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Orchard Church - A
Place to Connect...
The History
of Orchard United Methodist Church
In the fall of 1946, a group of people in the community started
meeting in the utility room of the Albert M. Brennan residence,
28552 Orchard Lake Road. Rev. Stanley Stone, who was the
minister of First Methodist Church in Farmington, assisted the
group in organizing as a church. The Methodist Union of Greater
Detroit, under the leadership of Dr. Gordon Phillips, gave the
newly formed congregation much guidance and financial assistance
in the years that followed. The congregation outgrew the utility
room very shortly and moved to the Bond School.
A building on 31195 Thirteen Mile, which was originally built as
a pool hall, was sold to Franklin Products Company and for
several years used as a machine shop. When Franklin Products
built a new factory on Orchard Lake Road, the building became
available and with the assistance of the Methodist Union was
purchased as a meeting place for the congregation for the sum of
$10,500.00. This was the home of Orchard Methodist Church until
January 4,
1959, when it became necessary to move to the Kenbrook
Elementary School for services. The building on Thirteen Mile
Road was sold in August of 1959.
The congregation purchased a five-acre site on Farmington Road
between 13 and 15 Mile in March of 1957. The First Methodist
Church of Birmingham assisted in the purchase of this property
with a gift of $2,300.00. In April of 1958, the parsonage at
28555 Quail Hollow was purchased by the Methodist Union and it
was sold to Orchard Church on a land contract. Plans were begun
for the new church in the fall of 1958. Mr. Ray F. Ward was
selected as the architect. Orchard Church was
 selected
as “Church of the Year” by the Methodist Union in 1959 and an
offering was received in all Methodist Churches in Metropolitan
Detroit which amounted to $16,500.00 to assist Orchard in
building. In April of 1959 Rev. Jesse R. DeWitt, Executive
Secretary of the Detroit Conference Board of Missions and Church
Extension, conducted a building fund crusade in which the
congregation set out to raise $25,000.00 over a two-year period
and this amount was oversubscribed by less than 100 member
families. This made it possible for us to begin building the new
church at a total cost of about $150,000.00.
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The groundbreaking service was held on Sunday, September 14,
1959; the cornerstone laying ceremony was on November 29, 1959;
and the first service in the new building was on June 12, 1960.
Ground was broken on Sunday, April 25, 1965 for a new Education
unit – to cost approximately $185,000.00. This addition
contained ten classrooms, two
offices, a church parlor, small prayer chapel and utility rooms.
Additional parking space plus a covered driveway on the south
side of the building were included in this project.
In 1972 Orchard Church entered into a unique cooperative
Christian Education ministry with Nardin Park Church in which we
shared a Minister of Christian Education on a half-time basis.
As the membership and programs of both churches grew, more
professional time was needed. So in January 1980, this position
became full-time.
A ten-year program of renovation for Orchard Church was
established on October 14, 1981. A planning committee was
developed to study short and long term goals. This committee
concluded that our office space could be
 improved
by remodeling thereby making more efficient use of the building
and providing a more effective ministry to the community. In
October 1984, the mortgage for the church building was paid in
full, and the building was duly dedicated.
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In 1988 a Building Committee
was elected to develop plans to renovate the Sanctuary area and
consolidate the office area as well as other improvements
designed to enhance ministry. A successful Stewardship/Financial
Campaign was held in late 1989. We began to use our newly
furnished & redecorated sanctuary by Christmas of 1990, and
moved into our new office complex and chapel in early 1991.
The weekend of April 25-26, 1998, Orchard United Methodist
Church celebrated its 50th anniversary with a dinner-dance,
complete with a swing band reminiscent of 50 years ago, and a
Celebration of Worship on Sunday morning. Both events included
personal tributes, photos and video memories of “Fifty Years of
Faithfulness.” During the celebratory year, former pastors, Rev.
Frank Cozadd, Eric Hammar, Robert Brown, Paul Blomquist, and Ed
Coley returned to preach.
In early 2001, it was announced that Orchard Church was one of
31 United Methodist churches to be selected as a “Church of
Excellence.” This followed a two year study enabled by a Lilly
Foundation grant to identify 300 excellent Protestant
congregations of all sizes and another 300 excellent Catholic
parishes in the United States. Scholars, pastors, religious
journalists, religion professors and denominational leaders were
asked to recommend the “best of the best” churches during this
two year study.
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