“The Gospels are the best because I love the stuff about Jesus. I like John’s Gospel from which comes John 3:16. And in the heart of that is who we are. It says who we are and why I am who I am. It always spoke to me."”

Pastor Margaret Demaris

The Stanley Methodist Church began in 1895 and in 2019 combined with the Thorp congregation to become the Stanley-Thorp United Methodist Church.  The Church’s denomination is United Methodist Conference and the Holy Bible, the Word of God, is their creed. John Wesley, along with his brother, Charles, began the Methodist movement in 18^th century England to reform the Church of England from within and he had three simple rules, “Do no harm. Do good. Stay in love with God.” With over 12 million members all over the world in Africa, Asia, Europe and the United States, the United Methodist Church insists that personal salvation always involves Christian mission and service to the world. The Church’s mission is to transform the world by making disciples for Jesus Christ. Their goal is “to open hearts, open doors and open minds through active engagement with their world.”

Starting approximately three months ago, Pastor Margaret Demaris, the oldest of five children, is the current pastor of the Church. Pastor Margaret Demaris moved from Cleveland, Ohio where she met her late husband, Charles, who was also a Pastor, and eventually settled in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, where she presently resides.  “It was fun to be a clergy couple,” she reminisces. “Not that we ever served together.” Pastor Demaris has a son, who lives in Eau Claire and a daughter, who lives in Cleveland, three grandchildren, two great grandchildren and a Springer Spaniel named Trooper, who loves to keep her company. Pastor Demaris has a bachelor’s degree from Baldwin Wallace College and a master’s degree from Methodist Theological School in Ohio. She returned to college to begin a career as a librarian, but God had other plans.  Standing in a bookstore, she heard God’s Call on her life leading her to go back to school to be a minister. She explains, “God tries to direct us all the time and when we get really stubborn, he uses words so there’s no doubt. The fact that He called me, that conviction just has never gone away.” Pastor Demaris who has served the Church for 25 years is a second career Pastor and came out of retirement to pastor the Stanley Thorp United Methodist Church, which has been a joy to her. The Stanley-Thorp congregation has worked to make her feel at home.  “They’re fun people. They’re a nice Church. They were very welcoming and very open,” she remarks about her new parishioners.  The biggest challenge she faces as a Pastor is convincing people that being a person of faith is relevant. “A lot of this society and a lot of this country doesn’t believe in even God. That’s to me the challenge, to make that real enough that people might actually share it with somebody,” she observes. Pastor Demaris’s favorite Book of the Bible is John. “The Gospels are the best because I love the stuff about Jesus. I like John’s Gospel from which comes John 3:16. And in the heart of that is who we are. It says who we are and why I am who I am. It always spoke to me,” she outlines. 

As a clergy woman, Pastor Demaris has faced obstacles and challenges that other clergymen haven’t gone through. “I’ve gone places and been the first woman they ever had and that’s been interesting.  I am what I am,” she continues. “I always tell people, “Technically I don’t work for you, I work for the BOSS, and it was His Idea, so here I am and here we’ll be together, and we’ll see what we can do with this.” Speaking on challenges facing clergy woman, she details, “Sometimes people think you’re not quite adequate or they think they need to be judging you. I’m still a person. I think clergy sometimes are treated like they’re not quite real people anymore.”

Located at 239 S. Broadway St. in Stanley, the Stanley-Thorp United Methodist Church is an active help in the local community. The Church hosts a Christmas Cookie Walk and Bazaar, summer thrift sales, and they host weekly AA meetings on Monday evenings with AA counselors on hand.  They also support the local food pantry. The Church worship music is mainly traditional hymns sprinkled with a bit of contemporary music as well and on Sundays, there is a piano and organist accompaniment.

Currently the Stanley Thorp United Methodist Church doesn’t have children’s services but that’s something Pastor Demaris hopes to change. She has displayed on the Church altar rail pictures that children have colored. “I don’t have any children (in the Church.) So far that’s my salute to children in the hope that sometime the kids will actually come and sit in the Church,” Pastor Demaris explains when questioned about the lack of children’s services.

The Stanley Thorp United Methodist Church will be having a Tenebrae service at 7:30 pm on April 7^th, Good Friday. “Tenebrae” is the Latin word for “darkness” and the practice dates back to the ninth century.  In an ancient Good Friday Tenebrae service, fifteen candles, with one representing Christ, are set out as the Passion story is told. Hymns and prayers may be interspersed throughout the readings and at the conclusion of each reading, a candle is extinguished until at the very end the last candle is taken out signifying Jesus’s Death on the Cross and a loud sound is made to convey the effect Jesus’s Death had on mankind. The Church is dark and quiet as parishioners leave to contemplate Jesus’s Death on the Cross and await the Glory of His Soon Coming Resurrection. Pastor Demaris explains, “Good Friday and Easter are the heart of who we are. I love Christmas, don’t get me wrong, but it’s the start of the story and it’s the end of it that’s important. I’m looking forward to Good Friday.” On April 2^nd the Stanley Thorp United Methodist Church will be hosting a free will luncheon after the service where they will provide soup, a sandwich, and a dessert.

For more information on the Stanley-Thorp United Methodist Church, call 715-644-5881 or follow them on Facebook at Stanley-Thorp United Methodist Church.