The Garwin Christian Church will be observing their 160th Anniversary Celebration Sunday, August 5, 2018. A special program will be held at 2:00 p.m. with previous pastors invited to participate. Church history and memorabilia will be on display. Fellowship and refreshments will follow. Everyone is welcome. Carlton Township was first organized in 1854. The church was first organized December 27, 1858.The building was constructed in the spring and summer of 1889 and incorporated May 11, 1889. The new building was dedicated September 15, 1889. In 1902 the church was raised and the basement was built, furnace installed and opera chairs replaced old benches. In 1953 the back two basement rooms were added, and in 1967 the enclosed entryway was constructed. A pastor’s study and classroom was built over the basement rooms in 1980. In 1920 the Ladies Aid Society purchased a house two blocks away from the church parsonage as a cost of $3,750. It was a big undertaking but the women of the church were not afraid of hard work, nor did their faith wane. Success crowned their efforts at last and the mortgage was burned February 24, 1930 at the close of a Jubilee Banquet and program at church. In 1951the Ladies Aid Society and the Women’s Missionary Society combined to form Christian Women’s Fellowship. Their last combined project was to share in the in the cost of wall-to-wall carpet in the sanctuary. Well known for their quilts, having made close to nearly 50 quilts. During 1967 the Christian Churches of Bethel Grove, Garwin, and Whitten agreed to work together and call a minister to serve all three churches. Rev. Robert Dally was called to serve as minister with William Hill as his assistant. the churches worked together on a number of parish programs and at the same time retained their autonomy and continued to minister in their own community. Wm Hill resigned in 1969 and David Saunders was called. Whitten withdrew from the parish in 1971. Garwin and Bethel Grove reorganized and Rev. Dally was retained as minister. The parsonage in Garwin was rented and later sold. The Rev. Charles Fry served from 1972 until July 1, 1983. Elmer Baker then served as interim pastor until 1984 when Rev. Roy Sanders became minister of Bethel Grove Garwin parishes. The combined parishes later dissolved and each church maintained their own. Following Rev. Sanders were Pastors Mary Taylor, David James, Ron Clayton, Doug Cue, Cindy Morison, Harry Wach, and in 2017 Jay Beichley. The opera chairs in the sanctuary were later replaced with new oak padded benches. New wall to wall carpet was installed in the sanctuary, entryway and downstairs by Myron DuToit. The dedicated church congregation with support from the community, the Annual Election Night Supper in November helped provide needed funds to support the church and make many needed improvements to the structure both inside and out. memorial contributions were also beneficial. Two big projects were the new steel roof and two new furnaces. DAve and Kelly Devig provided and installed siding on the church. Lenny and Larae Edens and family were instrumental in remodeling the furnace room and bathrooms where spray on insulation and new sheet rock were installed. The bathrooms both have new fixtures. The Edens family also designed and constructed the new sign/planter out front. The basement electrical system was also updated by Carl’s Electric. With demand of so many more meals being served at the Election Day Supper came the need for a new commercial size convection oven and two new refrigerators. The used commercial dishwasher from GMG School was installed. The church has provided Wacky Wednesday Worshippers, the young children and teenagers in the community a time to share in learning about God. Larae Edens with helpers, implemented the very successful program for ten years, meeting twice a month through the school year. Lacy Starits assumed the leadership responsibilities in 2018. Community Vacation Bible School has been a joint effort with the area churches taking part. Lacy Starits represented our church as co-leader in 2018. Through the years between 60 and 100 children have attended. Virginia Eckhart has been church organist for over 50 years. Ron Purdy has served as Church Board Chairman and yard maintenance over 30 years. Phyllis Konicek, Church Treasurer accepted the position following her mother, Hulene DuToit, over 20 years ago. Jean Purdy has served as Church Secretary over 30 years. In 2018 Jean Hurlbut celebrated her 103 Birthday! Jean took her church responsibilities seriously. If you were looking for Jean and unable to find her, one would check the church where she would be cleaning, painting or in her garden which she loved too. We welcome everyone to come to our 160th Anniversary Celebration at 2:00p.m. on Sunday August 5, 2018.