but he didn't care to stay. In an effort to get back out, he chewed on the woodwork around the window glass and left an interesting pattern there, which has since been covered with several coats of paint. Maybe, he heard about the fate of the other two animals who couldn't get back out once they got in.
During this period the congregation from the church had many of their own serving in World War II. A service roll was displayed on one wall in the church which held names of soldiers from the area who were in the various branches of the military service. Two of the names were followed by Gold Stars. The names on that roll that I have obtained were: Gene Walston, Walter Jacobson, Russell Buttry, Kenneth Hughes, Dixon Harper, Leonard Jones, Dale Sampson, Fred Matters, Donald Halverson, Earl Lee, James Matters, Harlan Harper, Carroll D. Doolittle, Carroll Arneson, Joe Alfred, Robert Alfred, Wayne Buttry, Merrill Johnson, Howard Johnson, Edward Hagerland, Charles Sampson, Floyd Clark, Robert Comfort, Donald Wakefield, Stanlery Gineskee, Eugene Arneson, Edward Eller, and Gordon Bivens.
1973 to Today
Celebrating 100 Years and More
In 1973, Pleasant Grove Community Church celebrated its 100th year. This observance of the special occasion was on Sept. 16th, 1973. The days activities began with Sunday School at 10:00 a.m. and church services at 11:00. Our former pastor, Randy Pelham spoke at the morning service. Following the worship service a picnic was held on the church lawn for all who wished to stay. The afternoon program began at 2:30 p.m. with Rev. James Louk of the Colo Methodist Church as speaker. Susan Osborn presented a musical solo. Mrs. Martin Jacobs read a history of the church. Mrs. Carl Samson was worship leader and Mrs George Roberts was organist. Also planned was a songfest of old hymns and a special time for former members and others to remember the past history of the church. Many recalled their memories of the church and had the rest of the afternoon to greet old friends. The church was full that day.
During 1977, the congregation decided it was time for another refurbishing of the church. We decided that it was time to update the look of the sanctuary. We had heard about a country church south of Ogden, Iowa, that was similar to our small church. We decided that the way they had decorated their church seemed to be what we would like to do at Pleasant Grove. First, we thought the congregation should take a look before we made a decision. We chose a Sunday to visit the Fairview Methodist Church services. A large group of the members were able to attend and following the church visit we stopped at a park in Boone to have a picnic lunch.
It was time to call in the volunteers again. We chose a wallpaper pattern similar to the Fairview Church and the work began. The wide pine boards on the floor were sanded and sealed. Painting was done to all the wood surfaces and the walls in the basement. The church looked ready for many more years of service. The steps in front of the church had been just concrete blocks set in front of the two front doors. Some men of the church got together and added a concrete platform to a level of the doors. Steps were added to the front of the raised porch and a wrought iron railing was put around the porch.
During the summer of 1987, we were contacted by a representative of Country Home Magazine. They wanted to do an article about the church and the ice cream socials that we held every summer. They came and spent the day with us and took lots of pictures. A very nice and informative article was later printed in the magazine about the ice cream socials and they also included much information about the church and our history. Many good pictures of the church and the congregation were included in the article.
As you can see over these many years, the people of the church relied on themselves to repair, maintain and keep the church going. The repairs and improvements that have been made in the church over the years have always been done with the intention to keep the original look and charm of the old country church. When Stella Roberts wrote her poem about volunteers, she was really telling the history of Pleasant Grove Church. Volunteers and willing workers have been the backbone of the church from its beginning. Stella Roberts was a long time member of the church and was organist for many years.
Over the past 131 years various guest and part time ministers have filled our pulpit. We are grateful for their message and the contribution they have made to make it possible for Pleasant Grove to stay open and serve the community of believers. We have been open and holding weekly church services now without interruption since 1960.
Many dedicated hearts and hands have made this past 131 years of service by Pleasant Grove Community Church possible. The dream of the families in 1873 to have their own church came true and because of their dedication and others who have passed through the doors of this old church building, many children and adults have found special meaning for their lives at Pleasant Grove. The people of this church have given through their faith, a very special gift to this community.
Our present minister is Rev. Frank Heubner who has been with us for almost 4 years. Our congregation has grown these past years and we still continue the activities of a small church. Some of our members were former Sunday School students and are now attending with their own families. We have continued our ice cream socials and monthly family fellowship pot luck dinners following church services the last Sunday of the month. Occasional weddings, baptisms and funerals are still held in the church. We are still a non-denominational church and welcome anyone who would like to visit or are looking for a church home.