Two Churches, One Vote, a New Name
It's official
Wednesday night (June 24, 2026), the professing members of Montfort UMC & Cobb UMC met at the Montfort building for a Church Conference. Assistant to the Bishop Rev. Barb Certa-Werner presided. Both congregations voted to discontinue their churches. A ballot was passed around to pick the name. The members chose Living Faith. Officers were elected. The District Superintendent declared the church properly constituted. Everyone went home.
But this didn't start Wednesday.
The three churches shared circuit riders going back to the 1880s. Rev. Bachman preached at Montfort & Livingston. Montfort & Cobb were combined on a circuit in 1942. In 2019, Livingston, Montfort & Cobb became one charge under one pastor.
In 2023, Rev. Kristen Lowe pulled the attendance & giving numbers for all three churches & put them in front of the congregations. Attendance was down. Giving was down. She said so. That conversation carried forward long after she left the charge.
In spring 2025 the congregations at Montfort & Cobb passed unanimous resolutions to explore merging. Over the summer the boards walked through each building & solicited repair quotes. By August the communication strain of running separate boards had become too much. In September a Unified Ad Board was formed with members from both congregations. They met monthly through the fall, reviewed finances, toured every building & ran an anonymous preference poll on the building question.
In January 2026 the poll results & trustee findings were presented. Pastor Joel put together information packets covering the budgets, the buildings & the membership numbers so everyone was working from the same set of facts. Two Ministry Alignment Informational Sessions followed. Forty-eight people showed up to the first one.
The vote to merge was unanimous.
So what comes next?
Living Faith United Methodist Church began July 1, 2026. The property, records, memorial funds & membership of both former churches came with it. Livingston UMC remains part of the pastoral charge & worships alongside Living Faith on a rotating schedule. The Montfort building is the administrative home. The Cobb building will still be used through 2027 as a stable presence within the community.
We've got five ministry goals for 2026: a hospitality team, a youth group, children's ministry, community outreach & a contemporary service option. Sunday mornings at 9:30. Come find out what Living Faith looks like in person.