The later seats: Church of God meetings (1888), the Wesleyan church, the Pentecostal church, and Grace Reformed

1888–2026

Four more congregations stand in the town's record after Howard's five, each at a different strength. The earliest is a single newspaper line of real texture: the St. Joseph County Independent's church column of 14 July 1888 carries "THE CHURCH OF GOD — Holds its meetings in the Pres. church every Sabbath (Saturday)" at Walkerton — a Sabbatarian congregation borrowing the Presbyterian house on the seventh day, the second congregation the Presbyterian building is recorded sheltering. No modern Church of God congregation at Walkerton was found. The Wesleyan church is a twentieth-century seat with a full newspaper trail and no ending: the town paper's church pages place the Walkerton Wesleyan Church at Illinois and Van Buren Streets — the Rev. William Babb, pastor, in October 1970; a "new location" at the same corner under Pastor D. E. Gilkerson in April 1975; and Pastor T. Fugate at the corner of Van Buren and Illinois in March 1990. No modern listing, site, or directory entry for it was found, and no closure date was reached; it is printed as a congregation documented 1970–1990 whose after-course is an open item, not a closed one.

The United Pentecostal congregation supplies this section's neatest containment lesson. The town paper places "The United Pentecostal Church at 800 Van Buren Street, Walkerton" in December 1970, presenting a cantata. The congregation worships today as Walkerton United Pentecostal Church at 1174 Lake Street, on its own site — which describes the seat as "just south of Walkerton, IN on State Road 23." Its pastor is carried at the strength reached: "Pastor Dwayne Smith of Walkerton United Pentecostal Church," in a podcast listing of mid-2025, the Rev. Arnold Smith having been its pastor in 2001 at obituary strength. The congregation's own site prints two telephone numbers for itself, and both print. The fourth seat is Grace Reformed Church, of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, at 700 Van Buren Street — its own site states the denomination and the Westminster standards it holds, publishes weekly liturgies, and seats the congregation inside the town by the geocoder's test. Its pastorate prints in a three-way conflict, nothing merged: the Presbytery of the Midwest directory names Pastor Matthew W. C. Barker; the OPC's vacant-pulpit list of March 2024 lists Grace Reformed among vacant pulpits; and the congregation's own liturgies and postings of 2025–26 name Pastor Shawn Spalti preaching, with guest speakers also named — whether Spalti is installed pastor or regular supply is not stated on the pages reached, and the question is left exactly there.

Sources

1. St. Joseph County Independent, church column, 14 July 1888 (Church of God).
2. The Independent-News (Walkerton), church pages: 29 October 1970 and 10 April 1975 and 15 March 1990 (Wesleyan); 17 December 1970 (United Pentecostal, 800 Van Buren Street).
3. Walkerton United Pentecostal Church, own site, walkertonupc.com (1174 Lake Street; both telephone numbers); The Bald Truth podcast listing, 2025 (Pastor Dwayne Smith) — aggregator strength.
4. Grace Reformed Church, own site and liturgies, gracewalkerton.org; Presbytery of the Midwest (OPC) directory; OPC Vacant Pulpit List, March 2024.
5. Census geocoder tests, 1174 Lake Street and 700 Van Buren Street: both Walkerton town, Lincoln Township, St. Joseph County, 11 November 2026.