Saint Paul's United Methodist Church of Helena

Our History

On March 26 of 1865, the Rev. E. T. McLaughlin, described as a man of about 25 years of age, single, a good singer and of great physical vigor, preached his first sermon from a pile of logs on Joliet St., at the current site of Cutler and Cruse Ave. These logs soon became the first church, a simple large cabin with a membership of eight, dedicated in July, 1865 before the town's first anniversary. Around this nucleus was built a steadily enlarging congregation

St. Paul's Methodist Church is not only the oldest church in the capital city but the third oldest in the entire state of Montana. Helena Methodism has flourished continuously since 1865.