Billings First Church receives $250,000 grant to preserve its history

First Congregational Church of Billings He was awarded a $250,000 grant from the National Fund for Historic Preservation.

The church was built in 1882 and carries a lot of history inside. This is the second church in Montana to receive this donation in the nine years it has been offered.

“This is a church with a long history and a strong legacy in this community,” the Rev. Lisa Harmon, Senior Pastor of First Congregational Church, said recently. “(The church) has changed over the years, changed shape and so on.”

Billings First Church receives $250,000 grant to preserve its history

Billings First Church was just one of 24 recipients nationwide. The purpose of the grant is to help preserve historically significant areas that are welcoming to the community.

“The grant will really be able to help us preserve this really important, sacred, architecturally significant, historical and cultural site,” Harmon said.

National Fund for Sacred Sites Billings First Congregational Church stood out immediately, director Rachel Hildebrandt said.

“This is the Partners for Sacred Places program in collaboration with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “What we do is serve congregations on old and historic properties that have made a significant impact in their communities,” Hildebrandt said. “They have a huge impact. They do incredible work with the Native American population, the LGBTQ population. “We found their stories very interesting.”

Harmon said they plan to update the old double boiler and HVAC system, make it more ADA accessible and bring sprinkler systems into more parts of the building.

“This sprinkler is really important because I think we can do more with our housing ministries in the future if we have additional areas where we’re allowed to do this. And that’s an ongoing concern in the community,” Harmon said. “Also, there’s no air conditioning in this building. So, put that into your mind.”

But the congregation still has work to do before many of the improvements can begin. The church must match the grant amount.

“The timeline for the grant actually ranges from 18 months to two years because in year one, they correctly assume that you’ll be working on your capital campaign. Now, once you raise half the amount you need to do, they release half the funding to raise your Grant, so you can actually get started as soon as your campaign is successful,” he said. Harmon said. “So we’re already getting donations, and the community is starting to call it out to us with their donations… We’ve got work to do, but we’re really confident.”

He hopes to continue honoring the church’s past and growing its future.

“We want to create a lot of lasting legacies here in the city of Billings. And so it’s pretty neat. It’s pretty serendipitous,” Harmon said.