Choteau United Methodist Church Choteau MT
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Who we are
Our Vision Statement
Our dream is to be a Christian church which helps each person realize a spiritual relationship with God and Jesus by welcoming people of all ages in a comfortable, caring, creative atmosphere.
Our dream is to be a Christian church which helps each person realize a spiritual relationship with God and Jesus by welcoming people of all ages in a comfortable, caring, creative atmosphere.
Street Address
Church Pastor
Zach Bechtold
Pastor
12 1st St NW
Choteau,
MT
59422
United States
Phone: (406) 466-2641
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Denomination
United Methodist Church
Affiliations
Church Website
Choteau United Methodist Church on Social Media
Choteau United Methodist Church on YouTube
Facebook Video: Choteau United Methodist Church Facebook Video
Leadership
Leader Name:
Zach Bechtold
Leader Position:
Pastor
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Leader Bio:
I want to start off by saying “Thank you” for the warm welcome we have received since our announcement and our arrival here in Montana by members of the church as well as Clergy from around the Conference. My family and I truly feel welcome and at home here.
I look forward to meeting many of you in person over the coming weeks; until then, here is a brief opportunity for you to get to know us, at least on paper. Along for the adventure in ministry is my wife of almost 12 years, Mikel, and our two daughters, Zoe (10), Ryann(4) and our son Noah (7). Zoe and Noah are very excited to start school here in Choteau, and Ryann is excited to have the opportunity to be home with Mikel and join me in the office and pastoral visits from time to time.
The Bechtold’s made it to Montana by way of Texas and New Mexico. Mikel and I both grew up in Plainview, TX a small town in the Panhandle between Lubbock and Amarillo. We met while working in youth ministry in 2003 at FUMC in Plainview and were married in the same church in 2005. We spent several years working with youth in Plainview, Tulia, and New Boston, Texas before making our way to New Mexico in 2011 were I was the Executive Director of the New Mexico State Wesley Foundation for 3 years and spent time as an Associate Pastor at FUMC in Hobbs, New Mexico and Associate Pastor at Grace/Tularosa Merger in Alamogordo, New Mexico.
I received my BBA in General Business from New Mexico State University in 2016 and finished my first year working on a Masters of Divinity through the Journey Program at Iliff Theological Seminary. In my free time I enjoy being outdoors, Colorado Rockies baseball, woodworking, playing the guitar and singing with Mikel. I also host a weekly podcast with my friend and colleague Rev Matthew Franks who is a Methodist Pastor in Oklahoma.
As of August 1st, I have been appointed to be the Pastor of Choteau, Brady, and Dutton UMC’s, and as a family, we couldn’t be more excited and eager to be a part of these communities and churches. We feel truly blessed and excited to be called to begin this new adventure in ministry in the Yellowstone conference and look forward to working with each of you in the future.
“Love, Pray, Give and Rejoice!”
Pastor Zach
I look forward to meeting many of you in person over the coming weeks; until then, here is a brief opportunity for you to get to know us, at least on paper. Along for the adventure in ministry is my wife of almost 12 years, Mikel, and our two daughters, Zoe (10), Ryann(4) and our son Noah (7). Zoe and Noah are very excited to start school here in Choteau, and Ryann is excited to have the opportunity to be home with Mikel and join me in the office and pastoral visits from time to time.
The Bechtold’s made it to Montana by way of Texas and New Mexico. Mikel and I both grew up in Plainview, TX a small town in the Panhandle between Lubbock and Amarillo. We met while working in youth ministry in 2003 at FUMC in Plainview and were married in the same church in 2005. We spent several years working with youth in Plainview, Tulia, and New Boston, Texas before making our way to New Mexico in 2011 were I was the Executive Director of the New Mexico State Wesley Foundation for 3 years and spent time as an Associate Pastor at FUMC in Hobbs, New Mexico and Associate Pastor at Grace/Tularosa Merger in Alamogordo, New Mexico.
I received my BBA in General Business from New Mexico State University in 2016 and finished my first year working on a Masters of Divinity through the Journey Program at Iliff Theological Seminary. In my free time I enjoy being outdoors, Colorado Rockies baseball, woodworking, playing the guitar and singing with Mikel. I also host a weekly podcast with my friend and colleague Rev Matthew Franks who is a Methodist Pastor in Oklahoma.
As of August 1st, I have been appointed to be the Pastor of Choteau, Brady, and Dutton UMC’s, and as a family, we couldn’t be more excited and eager to be a part of these communities and churches. We feel truly blessed and excited to be called to begin this new adventure in ministry in the Yellowstone conference and look forward to working with each of you in the future.
“Love, Pray, Give and Rejoice!”
Pastor Zach
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Choteau United Methodist Church Service Times
Sunday 11:00 am
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United Methodist Church Choteau Photos
Choteau United Methodist Church - Choteau, Montana
Choteau United Methodist Church - Choteau, Montana
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Choteau United Methodist Church History
Written histories usually involve dates and places. With this in mind, below is a brief history of the Choteau United Methodist Church.
Rev. W.W. Van Orsdel, a traveling Methodist evangelist and missionary, better known as “Brother Van,” held the first Protestant service at the Blackfeet and Peigan Agency, located several miles west of Choteau, July 1872. The next morning, Brother Van set out with a party of twenty-five warriors for a buffalo hunt on the “Freeze-out Flat.” The buffalo were plentiful and Brother Van shot his first buffalo. The celebrated cowboy artist, Charles Russell, painted a picture of this event.
In 1890, Rev. Job Little was appointed to serve the Methodist Church in Choteau, and in 1894 Rev. George Logan came. It was during this time that the first church and parsonage were completed. The parsonage was built on the location of the current parsonage, and the church was right next door. In the springtime each year, as the grass greens up, the exact location of the entrance of the old church can be seen. The grass in the location of its sidewalk still comes up a different color of green!
In 1913, while Rev. P.R. McMahon was pastor, the first parsonage was moved and the current parsonage was built. There are folks who remember going to Sunday School in the parsonage. Annual Conferences were help in Choteau in 1901, 1905, and 1913.
It was in 1949 that the old church was moved across the street (which now makes up the upstairs fellowship room and offices) and the new sanctuary was built. The first service in the new building, a “Christmas Victory Service”, was held on December 18, 1949. The indoor handicap ramp, one of the best anywhere, was built in 1995/96.
But church history is so much more than dates and places. It is all the interactions of lives that make up the church. It is the weekly gathering for worship. It is the gathering of children, and youth, and adults for times of learning. It is sharing meals together in fellowship times. It is roast beef dinners and turkey dinners and making pies and harvest potlucks. It is celebrating together at weddings and baptisms and confirmations. It is crying together and comforting each other at funerals and other times of sorrow and loss. It is the helping each other out in times of need. It is listening to each other and struggling through difficulties and dilemmas together.
But the church is still more. It is a gathering of people that sends forth. As we look back, we remember the people that have gone forth from our communities of faith to be in service to others. They now live in other communities and are nurtured in other places, but they were spiritually birthed here. We give thanks for our communities of faith that have, and continue to, influence the world beyond our four walls.
The song says “The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is the people.” And so it is for us, the folks who make up the bodies of Christ called the Choteau United Methodist Church. We have a history of our past. We live in the present. We look to the future to continue to find ways to share the love of Christ in our communities, and even “unto the ends of the earth.”
Rev. W.W. Van Orsdel, a traveling Methodist evangelist and missionary, better known as “Brother Van,” held the first Protestant service at the Blackfeet and Peigan Agency, located several miles west of Choteau, July 1872. The next morning, Brother Van set out with a party of twenty-five warriors for a buffalo hunt on the “Freeze-out Flat.” The buffalo were plentiful and Brother Van shot his first buffalo. The celebrated cowboy artist, Charles Russell, painted a picture of this event.
In 1890, Rev. Job Little was appointed to serve the Methodist Church in Choteau, and in 1894 Rev. George Logan came. It was during this time that the first church and parsonage were completed. The parsonage was built on the location of the current parsonage, and the church was right next door. In the springtime each year, as the grass greens up, the exact location of the entrance of the old church can be seen. The grass in the location of its sidewalk still comes up a different color of green!
It was in 1949 that the old church was moved across the street (which now makes up the upstairs fellowship room and offices) and the new sanctuary was built. The first service in the new building, a “Christmas Victory Service”, was held on December 18, 1949. The indoor handicap ramp, one of the best anywhere, was built in 1995/96.
But church history is so much more than dates and places. It is all the interactions of lives that make up the church. It is the weekly gathering for worship. It is the gathering of children, and youth, and adults for times of learning. It is sharing meals together in fellowship times. It is roast beef dinners and turkey dinners and making pies and harvest potlucks. It is celebrating together at weddings and baptisms and confirmations. It is crying together and comforting each other at funerals and other times of sorrow and loss. It is the helping each other out in times of need. It is listening to each other and struggling through difficulties and dilemmas together.
The song says “The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is the people.” And so it is for us, the folks who make up the bodies of Christ called the Choteau United Methodist Church. We have a history of our past. We live in the present. We look to the future to continue to find ways to share the love of Christ in our communities, and even “unto the ends of the earth.”
Choteau United Methodist Church Historical Photos
First Methodist Episcopal Church 1895 - 1949
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"Prayer strikes the winning blow; service is simply picking up the pieces." S.D. Gordon
Choteau United Methodist Church listing was last updated on the 22nd of August, 2019
