1870’s
January 8, 1871 the first Seventh-Day Adventist Church of this community was organized on the Middleton farm two and one-half miles northwest of Sheridan. This company was the result of a series of meetings held at Northville which came about as follows: T.M. Andrews pitched their tent and intended to hold a series of meetings in Earlville but were unable to get an interest worked up. They
were ready to start but had not decided which way or where to go. They took a cane and stood it upright, each man having his hand upon it. They offered a short prayer and then removed their hands. The cane fell toward the direction a little south of east. Thus, they decided to travel in that direction until they found a town with a suitable place to pitch the tent. It was pitched on the west side of the road in the school yard at Northville. The church was first known as the Northville Church but in June 1872 it was changed to Serena as the services were held in Serena Township in the Hobbs Schoolhouse. Late on a Friday, one of the school directors posted a notice on the door of the schoolhouse that from that day there would be no religious services held in the schoolhouse. Adventist members got busy and arranged to meet in a private house. The Adventist continued to meet in private homes until spring of 1874 when it was decided to build a church building. Hobbs donated a plot of ground located at Burgess Junctions. Funds were raised for material and a stranger said, “Give me the money. By going to a lumber mill I can save you quite a bit of money”. They gave him the money and waited. Finally, just as they decided their money was gone forever, a car loaded with lumber came and everyone got to work. The building was dedicated October 4, 1874. In 1875, the town of Serena raised funds to move the building in Burgess Junction to a lot in Serena. This land was leased to the Trustees of the Seventh-Day Adventists Church as long as it was used for religious purposes. If religions purposes were abandoned the lot reverted to the estate of the original owner. (Story by R.F. Andrews)
1890’s
The present church building which was once located north of Burgess Junction, about 15 rods north of the oil tanks on the west side of the Old State Road (this is approximately ½ mile south of North 41st. Road on the Serena-Somonauk Blacktop). This is now a part of what was once the Serena Airport. This building was purchased from the Advents in 1896. In the early winter of 1897, Mr. George Nichols brought the building to Serena. To avoid crossing small bridges the church was taken through the fields and placed on ground donated by Charles Hoag, who at the time owned an 80-acre farm on which the town of Serena has now been built. His home was across the street from the church. Donations were taken from nearly everyone in the community and the building was used by all faiths and was known as Serena Union Church. Through the years Adventists, Baptists, Roman Catholics and Methodists used the church. A unique feature of the church was the construction of the pews, which could be folded down to face in the opposite direction to provide kneelers for the Roman Catholic services as well as making it easier for church school classes to meet in various parts of one large room.
1900’s
In 1907, Rev. Joseph W. Hitchcock, who came to Serena to live with his sister, Mrs. Abbie Dean, organized a Methodist congregation. This lasted for 19 years and while he did not act as minister, Rev. Hitchcock took a very active part in keeping up the church, which was still known as the Union Church. With reviving and renewal in 1939, the membership, totaling forty-three became affiliated with the Methodist Rock River Annual Conference.
1930’s
In May 1932 a proposed constitution was read and approved to call the church “The Federated Associated Church”. It never seemed to have been called this and instead was called “Union Church”. Following this other denominations held their services here as a Union Church until 1939. In 1936, Rev. Miller voted to join the Methodist Conference and the church was called the “Community Methodist Church”. It was in 1939 that the Methodist Church became affiliated with the Methodist Rock River Conference. At this time it had a membership of 43. A ceremony took place on May 21, 1939, for these Charter members Shirley Brandenburg Kember, Stanley Brandenburg, Beulah Brandenburg Olson, Stanley Rosengren, and Dale Kember. In 1952 the trustees of the old Union Church transferred their rights, authority, and interest to the trustees elected by the Methodist congregation. Community spirit began moving in 1952 to have the property become the full responsibility of the Methodists. With almost unanimous community consent and with the approval of the County court, the trustees of the old Serena Union Church transferred their rights, authority and interest in the old building to Methodist trustees elected by the Methodist congregation. A title deed to the land itself was awarded to trustees through the gracious action of the owner George C Hupp. The Serena United Methodist Church is located on Rte. 52 in Serena, Illinois. (Abbreviated History)
