Bliss Missionary Church
Contact Bliss Missionary Church
Mailing Address: 15 Sturgeon Bay Trail Levering, MI 49755
Phone: 231-537-4986
Email: blissmissionarychurch@gmail.com
FaceBook: Bliss Missionary Church
Contact Form: Information below can be accessed by Pastor Paul Holcroft and Dennis Fay
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Bliss Missionary Church
Learn more about what we do
Our Beliefs
God - We believe in one true God, the Creator, who exists as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Bible - We believe the Bible is God’s Word given as authority in Christian faith and practice.
Man - Though created by God, man chose to disobey, but has been offered redemption through Christ’s sacrifice.
Salvation - Sinful man can be forgiven through repentance and faith, and made holy by sanctification.
Church - Believers voluntarily joined together are the church, who glorify God and carry the Gospel to all the world.
Last Things - Christ will return again to take His believers out of the world, to judge the world and begin His reign.
Our History
Bliss Missionary Church’s Mennonite roots began in 1874 when Daniel Brenneman began the Reformed Mennonite Church in Indiana. That group went on to become the United Mennonites and then the Evangelical United Mennonites.
In 1882, the church sent D.U. Lambert to Bliss to organize a “class”. A pastor (presiding elder) visited the Bliss group every three months to hold special meetings.
The first permanent pastor for Bliss was James Hall (1889-1892) along with his wife Janet (Douglas), an evangelist in her own right.
In May of 1897 one acre of land was donated to the church, now called the Mennonite Brethren In Christ, and a parsonage was built that summer with Pastor William Nash already living in the unfinished home. Church meetings were held in tents in summer, and probably schools in winter.
A large sawmill operation began at Sturgeon Bay in the 1890’s by Albert Klise, so by 1903 Bliss was booming—jobs, schools, stores.
In the summer of 1902, the church was built by carpenter and sawmill owner Martin Overholt, and dedicated in November. A horse shed was also built, large enough for room for 14 teams.
In the 1940’s Charles Neil was sent to close the church. (The United Brethren Church at Bliss closed in the mid 1930’s. It was dedicated in 1903.) However, Rev. Neil built up the church during the war years, and taxied people around during these war years of scarce gasoline. Charles Neil was probably the pastor when the church basement was dug and a wood furnace installed, and perhaps when the garage was built. The garage was extended during the pastorate of Joe Jones (1984-1988).
In the 1950’s Willard Williams remodeled the church, lowering the ceiling and redoing it as a cathedral ceiling, adding indirectly lighting, and celotex walls. He also added an entrance at the south end of the church, as well as a brick church sign which is now gone.
Martin “Ernie” Alexander, longest serving pastor from 1968-1983, also remodeled the church. He engineered an addition at the north end of the church to contain two entrances, bathrooms, a foyer, and four classrooms. He “turned the church around” with the new addition, with the congregation now facing south instead of north. He covered the church walls with wood paneling. Later, he built the Alpha, which began as a project to give the youth activity room. A larger Alpha kitchen was added during the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Curtis Alexander (2008-2011).
During the tenure of Wayne Shidler (1988-1997) land was purchased. For 92 years the church existed on one acre of land which it didn’t own, with the land reverting to previous owners if not used for religious purposes. In 1989 a generous gift allowed the church to purchase the 32 acres surrounding it. It was also during the Shidler’s pastorate that the church received a large bequest and used it to again remodel the church, stripping it to the bare walls to redo electrical, lighting, insulation, wallboard and sound system. The cathedral ceiling installed by Willard Williams was kept, but covered with wood planking. The remodeling continued at the Parsonage with new wiring, walls, floors and kitchen. During the 1990's the Alpha was also remodeled, adding ceiling braces and a new stairway.
Two missionaries have originated from Bliss Missionary Church. Florence Overholt was in the second group sent to Shonga, Nigeria in 1905. In 1911 she married Ernest Lang of the Soudan Interior Mission and continued in that missionary work. Lois Luesing, who taught Sunday School at the Bliss church during her teen years spent several years in Burundi and made many shorter mission trips, almost all concerned with library work—Nigeria, Rio de Janeiro, Jamaica, and Russia.
The church’s name has changed over the years. It began with the Evangelical United Mennonites. When the church was first built, the name proposed was “Lake View Church”. (Locally it was also called the “west Bliss church".) However, until 1948 it was known as the Bliss Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church, then the Bliss United Missionary Church. In 1969 the United Missionary Church joined the Missionary Church Association, so the church was renamed Bliss Missionary Church.
Highlights
Bliss has had 36 pastors during its existence, not counting interim pastors.
A baptismal service was held November 14, 1902, at Sturgeon Bay with 2-foot waves.
An addition to the Parsonage was built in 1910, kitchen and dining room.
Rev. Joe Jones was Michigan's District Superintendent before coming to Bliss as pastor.
The parsonage had no water for the first 50-some years. The first well was drilled in the 1950’s. Two wells have been drilled since then.
Norman Bridges spent his first years at Bliss as his parents pastored, and later became president of Bethel College, 1989-2004.
In 1989 the Sunday School created a 10-foot ice cream sundae.
The church began live streaming its services in 2020.
Our Pastor
I love Jesus. I love my family. And I consider it an honor to be able to serve God in ministry. My family moved to Bliss in the fall of 2020. We spent the previous 10 years in ministry in the Upper Peninsula. I grew up in and have been connected to the Missionary Church for over 25 years with a Master of Ministry and a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Bethel University (Indiana).
Colleen and I were married in 2005 and have two daughters. Besides serving in ministry together we have a hobby farm. Our animals include rabbits, chickens, ducks, turkeys, quail and peacocks. And we like to garden.
I like good coffee and roast my own. I like talking life and faith over a cup of coffee. I play piano and guitar. I like to hunt and fish. I’m working on grafting and planting an apple orchard on some acreage we own here in Bliss focusing on antique heirloom varieties.
I love the local church. I also want to encourage the church to be active connecting with unchurched people, sharing the love of Christ with the community around us. My two greatest passions in ministry are people coming to know Jesus and those who follow Jesus being discipled to grow in their faith.