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A Sketch of the Presbyterian Church in
Kansas
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(Extracted from: "These One Hundred Years or A Sketch of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Kansas", a thesis by John P. Sinclair, April 1937. The thesis was obtained with the assistance of Beth A.
Bensman, Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia,
PA. refdesk@history.pcusa.org
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CHAPTER V
ORGANIZATION and CONSOLIDATION
The Later Presbyteries
and
Some of the Outstanding Churches of the Synod |
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When we think of the motley crowd out of which modern Kansas has come -- Indians, Spanish, French, Russians, Swedes, Germans, Dutch and Mennonites -- we can see the long struggle to bring organization and consolidation. The motto of Kansas "ad astra per
aspera" (to the stars through difficulties) has well been illustrated in its church life. As the state developed so church organization developed.
When the new Synod of 1870 was organized, it was followed by the settling up of Emporia Presbytery, which extended to the western boundary of the state, south of the two northern tiers of counties. The First Presbyterian Church of Emporia from which town the new Presbytery took its name was organized November 7, 1867, by an action of the Smoky Hill Presbytery. …
I n 1876, the Kansas presbyteries had the following statistics: Emporia, twenty-eight ministers; Highland, sixteen ministers; Neosho, thirty-two ministers, and two
un-ordained; Solomon, nineteen ministers; and Topeka, twenty-seven ministers. The General Assembly of 1877 regretted that of 194 churches and 125 pastors or stated supplied in Kansas only fifty-one could be at the Synod and only eight elders, all of whom were in Topeka, where the Synod met.
Coming back to statistics, we see that in the second annual printed minutes of the Synod in 1883, the following: |
| Presbyteries |
Churches |
Members |
| Emporia |
64 |
3505 |
| Highland |
34 |
1489 |
| Indian Territory |
11 |
385 |
| Larned |
33 |
938 |
| Neosho |
71 |
2892 |
| Osborne |
23 |
431 |
| Solomon |
43 |
1643 |
| Topeka |
43 |
3006 |
| Total |
322 |
14289 |
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The Synod of Kansas at its Fall meeting in the year 1877 records the erection of the Presbytery of Larned in the following words: "In accordance with the action already taken, a Presbytery is hereby established to be known as the Presbytery of
Larned, and that said Presbytery shall consist of all ministers and churches in the territory now within the bounds of the Presbytery of Emporia lying west of the counties of McPherson, Harvey, Sedgwick, and Sumner, provided that the church of Burrton, and its pastor be included in the new Presbytery. The Reverend D. M. Moore was appointed Convener of the New Presbytery."
The first meeting of Larned Presbytery was held in Hutchinson on October 30, 1877, with the Reverend D. M. Moors, convener presiding. The ministers present were D. M. Moore, Philander Read and T. C. Phillips, and one elder, Mr. George Gull of Hutchinson. The Reverend T. C. Phillips was elected Stated Clerk, with a salary of $10.00 a year, and the Reverend D. M. Moore elected Moderator.
The first recorded roll of Presbytery shows the following churches: Ellinwood,
Larned, Lyons, Kinsley, Ness, Hutchinson, Valley Township, Burrton, Castleton, Atlanta, Sterling, Ash Creek, Browns Grove, and
Bellfountain.
In 1878, the following churches were organized and enrolled: Iuka, Harper, Arlington, and Spearville while Dodge City appears on the roll unannounced. The Reverend David Kinsley, the Reverend John C. Hanna, and the Reverend Wm. H. Nonnell appear on the roll without any action of Presbytery. Licentiate Vinet E. Taylor was received and ordained on April 8, 1878, being the first minister to
be ordained by the Larned Presbytery. Presbytery assessed Assembly, Synod, and Presbterial dues at ten cents per member. …
In the year 1908, Presbytery petitioned Synod, to make a new Presbytery to be called Wichita, recommending the placing of Kingman, Barber and Harper counties within the bounds of the new Presbytery. When this was set up the membership of Larned Presbytery was reduced from 3729 to 2933 members. This re-organization also affected other Presbyteries when the following (see Minutes 1908) boundaries were defined; (1) that boundaries of the Presbyteries of Highland, Osborne and Solomon remained as at present established; (2) that the Presbytery of Neosho embrace the following counties: Miami, Franklin, Linn, Anderson,
Bourbond, Allen, Crawford, Neosho, Cherokee, Labette, Woodson, Wilson and Montgomery; (3) that the Presbytery of Topeka remain as constituted except that the county of
Wabaunsee, Geary (south of the Kansas River) be detached and included in the Presbytery of Emporia; (4) that the Presbytery of Emporia consist of the following, counties: Osage, Coffey,
Wabaunsee, Lyon, Morris, Chase, Marion, McPherson, Harvey, that part of Geary county south of the Kansas River and a
strip of the north end of Greenwood county six miles wide; (5) that the Presbytery of Larned consist of the following counties: Rive, Reno, Barton, Stafford, Pratt, Barber, Rush, Pawnee, Edwards, Kiowa,
Nees, Comanche, Ford, Clark, Hodgman, Eane, Grey, Meade, Scott, Finney, Stanton and Morton. (6) that a new Presbytery be created to be called the Presbytery of Wichita and to include the following counties: Elk, Chautauqua, Butler,
Cowley, Sedgwick, Sumner, Kingman, Harper, and Greenwood except a strip six miles wide north and south adjoining Lyon County already included in the Presbytery of Emporia. In 1911, the above was amended and Barber county transferred from Larned to Wichita Presbytery (Minutes 1911), …
Wichita, our "baby" Presbytery, contains within its bounds, the largest church in the Synod of Kansas--the First Church of Wichita. For much of the information concerning this virile organization the writer is indebted to a Thesis prepared in 1935 by Ruth Spooner Stone for the University of Wichita. She links the history of the church directly with its ministers, because it is in that manner that the members of the church think of its history. … |
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Checked for accuracy on Jul 6, 2001
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