Soldier Methodist leaders mulling closing of church
One of the oldest churches in Jackson County has seen its attendance dwindling in recent years, and now church leaders are pondering whether to close the church for good.
“There are still some details to be worked out, but it’s probably the case that we’re going to close,” said Leroy Rieschick, a longtime member of Soldier United Methodist Church. “There’s been some discussion to that effect, but it hasn’t been officially confirmed.”
The church was first chartered and built in 1878, but its roots could be traced back to the early 1860s, even to the days before Kansas was granted statehood. More than 60 men — and at least two women — have been called upon to lead the church over its history.
There are also records of the church having 100 members or more over the years, but today, Rieschick says it’s not clear how many active members the church has. Many of the church’s previous members have likely gravitated to other Methodist churches in the area, such as Circleville, Buck’s Grove or Goff, he added.
“We’re trying to find out. The records are not very good,” Rieschick said. “Due to inactivity in the church over the past several years, those records haven’t really been kept.”
According to church history, Joseph Hannum, a prominent settler in the Soldier area, made a list of all the Methodists he could find among the early settlers. Hannum was able to form a class of nine locals at the time — 1860, shortly before Kansas became a state. For the first few years, the congregation would hold weekly services at the home of one of its members.
The church was chartered in 1878, and in October of that same year, construction began on a church building. It was completed the following June, according to church records, and was unharmed by a tornado that tore through Soldier in 1883. Four years later, in 1887, the church’s first parsonage was built; it would be replaced by a new structure in the late 1980s.
Three notable additions have been made to the original church building. The first addition was made in 1898, when extra space was added to the church sanctuary on the south side of the building.
Then, in 1920, the building was raised off its foundation so that a basement, complete with a kitchen and a furnace room, could be dug out and constructed below the sanctuary floor. The third addition, built in 1959, added indoor restrooms to the church building.
In 1946, the Soldier church was added to a “charge” of three that also included Havensville and Buck’s Grove. The Soldier Group Ministry was formed in the early 1990s, when the Circleville Methodist Church was added to that “charge.”
A directory of the Soldier Group Ministry published in 1991 showed the church having about 100 members of all ages, but over time, that number has dwindled. Rieschick said the church’s attendance of late “has been so low that we’ve not had a full-time minister, only a part-time lay minister.”
Ultimately, Rieschick said, the fate of the church will have to go through the Great Plains Methodist Conference, which oversees all of the Methodist churches in Kansas and Nebraska. But, he added, it’s hoped that while the church may no longer be a Methodist church, it could be utilized by another church group.
“We’re hoping that if and when we report that the church is going to close, it’s really not going to close,” Rieschick said. “It’s not going to be a formal Methodist church, but it’s still going to be a place of worship. At least, that’s what we’re hoping.”
