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When Mrs. Robert Kinghorn died in the new community of Stalwart, Michigan, there wasn't any church in which to hold funeral services nor a pastor to conduct a service. This led to a meeting of some of the pioneers in Thomas Forgrave's home. Among those present were Mr. and Thomas Forgrave, Robert G. Crawford and J. J. McKenzie.
As a result of this meeting, the Stalwart Presbyterian Church was organized on March 12, 1883. For the church building tamarack logs were cut on the homestead of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Sims and hauled to the site donated by Thomas Forgrave. Mr. Forgrave and Robert Crawford donated adjoining half acres for church grounds. What lumber was needed was hauled from Swart's sawmill at Prentiss Bay.
The charter members were Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Crawford, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Forgrave, Henry H. Hall, Robert G. Kinghorn, Mr. and Mrs. Alexander McWilliams, and J. J. McKenzie.
Sometime between March 11, 1883, and June, 1890, the session records were destroyed by fire together with some money $7.00 belonging to the session. On June 11, 1890, a congregational meeting was held for the purpose of adopting a constitution and by-laws and election of officers. The following officers were elected by unanimous agreement: R. G. Crawford, elder; Thomas Forgrave and Henry H. Hall, trustee and managers.
In 1934 the old log church had to be abandoned and the congregation leased the vacant Methodist Church for one dollar a year. In 1954 plans were made to build the new church. The men cut timber in the woods and the women raised money as only churchwomen can and now the church is finished and completely furnished. The Stalwart Presbyterian Church is a member of the Mackinac Yoked Parish and is served by Pastors Walter, Venn, and Wartes.
The Pickford Church of the Nazarene came into existence as a result of revival services held in the old Orange Hall with Rev. W. R. Plarr of Jasper, Alabama, as evangelist and his party of singers in September 1939.
The Church was organized October 25, 1939, by Rev. C. T. Corbett in the Marquette Township Hall with 24 charter members and 6 others who joined within the first month.
In the spring of 1940 Mr. F. H. Taylor deeded the present church site to the church and a building program under the direction of William Talbot and Donald Holley was begun. The church was incorporated and the building completed and dedicated in December 1940, during the pastorate of Rev. Leroy Harris.
In 1941 Mr. F. H. Taylor deeded the lot adjoining the church on the west to the church as a gift. In 1947 plans were made for the building of a parsonage on this lot and the parsonage was completed during the pastorate of Rev. Lloyd Pounds.
In 1960 the front entrance of the church was remodeled. The entrance was from the east side and is now in the southeast corner.
The Church of the Nazarene has had the ministry of 9 pastors in its brief history of 33 years.
The following is the list since 1939:
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1939-40 - Rev. Lorna Holley
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1940-42 - Rev. Leroy Harris
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1942-47 - Rev. M. G. Martini
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1947-51 - Rev. Lloyd Pounds
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1956-59 - Rev. Joseph Polmounter
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1959-64 - Rev. Gaylor Rich
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1964-66 - Rev. A. L. Fulton
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1966 - Rev. Albert Lang
Pickford Methodist Church
The Pickford Methodist Church was started in a private home by a missionary minister, Rev. Donaldson, who walked from his home in Donaldson each Sunday and held services at the C. W. Pickford home. He would spend the night at the William Best home and return to his farm in the morning. The former Pickford home now stands at the end of Church Street to the east.
After holding services for four years in this home, the congregation built a church in 1882 in the block just south of the present church building. Rev. James Pascoe was the first regular minister to serve the Methodist Church in Pickford. He was C. W. Pickford's son-in-law and served as minister until 1885. One of his favorite quotations was, "It does not take great men to do great things, it, only takes consecrated men."
Among the first trustees in this church were: Thomas Morrison, William Gough, and C. W. Pickford. Much of the carpenter work on the church was done by William Pickford, a son of C. W. Pickford.
When the congregation grew too large for this building, it was sold and later moved and remodeled for use as a meeting place for the Orange Lodge. The church that was to replace was built and dedicated in 1901 on the present church site. Through the years that, too, grew too smell and an addition was built on what was known as the Bible Class room. From 1883 until the present time there have been 26 pastors serving the Methodist Church in Pickford.
Some of the people who were active in the Methodist Church fifty years ago were the John Taylor family, David Beacom and his wife, Miss Lizze Beacom, the Thomas Morrison family, the W. P. McDonald family, the William Gough family. The pastor was Rev. Passmore and the organist, Miss Etta Best who later became Mrs. Fred Taylor.
The first parsonage was the house located between Russell Cottle's and Ethel Fountain's. It was moved there from a lot on the main road where a parsonage was built and occupied by the ministers until 1970 when it was sold and a new parsonage built in the western part of town. Rev. Ralph Pieper and his family were the first to occupy the new parsonage.
The years passed by, members came and went, and the church continued to grow until March 5, 1933, when disaster struck in the form of fire, and the church burned to the ground. It was a discouraging outlook indeed - the pastor, Rev. Beedon, was ill, there was no church to hold services in, and the country was going through a severe economic depression. However, friends at the Presbyterian Church offered their sanctuary for the Methodists to hold services in on Sunday afternoons and Rev. Hoyt of the Sault church came during the summer months and preached. With the coming of Rev. Combellack in September, arrangements were made to hold services in what was the Orange Lodge building. The first steps were taken towards a new church home with the appointment of a building committee of five members: James Parker, Fred Taylor, Percy Wallis, Simon Parker, and Forbes McDonald. On July 5, 1934, the cornerstone was laid with the late Hon. Chase S. Osborn as guest speaker. In November, 1934, they started holding services in the basement. On October 13, 1935, the new colonial-type church was consecrated free of debt.
In 1953 and for some time previous, a need had been felt for more room for special services, church gatherings, and especially for the expansion of the Sunday School, so Rev. Nachtrieb appointed a building committee with the following men on it: Forbes McDonald, Edwin McDonald, George Raynard, Russell Cottle, and Harold Mortensen. This new addition was consecrated on December 13, 1954.
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