The Boyne City Area

The community of Boyne City is situated on Lake Charlevoix with the adjoining Boyne River running right through the city. Many natural and recreational areas surround Boyne City and include parks, nature preserves, trails (both motorized and non-motorized), skiing and other winter sports. A bike trail links Boyne City with other trails throughout neighboring communities. Young State Park is located on Lake Charlevoix just a couple of miles outside of the city limits and Whiting, a county-owned park, is located on the other side of the lake; it's a popular stop for those seeking a more relaxed visit.

 

Boyne City has a K-12 public school and a charter school. There is a county-owned bus service that links Boyne City and neighboring communities. A small medical center and free clinic are located within the city limits, as well as dental and veterinary services. Mclaren Northern Michigan Hospital is just 17 miles away in Petoskey, and Munson Charlevoix Area Hospital in Charlevoix is about the same distance. Nativity is fortunate to be located one block from the downtown area and next door to the Boyne City Public Library. We are within walking distance from surrounding neighborhoods.

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We are a few miles from Boyne Mountain Resort, and just a few blocks from Boyne City's Lake Charlevoix waterfront. If you are on vacation or in town for downhill skiing, or golfing, or boating, or cross-country skiing, or mushroom hunting (seriously, it's big thing here in the spring), we welcome you to visit us. Come as you are: we don't get dressed up. Okay, maybe the priest dresses up, but ski clothes in winter and shorts in summer are just fine. In spring, every May includes the Mushroom Festival. In summer, mid-July sees the Boyne Thunder gathering of power boats, and Friday evenings include "Stroll the Streets." On the Sunday following St. Francis' Day (October 4), we hold a Blessing of the Animals.

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Background

The Episcopal Church of the Nativity is a parish of the Diocese of the Great Lakes of the Episcopal Church, a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion. We used to say there were 95 million of us in more than forty autonomous churches, all calling the Archbishop of Canterbury the "first among equals" as our spiritual leader. But, in 2025, nearly half of those churches got upset that the 106th Archbishop is a woman, and they declared themselves as "Global Anglicans," having nothing to do with the Church of England. We are part of the more progressive Anglican Communion, fully embracing the ordination of women. The orders of deacon, priest, and bishop in the Apostolic Succession are, in our view, open to all the baptized. We believe that, in these tumultuous times in the world, God is continually calling us deeper into the Paschal Mystery, and that God is still speaking today, leading us into a fuller revelation of divine grace. 

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Full disclosure: in this country, the Episcopal Church was once the church of slave owners and of robber barons. One of the ways we have been called by God is away from this shameful past and into a future that is more fully inclusive, respecting the dignity of every human being. We can at least be proud that eleven U.S Presidents were Episcopalians! In the Anglican Communion of the twenty-first century, each one of us can believe what we believe, so long as we are willing and able to worship how we worship. What we cannot do is impose our beliefs on others. For instance, some of us believe in that Mary the mother of God was a virgin; others hold the ancient Hebrew and Greek words we translate into modern English really mean "young woman." Either position is just fine (and a whole lot in between). In general, we subscribe to a "three-legged stool" of scripture, tradition, and reason to articulate the Anglican via media, or "middle road"---the wide way between Catholic and Protestant extremes. 

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Our Parish's History

On December 7, 1985, an ambitious group of Episcopalians met at the home of Harvey and Genevieve Varnum in Boyne City to discuss the possibility of beginning a year-round mission church. The motivating force behind this initiative was Emmanuel Church of Petoskey’s rector, the Rev. James B. Hempstead, who developed a committee and together led a door-to-door survey to determine if there was enough interest in starting an Episcopal church. 

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On December 22, 1985, following their meeting, came the first celebration of the Holy Eucharist at the Varnums’ home in Boyne City, with 31 in attendance. January 4 marked the first regularly scheduled service and the beginning of worship services on Saturday evenings at 5 in the Varnum home, where worshippers gathered around their pool table. During those first formative mission years, clergy from Emmanuel Church served at Nativity. In addition to Fr. Jim, priests included John Schaffer, Margaret Young, and Dave Amo.

 

Fast forward two years: as the new church grew, discussions began regarding a permanent home. Our members became aware of a building that had been purchased by a doctor named Walker Webber and converted into a church to honor his mother. The building he owned was our current home, which, prior to our land-contract purchase, had been named Grace Church. Dr. Webber, who we believe was an Episcopalian, became aware of Nativity’s interest and subsequently sold the building to us. 

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As the plaque on the front of our building attests, our church had its beginnings as Boyne City’s first schoolhouse in 1879, when it was located at the intersection of Park and Main streets. It enjoyed a relatively brief period as a school, as a short five years later, in 1884, it was deemed too small and sold to the Methodist congregation for the outrageous sum of $175. It was then moved across the road. We don’t know how many times the building changed hands subsequently, but we do know that—in addition to the Methodists—it has been home to church services by Baptists, Presbyterians, and Latter-Day Saints. It also served as a teen center. It became the property of the Church of the Nativity in early 1987. The first service here was on Christmas Eve 1987. Then, on the following May the 16th, it was formerly consecrated by the Rt. Rev. Edward L. Lee, Jr., VII Bishop of Western Michigan.

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Our congregation graduated from mission to parish status in 1993, with the Rev. Daniel Linnenberg as our first Priest-in-Charge. Our longest-serving Rector was the Rev. Margaret Natterman, who retired in 2015. Subsequently, David Penniman served as our Lay Pastoral Leader for a decade before his retirement in 2025, after which the Rev. Dr. J. Barrington (“Barrie”) Bates took over as our Priest-in-Charge.

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—History compiled by Charlie McCord, 2025