Faith,

from p. 10

first church building which is believed to have been done about 1879, near the site of the former Charles Haslow/John Kilty residence.

When the Marshfield church was established in 1881, it became part of the Spencer charge and was served by Spencer pastors until the fire of 1886 when the Spencer church was destroyed. Thereafter, the Spencer congregation was served by Marshfield pastors until 1889 when Spencer became a part of the Unity charge, in which they remained until 1896. During this interim, services were held either in the Baptist church or in a building on Clark Street where the Hartfords and later George Farrington operated a general store.

A new church was built in 1895, during the pastorate of Rev. D. P. Olin, on the corner of Main and Pacific. It was dedicated Feb. 23. 1896. Early pastors of the church held services in the Cole School west and south of town, and in the Schofield School north and west of town, until that congregation built Hope Chapel. Ministers also served the Unity church during one or two intervals and from 1916 to 1928 conducted services in Veefkind Presbyterian Church.

At the beginning of the depression in 1930, Spencer was again placed on the Marshfield charge, where it remained until 1952, when the Spencer, Unity and Colby charge was formed and Spencer again had resident pastors.

In 1969 the new church, located north of town on East Burnett Street, was built. This was during the pastorate of Rev. R. James Hagen. Ground breaking took place June 1, 1969, and the congregation moved into the new building in time for the New Year’s communion service on Jan. 4, 1970. The consecration service was held on March 1, 1970. (The old church building on Main and Pacific streets then served as a house of worship for a Mennonite congregation until 1986 when the State of Wisconsin bought the building as part of a highway improvement project and the Mennonite congregation relocated to rural Stratford.)

After the United Methodist Church (UMC) moved to its location just north of town, there were some leadership changes. As of June 15, 1974, Rev. Bervie Scott became pastor of the Lowell-Juneau Parish near Beaver Dam, and Rev. Keith Schroerlucke became pastor of the Spencer-Colby Parish. Schroerlucke was then a recent graduate from the Garrett School of Theology at Evanston, Ill. Schoerlucke had a dream to start a Spencer ecumenical service and provided leadership for it initially. In 1975, Schoerlucke moved his Sunday service to the big tent in the village park during Spencerama Days. By 1977, the service included musical selections and readings by members of other denominations in the area. The 1978 service included junior and senior ecumenical choirs, with members of St. John’s Lutheran Church, the United Methodist Church and Christ the King Catholic Church all participating.

Pastors succeeding Schroerlucke were as follows: Charles Strong (1978), Kenneth Barnes (1983), John Eldred (1992), Micheal Morning (1997), Lois Takata (1998), Mara Theno (2004), Patricia Herdt (2008), Terry Dorenbush (2011), Daniel Kim (2012), Mike Carlson (2014), Hyeok Won Kwon (2017) and Kerry Wilson (2020). Faith Journey currently has three pastors: senior elder Mike Herdt, elder Scott Johnson, and youth and administrative elder Seth Johnson.

The Spencer UMC disaffiliated from the UMC denomination, changed its name to Faith Journey, and ceased operations as a United Methodist church on June 30, 2023. Faith Journey is now an independent, congregational, Bible church. The church is located between the Highway 13 curves on Spencer’s north side, and Faith Journey owns the building and property that previously housed Spencer UMC.

Faith Journey’s current attendance on an average Sunday is 50 and on an average Wednesday is 40. The church has seven deacons and three pastors. In addition to Sunday morning services, Faith Journey hosts men’s, women’s and young adults small groups, along with an addiction ministry called CROSSroads to Recovery.

Faith Journey is also known for its Club 3:16 and youth ministries. Kids and teens from area schools meet at Faith Journey after school on Wednesdays for services and an evening together. The church also hosts summer Vacation Bible School day camps for kids.

Spencer Baptist Church Religious services were held in Spencer as early as 1875 when Rev. Patch, a Presbyterian minister from Stevens Point, held services in the downstairs of the yet unfinished school.

Reuben and Isaac Ring and C. Wirt were instrumental in organizing the Baptist church, which began with a membership of eight members in June 1878. The church was erected on Clark Street in 1879, the site of the present Trinity Lutheran Church. Some of the pastors were Rev. P. Green, Rev. Stearns, Rev. Mrs. Pitcher of Unity and Rev. Sweet. They also had student pastors for several years. It was a struggle to keep going and the congregation finally disbanded, selling their furniture to other churches. The building was later sold to John Neidlein, who tore it down and built a farm implement

Please see Faith, page 12