Sioux Falls Solved: What's the history of the little white church on 14th Street?

Note: This is the first installment of Sioux Falls Solved, where we answer your burning questions about the area's history and way of life. Have a nagging question? Email mhuber@argusleader.com or use the form at the bottom of the story.

Pockets of sunlight stream through the nearly 135-year-old church like stars in a pitch-black sky, illuminating the building's skeletal remains.

The building's Gothic windows have been boarded up for years, their glass broken from vandalism. Paint is chipping from outside walls and the rafters were home to pigeons until recently.

The little white church that stands at 14th Street and 4th Avenue in central Sioux Falls is a shell of what it was 60 years ago. Back then, sun shined through its leaded windows, gleaming off pews packed with so many people that chairs had to be hauled inside, said Orin Scandrett, a preacher at the church in the late 1950s and early '60s.

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More than 13,000 vehicles pass by the dilapidated building each day, with its history nearly forgotten. But Greta and Scott Kraft saw the church's potential as their "forever home" when they saw a for sale sign in its yard in 2017 and made plans to renovate the structure.

"We want to make everybody proud," Scott said. "It'll still look like the church."

Despite the church's dilapidated exterior, it's a landmark of sorts in Sioux Falls. The couple said they've received post-it notes written with "Thank you for saving the church" on the front door.

The couple, who are designers and business owners, set out to renovate the church into a house, modernizing it while keeping its history intact.

Tradition is born

Although it was rumored that the little white church was the oldest standing church in Sioux Falls, it's not. It's the oldest wood-frame church in the city, according to documents at the Irene Hall Museum Resource Center.

The prairie-style gothic building was erected in 1884 for $1,600, could fit 200 people in its open space and served the Free Methodist congregation for 78 years.

The denomination itself was created when Free Methodist founders broke away from the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1860 because they opposed slavery; opposed the practice of pew rental, saying it discriminated against the poor; and were more conservative in doctrine.

Local Free Methodists were instrumental in starting the Union Gospel Mission more than 100 years ago, according to Argus Leader archives. For years, a small food pantry for emergency needs was offered.

The Sioux Falls congregation was established on Nov. 11, 1878 by S.D. LaDue and met in a schoolhouse at First Avenue and 12th Street until the "more commodious church building" was completed, according to a Minnehaha County history book.

Its nine original chapter members included F.H. Warren, E.E. Warren, Geo Hyde, H. Van De Mark, E. Brown, I.P. Ulrich, A.W. Hayes, Mary L. Hayes and Mrs. S.A. Kimball.

The Free Methodists moved to a church on South Cliff Avenue in 1961. The building was sold to the Church of God congregation and used as the Sioux Falls Interdisciplinary Church until 1967. It was vacant until it was sold to a private owner in 1977.

The oldest church in Sioux Falls was built just a year before the little white church, according to city records. The Livingston Memorial Church, formerly the East Side Presbyterian Church and now called the Little Stone Church, was constructed in 1883 on the corner of Sixth Street and Fairfax Avenue.

The church sits across the street from Whittier Middle School and hosted President Theodore Roosevelt for Palm Sunday in 1903, according to the Historic Avenues book of Sioux Falls landmarks.

Memories that last

Scandrett can remember just how Sundays looked when he preached for the congregation starting in 1959.

He remembers the pews. The congregation averaged about 128 people, he said, and there was a longer set of pews on the north side and shorter ones on the south side, with a long aisle down the center.

He remembers the platform on the east end, with a rail around it. His pulpit stood in the center. The register board hung on the south side of the platform, announcing hymn numbers for the congregation to sing along.

He remembers the lack of plumbing, too. But his best memories aren't of the building — they're of the people he served.

"It was a neighborhood church," the 89-year-old said. "Everyone knew each other so it was informal. There was a lot of singing and sharing from the congregation, then we usually had an alter service at the close so people could pray together."

The Sioux Falls Free Methodist congregation dwindled in the latter stages of the 20th century until they sold the church on South Cliff in 2009. That building is now the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church.

Remaining members met in private homes and established a prayer corps until the tradition stopped in 2012, said Marlena Wibben, 79, who'd been a member of the Free Methodist Church since 1963.

Wibben was one of the few who stayed in the church through its close and who still considers herself a Free Methodist. She now attends Abiding Savior Lutheran.

Keeping history alive

Greta Kraft drove by the church in November of 2017. Since she was young, the Sioux Falls native had loved the quaint and unassuming structure, which hadn't been used for religious purposes in 40 years.

So when she saw a "for sale" sign in the yard one Friday, she called her husband and arranged a walk-through for Sunday. They put an offer in that same day.

"We knew it needed a lot of work," she said. The couple owns a design and renovation business, Kitchens and Baths by Greta.

Since it's been in their hands, the structure has been cleared of debris and stripped back to its shell.

The building was damaged by a fire in 1995, caused by a wood-burning stove during the time it was being renovated into a stained glass studio by then-owner Kal Koball.

It isn't on the National Register of Historic Places and the church bell was sold to another church in town years ago, Greta said. She didn't know where the bell resides now.

The Krafts tore down the parsonage on the property, which was home to the church's preachers starting in 1904.

They've added a new roof onto the church. The plan is to add a kitchen, bathroom and laundry unit on the main floor, with bedrooms and another bathroom in the basement of the structure. An addition will connect to the church, making way for a family room and garage, reflecting the design and steep sloped roof of the church.

The bones of the building will remain the same. Although plenty of the structure has been damaged from the fire and vandalism, the original doors are still standing and some panes of the original leaded glass remain intact. 

The couple hopes to have new windows and insulation installed within the year. They said it'll be at least two years until the entire structure is completed.

"We're just excited to bring it back to life," Scott said.