Unalaska
United Methodist Church
...serving Unalaska and the greater Aleutian community in the name of Christ
Our History
Unalaska UMC emerged out of a Methodist mission, which began in the late 1800’s to provide a home and school for Aleut children. This Methodist church has been a part of the community since that time, though it was absent for 33 years from 1957 until the fall of 1990.
The Woman’s Home Missionary Society furnished money to build and operate the new children’s home in the village of Unalaska. The home was named after Jesse Lee, one of the early itinerant Methodist preachers on the East Coast. Mr. and Mrs. John Tuck opened the Jesse Lee Home in 1890. One of the teachers who came to Unalaska in 1895, Miss Agnes Sowle, returned home in 1898 to marry Dr. Albert W. Newhall. They came to Unalaska later that year and Dr. Newhall became the doctor, builder, teacher, preacher and problem solver for the Jesse Lee Home family. Agnes Sowle, who had served as superintendent of the home since 1886, continued in that capacity until 1902, at which time Dr. Newhall was named superintendent. He remained in that position until the home was moved from Unalaska in 1925.
Dr. Sheldon Jackson, government agent for education in Alaska, told Mrs. Lydia Hill Daggett during their early conferences on missions in the Shumagin and Aleutian Islands in 1886, that if she could find a Methodist married man who would go to Unalaska, he would have him appointed as government teacher. Jackson added, he would be free to do missionary work out of school hours and on Sunday. Mr. and Mrs. John Tuck left San Francisco in 1889 for their new home in Unalaska. The church was officially organized in 1915, with a membership of 52 and Sunday School enrollment of 100. When the Jesse Lee Home was moved to Seward in 1925 a mission was established in Unalaska which offered the only Protestant services in the Aleutian Islands. Six pastors served the church from 1925 through 1957, when the church failed to supply a pastor. Rev. Keith Whittern served the church from July 1949 until 1957 when he along with his son Quentin died in a boating accident.
After an absence of 33 years, from 1957 until the fall of 1990, the Methodist church appointed Ann Janzen, a retired Methodist Deaconess and her husband Harry, a retired music teacher, to determine if it were feasible to reestablish the church. Ann organized a worship congregation that met in the local elementary school and within a year it was determined that the church should be reestablished. Ann and Harry secured an old trailer that had been used in the school construction to serve as a parsonage. The trailer leaked and had to be cabled to the ground to keep it from blowing over in the high winds. With the help of VIM team in the summer of 1992, they built a wall and roof over the existing trailer and enlarged it. In a little over a year after the Janzen's arrived in Unalaska it was determined that a full-time pastor should be appointed.
September 1, 1992 Rev. John and Bonnie Campbell accepted appointment to Unalaska as the first pastor since Rev. Keith Whittern. The Campbells arrived on August 30, 1992 along with their two young daughters.
The small congregation was still meeting in the local school and set as their first priority the construction of a church building. Construction of a new church began in early May of 1993 through the efforts of Rev. Campbell with support from churches in Alaska and throughout the lower 48. Roger Patterson, from the Office of Architecture of the General Board of Global Ministries, designed the building, taking into account the heavy wind loads and earthquake requirements. John Arty, an engineer, and active member of Langley UMC on Widbey Island, WA, donated his services to design the mechanical systems for the church and help Rev. Campbell do the material purchases in Seattle and then have the materials shipped to Unalaska. A carpenter friend of the Campbells, Jerry Bakeberg, from Wrangell came for the summer and coordinated the construction with the help of 6 VIM teams from the lower 48. The building was completed in early September of that same year.
The church determined that the parsonage would not be adequate for the long term needs of the church and pastoral family and began to explore ways in which to build a new home. There was a piece of property that the church owned that was right on the water and was suitable for a new home. It was determined that the value of the old parsonage, if sold, would be nearly enough to cover the cost of constructing a new home if done with volunteer help. Rev. Campbell designed the house using a $50 architectural software program, and again John Carty, from Whidbey Island provided engineering expertise and help in the purchase of materials. Carpenter Jerry Bakeberg, agreed to return for another summer and coordinate the construction of the new home. Construction began in May of 1995 and even though a change of pastors was about to take place. John and Bonnie Campbell made a decision to return to the Baltimore/Washington Conference.
The Rev. Steve and Sandra Lambert (who had been serving in Homer) agreed to take the appointment beginning July 1, 1995 and moved to Unalaska with their two small boys. Steve jumped into the middle of the construction of the parsonage and helped to see it to completion.
Under the direction of Rev. Lambert, another building program began. The original church building that was completed in 1993 was too small to contain a growing congregation. The current sanctuary was added with the help and support of individual United Methodist Church teams and Volunteer in Mission teams during the summer of 1999. So much support was given from churches in the lower 48 that the building was essentially paid for upon completion. Steve and Sandra and family served the Unalaska church until 2002 when Rev. Martha Oldham was appointed as a temporary pastor.
Rev. Kathy Wilson and her husband Ken accepted appointment beginning July 2002 to January 2005. Kathy’s previous appointments had been in the Western North Carolina Conference. The church was then faithfully served by Rev. Dale Kelley. Rev. Kelley was here until her retirement in June 2007. At that point, our current pastor, Rev. Daniel Wilcox, with his wife, Kris-Ann, and children began serving.
Last Update: Nov. 13, 2007
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