Canoe Camp Church

The beginnings of the Canoe Camp Church  can be traced to a small band of Christians meeting in homes of the village under the leadership of evangelist T. Miller as early as September 1848.  The church was formally organized September 23, 1849.

In 1851, a store was purchased and used as a church until 1880 when the present structure was erected at a cost of $2000 plus donated materials and labor.  In April 1881 the church received its charter.

The former Canoe Camp school house was moved to become the church dining room in 1923.  The kitchen was added at the same time.  The following year the leaded windows and hardwood floors were installed in the sanctuary.  Three rooms were added to the North side of the church in 1941 and three to the South side in 1953.

Always a progressive church, women first served as elders and deacons in 1939.  The house next to the church was secured as a parsonage in 1948.  Until 1973, when Canoe Camp voted to support a full time minister, the Covington and Canoe Camp Churches formed the oldest pastoral unity in the brotherhood.

Among the ministers who have served the church were Ichabod Spencer, whose devotion and dedication to the cause of Christ guided the church through its first twenty years, and then H. L. Maltman, who continued to serve the church as minister emeritus after his retirement, Myron Kauffman, E. W. Burden, Clifton Dawson, Wm. Nottingham, C. H. McCloy, Wm. Keller, Norman West, Otto Marshall, and Kermit Clickner.

In 1979, the church called its first woman minister the Rev. Deborah Casey, who then became the Protestant Campus Minister at Mansfield University.

In 2007, the Canoe Camp Church became a dual congregation under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Sharon Littrell; the denominations, Christian Church (Disciples) and the United Church of Christ, have long partnered to do Christ’s work.

In 2010, Calvin Yoder took over the job of preaching and teaching as a commissioned minister.