The First United Methodist Church, 2123 Forest Ave., will celebrate the church’s 150th anniversary with a special service at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, June 25. Special guest Bishop David Wilson of the United Methodist Central Plains (Kansas-Nebraska) Conference will present the sermon. Special music will be provided by Antique Brass, a five-piece brass ensemble including Marc Webster, the church’s music director.
The Great Bend Circuit was organized as a mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the spring of 1873, less than a year after the town of Great Bend was founded. The Rev. Albert Hartman was appointed as pastor by the South Kansas Conference. The charge was composed of Great Bend, Larned, Ellinwood and Walnut City (Rush Center).
Eleven charter members, namely, Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Hubbard, Mr. and Mrs. A.B. Robinson, Mr. and Mrs. N.M. Reynolds, Mr. and Mrs. George Butler, Mrs. Rachel Slack and Mrs. Albert Hartman and her daughter, Haddie, started meeting in a store building on the south side of the square. After the completion of the schoolhouse, the congregation began meeting there until the courthouse was completed.
In 1875, the first parsonage was built. The Rev. Azro Naftzger became pastor in 1877 and the church started receiving subscriptions for the construction of a house of worship. The first church, dedicated Jan. 20, 1878, was a 30-by-50-foot building that stood on the southwest corner of Forest and Williams, and was the first church to be constructed in Great Bend.
The Rev. Pleasant P. Wesley was appointed pastor in 1883, and reappointed the following year, however, he died of typhoid fever while serving the church and was buried in the Great Bend Cemetery.
In 1885 a gracious revival occurred, and with the boom in the next two years, the congregation needed a larger facility. Construction began on a new church home on the northwest corner of Forest and Morton Streets. The second church was dedicated June 16, 1887. The Rev. A.J. Bixler became pastor in 1897, and during the first year of his pastorate, 75 new members were added.
Growth in the church continued for the next 20 years and the congregation was soon outgrowing their church home again. Lots were purchased on the southeast corner of the intersection of Forest and Stone streets for the construction of another new church. Plans were drawn in 1921. Bishop Waldorf and general contractor T.C. Cork laid the cornerstone on Nov. 9, 1922. The new church building would be the largest church building in Great Bend and was to seat 1,200 in the auditorium. On Jan. 13, 1924, the 80-by-141-foot building costing $145,000 was dedicated. The new church was used for many community functions, such as plays, concerts and high school graduations, as well as for the church’s regular services.
The new pipe organ, constructed by the Austin Organ Company of Hartford, Conn., was installed in the sanctuary in 1926. The organ is still in use in the present church today. The new church building has six stained glass windows dedicated to the pioneers of the church, Judge G. W. Nimocks, J.S. Johnson, the Rev. P.P. Wesley and his wife, Susannah, Edwin William White, S.J. White and Rachel Wray Slack. Made by the Jacoby Glass Company, the windows cost $2,365 and remain a part of the church.
By September 1924, 570 individuals were enrolled in the Sunday School program. By the end of the Rev. Charles A. Kitch’s term as pastor in 1930, membership had grown to 804. The first daily Vacation Church School was planned in 1937 and lasted between two and three weeks. The church became First Methodist Church in 1939, when the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Church South and the Methodist Protestant Church merged.
In 1941, the Methodist Youth Fellowship (MYF) began to meet the needs of the youth ages 12 to 23. Membership was 1,075 in 1948, while the population of Great Bend was 10,000, and plans were begun for a much-needed education wing.
In 1946, Helen Opie Conner began leading a 30-member selected voice a cappella choir, which sang during weekly worship services, as well as presenting annual concerts of sacred choral literature. The choir performed Christmas concerts until 1961.
During the Rev. Raymond W.O. Knowles’s pastorate, the first associate pastor was assigned to First Methodist Church. During this time, the education wing was constructed at a cost of $283,000 and opened for use in 1958. It included classrooms, office space, library and chapel. Air conditioning and a public address system were added to the church. Average weekly attendance was 700 and two Sunday services were instituted.
The Gleaners Sunday School class expressed a need for an elevator and began raising funds for it, although it would be 12 years before the elevator was finally installed in 1970.
Foundation work for the new Trinity Methodist Church was begun during this period when First Church became second in size in the Hutchinson District. In 1968, First Methodist Church became First United Methodist Church when the when the Evangelical United Brethren and Methodist denominations merged.
Remodeling of the building began in January 1970 and services were moved to the fellowship hall. At the time of the church centennial in 1973, the church boasted 1,525 members.
The church began an outreach for the community in 1978 when Jan Kemp and Karen Watkins started a preschool, which later became Noah’s Ark Preschool.
In the early 1980s the second floor of the education wing was remodeled; new pastor’s offices were created; and an Archives Room was placed in one of the former offices.
In January 2002, the church began an extensive renovation of the sanctuary. During that time, services were held in the Fellowship Hall. The project included a new worship platform, lowering the wall between the choir and congregation, new worship furniture, carpet and paint, new pew cushions, upholstering of pew chairs, choir chairs, sound system, new lighting/electrical needs and a video projection system. The sanctuary was re-opened Sept. 8, 2002.
The church’s 1926 Austin pipe organ received an extensive renovation in 2007. That project included rebuilding the electric control mechanisms, replacing all the wiring, and adding six ranks of pipes.
In 2010, the church purchased the lot east of the church after the Trading Post building had been demolished. The church trustees then made it a parking lot to be used by church members and the public.
The church has developed many community outreach ministries, some of which are assisting the Central Kansas Dream Center with meals and painting projects; Fruit Fillers Weekend Backpack Project; donating food to the Food Bank; and serving meals to the athletes at Barton Community College; and hosting weekly meetings for CORE Community helping families move out of poverty.
Today the church offers worship services each Sunday. A traditional service begins at 9 a.m. followed by a contemporary service at 11 a.m.
By Justin Engleman
