Zion United Methodist Church of Bonduel is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its building and will hold a special worship service and celebration at 10:30 a.m. May 12 at the church, 134 E. Green Bay St., Bonduel.
Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, resident bishop in the Wisconsin Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, will deliver a message.
The beginning of the Zion United Methodist occurred in 1861 when the Evangelical Association of North America first listed Bonduel as a circuit. At that time, services were held in the homes of early pioneers. In 1867, August Seering donated land to build the first log church, and in 1874, the male members of the congregation met to legally incorporate.
By 1901, a second church was built next to the old log church on the site now known as the Zion United Methodist Church Cemetery (one mile east of Bonduel at what is now known as N3974 South Highline Road). The log church had been covered with white siding and was commonly called “the little white church on the hill.” The new church was a much larger, red brick structure with a steeple and bell.
Indicative of most country churches, the cemetery was located on the same site. Through time, additional acreage was purchased from Seering to enlarge the cemetery and make room for a horse shelter.
In 1890, a parsonage and a barn were built in Bonduel on East Green Bay Street. By 1916, the first parsonage was sold and moved offsite to Second Street in Bonduel. A new parsonage was then built on the site.
The congregation was growing, so members of the congregation voted to build a much larger church in Bonduel next to the parsonage. This construction took place in 1924 during the first year of Rev. J. G. Bleiler’s pastorate. The church was dedicated on Nov. 9, 1924.
By 1995, the use of the church basement for church and community affairs had increased, as did the car traffic in front of the church. With the help of architect Bill Pederson, plans were drawn up to build an annex that would provide an elevator shaft and a ramp to the lowest level. Thus, the church acquired a handicap entrance and lessened the need to park on and walk across Green Bay Street. The entrance to this annex was located at the back of the church off Church Street.
Some of the reasons to place the handicap access at the back of the church were to avoid “Packers traffic,” to utilize the driveway and parking area in back of the parsonage and to take advantage of the fact that many members were already using the former boulevard for parking. The parsonage driveway and parking lot were then blacktopped. This handicap-accessible entrance then became a primary entrance.
As the elevator shaft and machine room took up space previously occupied by the nursery/playroom, plans were made to provide a new mother’s room/dressing room for weddings in the southeast corner of the basement. It was also set up with a speaker so mothers could hear the services.
In the fall of 2001, major improvements were made to the front of the church when both the east and west front steps were replaced, and the bell tower was rebuilt with all new materials.
Bonduel church celebrating 100 years
