By Justin Engleman (Barton County Historical Society board member)
The members of the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 3400 21st St., Great Bend, will celebrate the church’s 150th anniversary with special services at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 7.
The foundation of today’s church originated with the forming of a Sunday School in the spring of 1872. On Aug. 10, 1872, the church was chartered during a meeting in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Amasa C. Moses. The charter members were Mr. and Mrs. Moses, Miss Ida Mitchell, Mr. David Newton Heizer, Mrs. Holland, Mr. J.R. Bickerdyke and Mr. Elias Branson Cowgill, and they named their church the First Church of Christ of Great Bend.
The following March, the Council of Congregational Churches reorganized the church, changing the name to First Congregational Church of Great Bend. Initially services were held in the Moses home above their store on the north side of the courthouse square. Seats were made by placing boards across kegs of nails. Later, a temporary church home was made in the Barton County Court House.
The first house of worship to be constructed at Broadway and Stone was sandstone and it collapsed before it could be completed. The second church building cost $2,500, and was a frame building, with the congregation moving into the church in 1879. Two years later, the church caught fire and was partially destroyed, it was repaired and a 20-by-30-foot addition was added during the construction. Within the next 20 years, the congregation was beginning to outgrow their house of worship, and church members began to entertain the idea of constructing a new church building. Final services were held in the building on May 1, 1910.
Barton H. Quinn, a local architect, was hired to draw plans for a new edifice, with the final plans being 72 by 79 feet, including Sunday School rooms. The new church was to seat 300 in the sanctuary, 28 in the choir platform and another 128 in the balcony. When the Sunday school rooms were made into one room with the sanctuary, 750 people could be seated. T.C.
Cork of Great Bend was selected to be the contractor. The cornerstone was laid July 14, 1910, with a tin box containing, among other items, a history of the church by Mrs. G. N. Moses, who was the former Ida Mitchell, a charter member. The new church was dedicated March 26, 1911.
Of special note were the beautiful stained-glass windows installed in this building, dedicated to the pioneer citizens of Great Bend, especially the large windows at the north side of the sanctuary, dedicated to charter members, A.C. and Naomi Moses. Others memorialized, include Dr. S.J. Shaw, local physician; Joseph and Jane McMullen, farmer; Eugene H. Lindas, 8-year-old who drowned in the river; Channel P. Townsley, founder of the Great Bend Tribune; Mary A. Moses, mother of George N. and Edward R. Moses and Mrs. C.P. Townsley; and Calvin, Harriet and C. Frederick Diffenbacher, local attorney and his wife and son. Many of those windows are now in the Dorothy Moses Morrison Chapel at Barton Community College. The Townsley window hangs in the church foyer.
Upon the completion of the new building, $18,000 had been raised, and after Charles V. Brinkman spoke during the dedicatory service, another $10,000 was raised, completely freeing the church of debt.
During the Great War, the Ladies Aid Society became a Red Cross Auxiliary, making dressings and other knitted articles for American servicemen. The Golden Jubilee was celebrated in 1922. By 1932, membership in the church had grown to 571, and expansion of the church facilities seemed imminent. Before any plans could be made, however, World War II broke out and it was not until October 1945 that preliminary plans for expansion could begin. In 1952, congregants began to look at plans for the construction of yet another building. The same year, brothers Ralph and Leon McKinney offered to donate one city block for the construction of a new edifice. The building committee accepted their offer.
In 1954, church moderator H.P. “Hody” Thies led a successful fund drive for the new building, and two years later a building permit was secured for construction in the McKinney addition. Hahner-Foreman-Cale, Inc. received the contract to construct the new church at 3400 21st Street for $262,000. Groundbreaking took place on January 18, 1959, whereby all church members were invited to bring a shovel and stand around the sanctuary outline and turn a shovel of earth.
The cornerstone from the Broadway and Stone building was removed on June 30, 1959, so it could be used in the new building, a metal canister containing everything from the old church, in addition to articles added at that time were placed in the cornerstone. The same year, the church voted to affiliate with the United Church of Christ, which was formed in 1957 by the merger of the Congregational-Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church. On Christmas Eve, 1959, the first services were held in the new church building.
Formal dedication was held Feb. 28, 1960, with Hody Thies leading the act of dedication. The church celebrated its centennial in 1972, at the same time as the City of Great Bend. Presently the congregation is served by Pastor Mike Munz. The church is also the location of the Little Panthers Preschool, serving a huge need in the community. The St. John Episcopal Church congregation also utilizes the chapel at the east end of the building as their worship home.