Walden United Methodist Church
Encyclopedia
Walden United Methodist Church is located on West Main Street (New York State Route 52
) in Walden
, New York, United States. It is a brick building constructed in the late 19th century, for a congregation dating to 1817. Primarily in the late Victorian Gothic architectural style
, its complex massing and decoration include elements of other contemporary modes such as Romanesque Revival. Its ornate interior, originally built in the Akron Plan
, reflects changing thinking regarding church interior design from the era of its construction.
It has survived mostly intact to the present. The current building incorporates part of an earlier church on the same site built in 1840 for another church. In the early 20th century a parsonage was built next door, and other facilities were built later in the century to the south. Due to increasing maintenance costs, the congregation has been considering whether to move to a new site and build another church there. In 2008 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
is located at the southeast corner of West Main and Pine streets, on the western edge of downtown, on the opposite corner of the same large block from St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
, also listed on the National Register. The ground slopes gently west towards the Wallkill River
. The church's main bell tower rises well above tree level, making the church a prominent aspect of the village skyline when viewed from the west.
There are three buildings on the property: the church (the only contributing resource
to the listing), its parsonage to the east and a rental property to the west, all facing on West Main. A parking lot with its entrance on Pine Street is behind the buildings, along with a fenced-in playground
. In front is a small lawn, sloping gently to the sidewalk, with a large mature tree and shrubbery on the side.
courses
. It has three sections: a fellowship hall on the east, central bell tower
and worship section on the west. They create a north (front) facade
that starts with the three-bay
gable
d roof. Tall Gothic arched windows, the center one larger than those on the flanks, with bluestone sills and keystones, are centered in the first story, with a pair of smaller double-hung sash windows in the apex, set off by a brickwork course.
At the northeast corner is a tower. Six stone steps and a railing lead to its ground-floor entrance, with paired batten
doors in a Gothic opening with a similar treatment as the fellowship hall windows. Above it is a stained glass
transom
and small lozenge
-shaped window above. Decorative
corbel
ing marks the roofline and the transition to a pyramidal roof with finial
.
The ground floot of the three-stage bell tower has a Gothic door similar to, but larger, than the northeast tower. On either side are corner buttress
es. They rise to the bluestone course that sets off the second stage, and also serves as the sill for a group of three small sash windows. The third stage harbors the bell, with large arched louver
ed openings rising from another belt course, split by a third at the impost. Above the corbeled roofline, the octagonal spire
rises, topped by a cross and set off with four small pyramids at the corners, to 100 feet (30 m) high.
At the worship space, a three-sided steeply pitched
gabled section projects from the pyramid-roofed main block. The wall spaces on the bay have large windows similar to those on the fellowship hall. Those on the side sections are subdivided into two smaller arched windows below the impost, and two small windows are located in the gable apex. At the extreme west is a third entry, a projecting gabled vestibule
with similar doors leading to a white wooden wheelchair ramp
.
The east profile has five tall square-headed windows with bluestone trim. On the southeast is a gable
d block used for the outreach office, aligned with the roof crest parallel to the wall. The west elevation has three gables, with the middle one larger. It has three arched windows similar to the other ones; the flanking gables have small lozenges in their apexes. In the center apex are two smaller trabeated
windows. On this section is an engaged endwall chimney, consisting of two that rise separately and then join at the apex. It is parged in a tan-colored substance. At the southwest is a small two-by-two-bay flat-roofed brick classroom addition with segmental arch window openings now filled with modern aluinum sash windows.
On the rear facade are the two rear bays of the classroom addition, a bricked-in window on another gabled projection and seven segmented-arch windows (one also bricked in) in the choir alcove. There is also a shed-roofed projection between the south wall and west addition, and two more second story trabeated windows.
that leads directly into the worship area. Oak slip pews, with scroll armrests and hymnal
racks on the rear, are arranged in semicircular fashion around a dais
and organ
opposite. Doors on the south lead to two classrooms.
The plaster on sawn lath
walls have beaded wainscoting, stained
lighter than the chair rail at its top. They rise to vaulted
ceilings finished in deep-stained thin-width board with molded
wood ribs and paterae at vault intersections. Flat surfaces between the roof and ceiling are marked by a plaster cornice
. Circular fluted
columns with similarly shaped capitals
support the roof timber.
On the east, a similar vestibule, connected to the main one by a hallway and stairs, leads into the fellowship room. It is similarly decorated, but more modestly, with acoustic tiles covering its ceiling. The windows have flat molding indicating that they survive from the 1840s predecessor to the current building. Four are memorial stained glass
; two are figural while the other two are architectural.
The remaining rooms are furnished more modestly, in modern styles. The basement areas have flagstone
floors and painted cinderblock walls.
, in which the Sunday school
and worship areas were adjacent, with sliding partitions allowing for controlled access between the two. It could also be used to expand the worship space for overflow crowds. This arrangement had apparently been abandoned by the early 1920s in favor of fixed walls and room sizes.
Another feature of the church that reflects the era of its construction is the auditorium-style worship space, in which the pews are arranged in a semicircle aruund the dais. It was a popular way to maximize available worship space, allowing for clearer sightlines from all seats. The only aspect of the plan the Walden Methodist Church lacks is the inclined floor.
The building's exterior is eclectic, another late 19th century touch, reflecting the move away from the early Gothic Revival's insistence on historically correct detail. Victorian Gothic, seen in the high lancet window
s accentuated by the steep roofs and towers. The stone belt courses amid the red brick facade and understated polychromy are also more distinctly High Victorian Gothic, showing the influence of John Ruskin
's aesthetic theories and the Venetian Gothic
. On the other hand, the corbelling at the towers suggests a Romanesque Revival nod, and the upper gable of the fellowship hall suggests Richardsonian Romanesque
.
Inside, the rich decoration was meant to enhance the character of the worship service. The stained glass floods the hall with mellow-toned natural light, augmented by electric light fixtures hung from the ceiling. The most important aspect of the interior is the intricate vaulted ceiling. All reflected an era when Protestant church interiors were moving away from the asceticism that had characterized them earlier in the century, with the intent of providing an atmosphere more conducive to the proper spirit of worship.
meetings in Walden, then known as Walden's Mills, were held around 1817. At first congregants used the services of an itinerant preacher, and met in the ballroom
of a local tavern. Later they used a schoolhouse on what is today Ulster Avenue (NY 208
).
By 1850 the congregation decided that it needed a church of its own, and a committee was formed to bring that about. It bought for $1,000 ($ in contemporary dollars) the former Scotch Covenanter Society church built at the present site in 1840. It was expanded in 1870 to keep pace with the church's steady growth during the late 19th century.
As the century continued and the village grew and prospered, so did the church. In the late 1880s members began discussing building a new one, as there were over 350 of them with almost as many in Sunday school each week. Under a new pastor, The Rev. J.M. Cornish, those plans began to take more definite form.
A subscription
drive brought the church $11,000 ($ in contemporary dollars). It is not known who the architect was. The general contractor
, Edwin McWilliams of Middletown
broke ground in spring 1893. A cornerstone
-laying ceremony in August of that year featured the district's presiding elder
and a 40-year member of the congregation, from the days when Walden United Methodist had just moved into the building being replaced. The old church was moved to the east and enclosed in brick to serve as the new church's Sunday school.
home that has since been resided in vinyl
and thus is not considered contributing
to the National Register listing.
At some point prior to the 1920s the partitions and fluid space of the Akron Plan interior were abandoned in favor of fixed walls. This would be compensated for by the 1933 addition of the classroom wing onto the southwest corner. In 1952 came another addition, a small office block on the southeast.
Later on in the 20th century, in the early 1960s, an engineering and construction campaign led to the excavation of a new basement and additional facilities below ground level. In the 1990s and 2000s, the wheelchair ramp
s were added.
Maintenance costs for the building were still considerable enough that in 2007, members of the congregation voted narrowly to explore moving to a new site and constructing a new church. They noted that the building needed $2 million of repairs, and that a third of the church's budget went to annual operating and maintenance costs, meaning that only six cents of every donated dollar could be used for church activities.
Some dissenting members felt that their fellow congregants were acting too hastily, that the building could be saved. They also noted that only 95 of 344 eligible members voted, and felt those who were absent should have been allowed to vote as well.
to Appalachia
some years, and provides volunteers for local food pantry and Meals on Wheels
programs.
New York State Route 52
New York State Route 52 is a long state highway in the southeastern part of New York in the United States. It generally runs from west to east, beginning at the Pennsylvania state line in the Delaware River near Narrowsburg, crossing the Hudson River on the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, and ending...
) in Walden
Walden, New York
Walden is the largest of three villages of the Town of Montgomery in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 6,978 at the 2010 census. It has the ZIP Code 12586 and the 778 telephone exchange within the 845 area code...
, New York, United States. It is a brick building constructed in the late 19th century, for a congregation dating to 1817. Primarily in the late Victorian Gothic architectural style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
, its complex massing and decoration include elements of other contemporary modes such as Romanesque Revival. Its ornate interior, originally built in the Akron Plan
Akron Plan
Akron Plan for church buildings was popularized by architectural pattern books in the late 19th and early 20th century. The plan is typified by an auditorium form worship space surrounded by connecting Sunday school classrooms spaces on one or two levels. The plan promotes efficiency of movement...
, reflects changing thinking regarding church interior design from the era of its construction.
It has survived mostly intact to the present. The current building incorporates part of an earlier church on the same site built in 1840 for another church. In the early 20th century a parsonage was built next door, and other facilities were built later in the century to the south. Due to increasing maintenance costs, the congregation has been considering whether to move to a new site and build another church there. In 2008 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Building
The church's lotLot (real estate)
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner. A lot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property in other countries...
is located at the southeast corner of West Main and Pine streets, on the western edge of downtown, on the opposite corner of the same large block from St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church (Walden, New York)
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church is located at the corner of Walnut and Orchard Street in the village of Walden, New York, United States. It is a brick Gothic Revival structure designed and built in 1871 by Charles Babcock, a former partner of Richard Upjohn...
, also listed on the National Register. The ground slopes gently west towards the Wallkill River
Wallkill River
The Wallkill River, a tributary of the Hudson, drains Lake Mohawk in Sparta, New Jersey, flowing from there generally northeasterly to Rondout Creek in New York, near Rosendale, with the combined flows reaching the Hudson at Kingston....
. The church's main bell tower rises well above tree level, making the church a prominent aspect of the village skyline when viewed from the west.
There are three buildings on the property: the church (the only contributing resource
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to the listing), its parsonage to the east and a rental property to the west, all facing on West Main. A parking lot with its entrance on Pine Street is behind the buildings, along with a fenced-in playground
Playground
A playground or play area is a place with a specific design for children be able to play there. It may be indoors but is typically outdoors...
. In front is a small lawn, sloping gently to the sidewalk, with a large mature tree and shrubbery on the side.
Exterior
The dark red painted brick exterior of the church is complemented by black asphalt roofing and rough-hewn bluestoneBluestone
Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of dimension or building stone varieties, including:*a feldspathic sandstone in the U.S. and Canada;*limestone in the Shenandoah Valley in the U.S...
courses
Course (architecture)
A course is a continuous horizontal layer of similarly-sized building material one unit high, usually in a wall. The term is almost always used in conjunction with unit masonry such as brick, cut stone, or concrete masonry units .-Styles:...
. It has three sections: a fellowship hall on the east, central bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
and worship section on the west. They create a north (front) facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
that starts with the three-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d roof. Tall Gothic arched windows, the center one larger than those on the flanks, with bluestone sills and keystones, are centered in the first story, with a pair of smaller double-hung sash windows in the apex, set off by a brickwork course.
At the northeast corner is a tower. Six stone steps and a railing lead to its ground-floor entrance, with paired batten
Batten
A batten is a thin strip of solid material, typically made from wood, plastic or metal. Battens are used in building construction and various other fields as both structural and purely cosmetic elements...
doors in a Gothic opening with a similar treatment as the fellowship hall windows. Above it is a stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
transom
Transom (architectural)
In architecture, a transom is the term given to a transverse beam or bar in a frame, or to the crosspiece separating a door or the like from a window or fanlight above it. Transom is also the customary U.S. word used for a transom light, the window over this crosspiece...
and small lozenge
Lozenge
A lozenge , often referred to as a diamond, is a form of rhombus. The definition of lozenge is not strictly fixed, and it is sometimes used simply as a synonym for rhombus. Most often, though, lozenge refers to a thin rhombus—a rhombus with acute angles of 45°...
-shaped window above. Decorative
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
ing marks the roofline and the transition to a pyramidal roof with finial
Finial
The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods...
.
The ground floot of the three-stage bell tower has a Gothic door similar to, but larger, than the northeast tower. On either side are corner buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es. They rise to the bluestone course that sets off the second stage, and also serves as the sill for a group of three small sash windows. The third stage harbors the bell, with large arched louver
Louver
A louver or louvre , from the French l'ouvert; "the open one") is a window, blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain, direct sunshine, and noise...
ed openings rising from another belt course, split by a third at the impost. Above the corbeled roofline, the octagonal spire
Spire
A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....
rises, topped by a cross and set off with four small pyramids at the corners, to 100 feet (30 m) high.
At the worship space, a three-sided steeply pitched
Roof pitch
In building construction, roof pitch is a numerical measure of the steepness of a roof, and a pitched roof is a roof that is steep.The roof's pitch is the measured vertical rise divided by the measured horizontal span, the same thing as what is called "slope" in geometry. Roof pitch is typically...
gabled section projects from the pyramid-roofed main block. The wall spaces on the bay have large windows similar to those on the fellowship hall. Those on the side sections are subdivided into two smaller arched windows below the impost, and two small windows are located in the gable apex. At the extreme west is a third entry, a projecting gabled vestibule
Vestibule (architecture)
A vestibule is a lobby, entrance hall, or passage between the entrance and the interior of a building.The same term can apply to structures in modern or ancient roman architecture. In modern architecture vestibule typically refers to a small room or hall between an entrance and the interior of...
with similar doors leading to a white wooden wheelchair ramp
Wheelchair ramp
A wheelchair ramp is an inclined plane installed in addition to or instead of stairs. Ramps permit wheelchair users, as well as people pushing strollers, carts, or other wheeled objects, to more easily access a building....
.
The east profile has five tall square-headed windows with bluestone trim. On the southeast is a gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d block used for the outreach office, aligned with the roof crest parallel to the wall. The west elevation has three gables, with the middle one larger. It has three arched windows similar to the other ones; the flanking gables have small lozenges in their apexes. In the center apex are two smaller trabeated
Post and lintel
Post and lintel, or in contemporary usage Post and beam, is a simple construction method using a lintel, header, or architrave as the horizontal member over a building void supported at its ends by two vertical columns, pillars, or posts...
windows. On this section is an engaged endwall chimney, consisting of two that rise separately and then join at the apex. It is parged in a tan-colored substance. At the southwest is a small two-by-two-bay flat-roofed brick classroom addition with segmental arch window openings now filled with modern aluinum sash windows.
On the rear facade are the two rear bays of the classroom addition, a bricked-in window on another gabled projection and seven segmented-arch windows (one also bricked in) in the choir alcove. There is also a shed-roofed projection between the south wall and west addition, and two more second story trabeated windows.
Interior
The tower entrance leads into a vestibuleVestibule (architecture)
A vestibule is a lobby, entrance hall, or passage between the entrance and the interior of a building.The same term can apply to structures in modern or ancient roman architecture. In modern architecture vestibule typically refers to a small room or hall between an entrance and the interior of...
that leads directly into the worship area. Oak slip pews, with scroll armrests and hymnal
Hymnal
Hymnal or hymnary or hymnbook is a collection of hymns, i.e. religious songs, usually in the form of a book. The earliest hand-written hymnals are known since Middle Ages in the context of European Christianity...
racks on the rear, are arranged in semicircular fashion around a dais
Dais
Dais is any raised platform located either in or outside of a room or enclosure, often for dignified occupancy, as at the front of a lecture hall or sanctuary....
and organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
opposite. Doors on the south lead to two classrooms.
The plaster on sawn lath
Lath and plaster
Lath and plaster is a building process used mainly for interior walls in Canada and the United States until the late 1950s. After the 1950s, drywall began to replace the lath and plaster process in the United States. In the United Kingdom, lath and plaster was used for some interior partition...
walls have beaded wainscoting, stained
Wood stain
A wood stain consists of a colorant suspended or dissolved in a 'vehicle' or solvent. The suspension agent can be water, alcohol, petroleum distillate, or the actual finishing agent...
lighter than the chair rail at its top. They rise to vaulted
Vault (architecture)
A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...
ceilings finished in deep-stained thin-width board with molded
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
wood ribs and paterae at vault intersections. Flat surfaces between the roof and ceiling are marked by a plaster cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
. Circular fluted
Fluting (architecture)
Fluting in architecture refers to the shallow grooves running vertically along a surface.It typically refers to the grooves running on a column shaft or a pilaster, but need not necessarily be restricted to those two applications...
columns with similarly shaped capitals
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
support the roof timber.
On the east, a similar vestibule, connected to the main one by a hallway and stairs, leads into the fellowship room. It is similarly decorated, but more modestly, with acoustic tiles covering its ceiling. The windows have flat molding indicating that they survive from the 1840s predecessor to the current building. Four are memorial stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
; two are figural while the other two are architectural.
The remaining rooms are furnished more modestly, in modern styles. The basement areas have flagstone
Flagstone
Flagstone, is a generic flat stone, usually used for paving slabs or walkways, patios, fences and roofing. It may be used for memorials, headstones, facades and other constructions. The name derives from Middle English flagge meaning turf, perhaps from Old Norse flaga meaning slab.Flagstone is a...
floors and painted cinderblock walls.
Aesthetics
The church's original layout followed Lewis Miller's Akron PlanAkron Plan
Akron Plan for church buildings was popularized by architectural pattern books in the late 19th and early 20th century. The plan is typified by an auditorium form worship space surrounded by connecting Sunday school classrooms spaces on one or two levels. The plan promotes efficiency of movement...
, in which the Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
and worship areas were adjacent, with sliding partitions allowing for controlled access between the two. It could also be used to expand the worship space for overflow crowds. This arrangement had apparently been abandoned by the early 1920s in favor of fixed walls and room sizes.
Another feature of the church that reflects the era of its construction is the auditorium-style worship space, in which the pews are arranged in a semicircle aruund the dais. It was a popular way to maximize available worship space, allowing for clearer sightlines from all seats. The only aspect of the plan the Walden Methodist Church lacks is the inclined floor.
The building's exterior is eclectic, another late 19th century touch, reflecting the move away from the early Gothic Revival's insistence on historically correct detail. Victorian Gothic, seen in the high lancet window
Lancet window
A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...
s accentuated by the steep roofs and towers. The stone belt courses amid the red brick facade and understated polychromy are also more distinctly High Victorian Gothic, showing the influence of John Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
's aesthetic theories and the Venetian Gothic
Venetian Gothic architecture
Venetian Gothic is a term given to an architectural style combining use of the Gothic lancet arch with Byzantine and Moorish architecture influences. The style originated in 14th century Venice with the confluence of Byzantine styles from Constantinople, Arab influences from Moorish Spain and early...
. On the other hand, the corbelling at the towers suggests a Romanesque Revival nod, and the upper gable of the fellowship hall suggests Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston , designated a National Historic Landmark...
.
Inside, the rich decoration was meant to enhance the character of the worship service. The stained glass floods the hall with mellow-toned natural light, augmented by electric light fixtures hung from the ceiling. The most important aspect of the interior is the intricate vaulted ceiling. All reflected an era when Protestant church interiors were moving away from the asceticism that had characterized them earlier in the century, with the intent of providing an atmosphere more conducive to the proper spirit of worship.
1817–93
The first MethodistMethodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
meetings in Walden, then known as Walden's Mills, were held around 1817. At first congregants used the services of an itinerant preacher, and met in the ballroom
Ballroom
A ballroom is a large room inside a building, the designated purpose of which is holding formal dances called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions contain one or more ballrooms...
of a local tavern. Later they used a schoolhouse on what is today Ulster Avenue (NY 208
New York State Route 208
New York State Route 208 is a state highway located in southern New York in the United States. The southern terminus is at an intersection with NY 17M in the Orange County village of Monroe...
).
By 1850 the congregation decided that it needed a church of its own, and a committee was formed to bring that about. It bought for $1,000 ($ in contemporary dollars) the former Scotch Covenanter Society church built at the present site in 1840. It was expanded in 1870 to keep pace with the church's steady growth during the late 19th century.
As the century continued and the village grew and prospered, so did the church. In the late 1880s members began discussing building a new one, as there were over 350 of them with almost as many in Sunday school each week. Under a new pastor, The Rev. J.M. Cornish, those plans began to take more definite form.
A subscription
Subscription business model
The subscription business model is a business model where a customer must pay a subscription price to have access to the product/service. The model was pioneered by magazines and newspapers, but is now used by many businesses and websites....
drive brought the church $11,000 ($ in contemporary dollars). It is not known who the architect was. The general contractor
General contractor
A general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project.-Description:...
, Edwin McWilliams of Middletown
Middletown, Orange County, New York
Middletown is a city in Orange County, New York, United States. It lies in New York's Hudson Valley region, near the Wallkill River and the foothills of the Shawangunk Mountains. Middletown is situated between Port Jervis and Newburgh, New York. The city's population was 25,388 at the 2000 census...
broke ground in spring 1893. A cornerstone
Cornerstone
The cornerstone concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.Over time a cornerstone became a ceremonial masonry stone, or...
-laying ceremony in August of that year featured the district's presiding elder
Elder (Christianity)
An elder in Christianity is a person valued for his wisdom who accordingly holds a particular position of responsibility in a Christian group. In some Christian traditions an elder is a clergy person who usually serves a local church or churches and who has been ordained to a ministry of Word,...
and a 40-year member of the congregation, from the days when Walden United Methodist had just moved into the building being replaced. The old church was moved to the east and enclosed in brick to serve as the new church's Sunday school.
1893–present
The first significant change to the building came in 1906 when four stained glass windows were added to the east facade of the fellowship hall. In 1911 the parsonage was built on the church's west. It is two-and-a-half-story gabled Queen Anne StyleQueen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
home that has since been resided in vinyl
Vinyl siding
Vinyl siding is plastic exterior cladding for a house, used for decoration and weatherproofing, as an alternative to traditional wood siding or other materials such as aluminum or fiber cement siding. It is an engineered product, manufactured primarily from polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, resin, giving...
and thus is not considered contributing
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to the National Register listing.
At some point prior to the 1920s the partitions and fluid space of the Akron Plan interior were abandoned in favor of fixed walls. This would be compensated for by the 1933 addition of the classroom wing onto the southwest corner. In 1952 came another addition, a small office block on the southeast.
Later on in the 20th century, in the early 1960s, an engineering and construction campaign led to the excavation of a new basement and additional facilities below ground level. In the 1990s and 2000s, the wheelchair ramp
Wheelchair ramp
A wheelchair ramp is an inclined plane installed in addition to or instead of stairs. Ramps permit wheelchair users, as well as people pushing strollers, carts, or other wheeled objects, to more easily access a building....
s were added.
Maintenance costs for the building were still considerable enough that in 2007, members of the congregation voted narrowly to explore moving to a new site and constructing a new church. They noted that the building needed $2 million of repairs, and that a third of the church's budget went to annual operating and maintenance costs, meaning that only six cents of every donated dollar could be used for church activities.
Some dissenting members felt that their fellow congregants were acting too hastily, that the building could be saved. They also noted that only 95 of 344 eligible members voted, and felt those who were absent should have been allowed to vote as well.
The church today
Walden United Methodist has a very active religious program and presence in the community. It operates a day care center. Its Sunday school program continues, along with an active youth group. It has sponsored a MissionMission (Christian)
Christian missionary activities often involve sending individuals and groups , to foreign countries and to places in their own homeland. This has frequently involved not only evangelization , but also humanitarian work, especially among the poor and disadvantaged...
to Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
some years, and provides volunteers for local food pantry and Meals on Wheels
Meals on Wheels
Meals on Wheels are programs that deliver meals to individuals at home who are unable to purchase or prepare their own meals. The name is often used generically to refer to home-delivered meals programs, not all of which are actually named "Meals on Wheels"...
programs.