A Short History of Lakeville UMC
The church celebrated its 150th birthday in 2003. Now in 2005 it is contemplating continued growth.
The Lakeville United Methodist Church started life as Purdyville Baptist in1845, Lakeville was known as Purdytown after the Purdy family who settled the area in 1787. They were mostly lumbermen, but some of the Purdys were Baptist circuit riders.
Methodist circuit riders were active in this area in the 1840s and eventually the number of Methodists surpassed the number of Baptists.
On December 16, 1853, the court granted a charter to the Methodist Episcopal Church of Purdyville. Eli Utt, Peter Fish, Henry Bartleson, George Williams and Uriah Williams were the first trustees. On December 7, 1863 the first Methodist deed for the church was filed. It states that William Utt and his wife Eleanor, sold the property to the Trustees for one dollar.
The original portion of the church was a single room, 25 by 35 feet. It had two front doors facing the road, a high ceiling and no embellishments. It was built from hemlocks growing on the property. The first pastor was G. L. Griffin, 1853-54.
Three major additions have been built. The first was a new entry way and bell tower added between 1918 and 1921. Moving the doors made room for the first stained glass windows. The second addition began in 19 57. The groundbreaking was held on September 20, 1959. This addition, with basement, included the half-oval altar area on the east side and a Sunday school room on the west. A folding partition divided the two areas rather than a solid wall .
Construction was finished in 1960. It was then decided to change the name of the church to Lakeville United Methodist Church. A Consecration Service was held on August 14, 1960. The third addition, the Fellowship Wing , 24 by 36 feet was added in 1987. This gave a kitchen area upstairs and additional Sunday school space downstairs.
The Community Hall was built in 1932 after a former member, then living in Scranton, donated the land to the church. It was a modern building with central heat and electricity. It was at this time that it was decided to put electricity in the church as well. Numerous fund-raising activities were held to help cover the cost. Two mortgages were taken out to fully cover the cost.
From its beginning until 1995 Lakeville was always part of multi-church charge. In 1995 it became a single charge under Rev. Linda Kissel. At this time a parsonage was built on the church grounds. The church’s first parsonage was at the west foot of the hill on the Avoy Road. In 1970 it was sold.
