The Lavina Methodist Church was organized in 1908 and their church, this building, was completed in 1913, the year the church moved in.
The American Lutheran Church of Lavina came into being in 1930. They worshipped in the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church at Belmont until the building burned down in 1929. Shortly after, the Lavina Lutherans formed their own congregation and bought and moved into the Adams Hotel. They remained there until 1973, at which time the high cost of maintaining and operating the large two story building forced the congregation to sell the building and move into the Lavina Methodist Church to share it with the Methodists. This arrangement continues today.
The building itself is quite representative of turn of the twentieth century Victorian buildings, with carved exposed end rafters and carved wooden brackets under the portico supports. The portico is actually an extension of the gable roof over the narthex, which, somewhat unusually, intersects the nave at its side, as opposed to its front. The nave is also covered by a gable roof, on the front peak of which it the small bell tower. Octagonal in plan, the exposed belfry shows a single large bell inside and is topped by a bell shaped dome with flared eaves, covered in what may be copper sheeting. At the peak of the dome is a ball finial with what appears to be a dove sitting on its top. Altogether, the belfry may be better called a cupola, or even a lantern.
While the belfry, or lantern, remains original except for asphalt shingling, the rest of the church, likely originally clad in shiplap siding, seems to have since been resided with newer wood or hardboard siding. Other exposed woodwork, for example the supports and brackets at the portico, appear to be original. Rectangular window and door frames may or may not be original.
A news story below, from the April 8, 2012 issue of the Billings Gazette, is able to provide us with details on the story of this church.
Denominations come together to preserve rural churches
Stories by SUSAN OLP | Apr 8, 2012
On an early Sunday morning, sun streams into the sanctuary of the Lavina Methodist and American Lutheran Church.
The Rev. Amanda Liggett, ordained Lutheran pastor, presides at the service attended by 16 adults and children, including the organist sitting on her bench at the back of the room. The Lavina church is one of at least a dozen rural congregations in Montana that, in one fashion or another, combine denominations, or at least share resources...
...In the case of the Lavina congregation the decision to join together was a practical move.
Recorded histories of the two churches show that the Lavina Methodist Church was founded in 1908, while the American Lutheran Church of Lavina came into being in 1930. The Methodist Church moved into the white two-story building it still inhabits in 1913.
The Lutherans originally were members of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church at Belmont until the building burned down in 1929. Then members from Lavina formed their own congregation and bought and moved into the Adams Hotel.
There they stayed until 1973, when it became harder and harder to keep up with expenses. So the Lutherans put it to a vote whether to join with the Methodists. A majority of members voted in favor, with four against it, a written history of the church said.
The Lutheran congregation sold the hotel to another buyer, after the insurance on the building became too costly. The decision was made to use the Methodists’ building, the Methodist hymnal and the Lutheran pastor, and each congregation had their own officers and responsibilities.
More recently, the Lutheran-Methodist church was grouped with three other Methodist churches in Roundup, Lavina and Ryegate. Last summer, the Ryegate church closed and the pastor serving all three churches retired.
A redistricting left Lavina without a pastor, and [Rev. Amanda] Liggett, who serves Zion Lutheran part time, agreed to take over the Lavina church.
On paper, the church is still composed of two separate congregations, and each pays half of Liggett’s salary.
From the Billings Gazette