Likely inspired by gospel song written in 1857, the Rye Home United Methodist Church has been celebrating an outdoor service every summer, well, for as long as anyone can remember.
Dr. William S. Pitts wrote The Church in the Wildwood after a stagecoach ride to visit his fiancée in Fredericksburg, Iowa from Wisconsin. When the stage stopped at Bradford, Iowa Pitts found incredible beauty in the Cedar River wooded valley and envisioned a church being built there. The song became popular, most recently produced by Dolly Parton and the group, Alabama.
Initially, what was the Rye Home Church, started their own ‘Church in the Wildwood’ with horse drawn wagons loaded with families and food pulled up into the woods for songs, fellowship and an afternoon picnic. The format, food and fellowship, with more modern trans portation, continued at different locations throughout the years that followed.
In the summer of 1969, their first ‘Church in the Wildwood’ was held at the Graham Masonic Memorial Park about eight miles north of Rye. Frank Berg Graham donated 7.59 acres of John Graham’s original homestead to the Silver State Lodge No. 95 in honor of his adopted father, as the Graham Masonic Retreat or Memorial Park. For almost 50 years the church held their summer outdoor service and fellowship here.
In honor of the church’s 150th Anniversary, ‘Church in the Wildwood’ will be held on June 12th. The service will start at 10 a.m. under the playground pavilion at Rye Park. With special thanks to Dave and Helen Wade, and Eddie Decker an old-fashioned chuck-wagon picnic of hamburgers, hot dogs and homemade desserts will follow.
Everyone is welcome.
