MISSIONAL PURPOSE:
In gratitude for God’s love and grace, we exist to help all persons become God’s children and to grow through faith in Jesus Christ.
VISION:
Faith Community Global Methodist Church seeks to continually:
- Show unconditional love and care to all
- Intentionally reach out to welcome and incorporate others into relationship with Christ and his church
- Become increasingly more Christ-like through active learning, relationships, and living our faith
- Actively worship God and serve others for the transformation of the world
CORE VALUES:
- We have a growing personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
- The Bible is the inspired true Word of God that is the foundation of our lives and the source of our beliefs.
- We live to serve Christ, one another, our community, and our world.
- We value all persons as created in God’s image; treating all with compassion, love, and acceptance.
Our Pastor
Rev. Dr. Listowel Ayensu-Mensah was appointed to serve Faith Community United Methodist Church, and by extension, the Greenville Community July 2017. Pastor Mensah has stayed with the church during the transition from the United Methodist to the Global Methodist Church in July, 2023. Pastor Mensah and his family are originally from Ghana, West Africa, but moved here from Chippewa Falls, WI where they served Zion and Hallie United Methodist congregations. Pastor is married to Felicia, and blessed to have two sons, Louis and Mike. Pastor Mensah is the son of a Methodist Pastor (now deceased), and has lived all his life helping or serving in some category in the Church. His favorite Scripture text is Exodus 23:20-21: “I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared. Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression; for my name is in him.” Pastor and his wife love working with others, love engaging kids and youth, and cherish helping and caring for others. [Pastor maintains it is his prayer that the already existing relationship between Faith Community and Greenville, as well as outlying Communities will be blessed with a stronger bond for the good of society and future generations. He also prays that with the Church, we can be a beneficial presence in the life of the community.]
A BRIEF HISTORY
Faith Community Global Methodist Church today has roots going back to German Evangelical and English Methodist churches in the area since the 1800’s. In 1855 Rev. Jacob Himmel, then pastor of the Evangelical Church in Oshkosh, served Greenville area residents who met in the home of Frederick Mueller. Services were conducted in German and were held whenever the pastor could make the trip by horse and buggy.
Zion Evangelical Church in Greenville was organized under the leadership of Rev. Frederick Kurz, and the building of the new church was agreed upon in a meeting in the Mueller home on July 19, 1866. A building site was chosen and purchased for $50 on the southwest corner of Spring and North Roads, about a mile south of Highway 45. The building was completed in 1867, at a cost of $2,285.
During the winter when farm work was slack, some of the members went to lumber camps near Antigo and Peshtigo to earn money with which to pay their pledges for the cost of the church building. The building remained the same through the years until a new heating system and indoor plumbing were added in 1947. The services were held in German until 1927, when the switch to English was made.
Around 1890, the Methodist Church of Stephensville was formed, about five miles northwest of Greenville and directly east of New London. There was also a Methodist Church in Medina, located on Highway 10 south of Hortonville. The Medina Methodist Church building is now the Medina Wedding Chapel.
On April 23, 1968, the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church merged to form the United Methodist Church. This worldwide merger was implemented locally with the creation of a new mission congregation, Faith Community United Methodist Church. Zion Evangelical United Brethren Church, Stephensville Methodist Church, and Medina Methodist Church all closed to become a part of the new Faith congregation. Rev. Jerry Cline, formerly pastor of the Zion church, became the founding pastor of Faith Community church.
The Wisconsin Annual Conference purchased five acres of land for the new congregation at the corner of Julius Drive and Highway 45. After breaking ground in 1968, the new church building was completed in 1969 at a cost of about $200,000. The first service of the new congregation was held on August 17, 1969, with a membership of 71 charter members.
Faith Community Church purchased two additional acres of land in 1970 and built a ranch style parsonage just north of the church building. A restored tracker action pipe organ was installed in the sanctuary and dedicated in April 1980. Boy Scout Troop 77 was organized under the sponsorship of the congregation in 1986. In 2000 the church completed a 4,000-square-foot addition of narthex, office, and classroom space, expansion of the sanctuary, and remodeling of other areas, at an approximate cost of $475,000. Faith Community Church hired its first part-time program staff person to work with children and youth in 2002.
In 2008 Faith Community Church added a new, 7,500 square foot educational addition, at an approximate cost of $560,000. The large fellowship hall can be arranged into four classrooms, making it possible to accommodate both large gatherings and smaller classes. Two well-furnished youth rooms enhance ministry to middle-school and high-school youth.
In July 2023, Faith Community disaffiliated from the United Methodist denomination and joined the Global Methodist Church.