Greenleaf Church Outhouse, Miller, South Dakota - Outhouses on Waymarking.com

When Hand County was first settled, it was difficult for farm families to travel to a town to attend church services. Several rural congregations sprang up throughout the area, and flourished for many decades.

Today, only three rural churches continue to operate in the county…Rose Hill, Pleasant Valley and Greenleaf.

Greenleaf United Methodist Church will celebrate its 85th anniversary Sunday, Sept. 18, with a worship service at 1:30 p.m. District Superintendent Bob Rudebusch will speak. Cake and coffee will be served. All are invited to join the celebration at the church, which is located seven miles north of Miller on Highway 45, and four miles west on the Lake Louise road.

The celebration is in honor of the 85 years that church members have worshipped at the Greenleaf Church.

However, the first attendance for the congregation later to comprise the Greenleaf Methodists was at the Center Schoolhouse in Alpha Township in the summer of 1893. The service location was moved to the Northwest School in Alpha Township in the early 1900s.

Under the pastorate of the Rev. L.J. Sheldon (1924-1929), members decided to purchase the present church, which had been a Congregational Church in the southwestern part of the township. It was purchased for $250.00 from C.B. Hendricks.

Church records show the basement for the church was dug October 22, 1925, and the church was moved (with tractors and horses) November 2. By November 8, the church was set on its foundation and the roof was completed November 12. Ira T. and Fredricka Howard deeded the property for the church location on December 4, 1925.

The first service in the Greenleaf Methodist Church was the Christmas program on December 25, 1925. The dedication service for the new church was held April 18, 1926. For the next several years, membership flourished.

Over the decades, as transportation became easier and as the rural population declined, the number of rural churches diminished.

Greenleaf’s congregation now numbers only 25, and the building itself is showing its age. However, Pastor Mary Ann Sheldon, who also pastors the Methodist Church in Miller, holds weekly services for the faithful Greenleaf members.

The Greenleaf Ladies Aid was organized in 1929. It was later called Women’s Society of Christian Service, and today is called the Greenleaf United Methodist Women. The women continue to be active in mission work, and make their presence known by their charitable activities.

The women participate in “Kits and Cash” each year. Health, school, sewing and layette “kits” are prepared and are delivered each September to the Ingathering held in Mitchell. The kits are for persons in need, both overseas and at home. The value of the kits from Greenleaf this year totaled $4,730.

Sometimes, the women are called to unexpected service: they prepared 50 health kits during the flooding at Pierre this summer.

In another area, Greenleaf’s women support the “Tree of Life” mission work at Fort Thompson, including a thrift store and a battered women’s shelter on the Crow Creek Reservation.

The women have been involved with the T-shirt project; sleep mats are made from T-shirts, and the mats are donated to shelters on South Dakota reservations.

This small but active group of dedicated women also collect measuring cups and spoons for the Rick Jost Haiti Solar Oven Project, an outreach of the Dakotas Conference Board of Global Ministries. This project provides inexpensive solar ovens, which tap the energy of the sun to prepare food.

On a lighter note, Greenleaf conducts vesper services at Lake Louise during the summer, and annually goes to Pierre in December to sing during “Christmas at the Capitol.”

In word and deed, the congregation continues to fulfill the church’s mission statement: “Share! Christ’s invitation to be part of His family; Study! To grow in our faith and equip us for service; Send! Christ’s love to a hurting people and a hurting world.”

Location: The outhouse is a one-holer about 4x4 feet and about 7 feet tall. It has a modern seat and has cleaning clothes rather than running water for hygiene purposes. How many holes?: Not listed Construction: Not listed

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