Manhattan Kansas’ First Congregational United Church of Christ’s History

On April 22, 1855, the Rev. Charles Emerson Blood conducted a worship service in the vicinity of our present church property. The sanctuary was a tent, a trunk served as the pulpit, and worshippers were seated on boxes and kegs. The text for the sermon was from the Acts of the Apostles: “Those who have turned the world upside down have come hither, also.” The Rev. Blood was an abolitionist preacher educated at Lane Theological Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio, so the text was certainly appropriate. In subsequent months, services were held in the tent, then in a log cabin, in private homes, in a store building, and then in a public school building newly erected on Poyntz west of Ninth Street. Such was the beginning of the second Congregational church in the Kansas Territory.

On January 6, 1856, the fledging church was officially established by the adoption of a constitution. There were 12 charter members. Soon after, talk of a building began. The Manhattan town companies gave three lots to the church for the erection of a building along with 40 additional lots to be sold to finance the building project.

In 1858, the original stone church was begun. Donors to its construction included Owen Lovejoy, Stephen A. Douglas, and Abraham Lincoln. The church was nearly finished in May of 1859 when a tornado destroyed the roof, but repairs proceeded quickly. On July 24, 1859, the building was dedicated. The Rev. Richard Cordley of Plymouth Church, Lawrence, was the guest preacher, and Mrs. C. E. Blood (Mary Blood) wrote a hymn for the occasion. The hymn was also used that same year, with additional stanzas, at the laying of the cornerstone of Bluemont Central College, which was the predecessor to Kansas State University. Click here to see the hymn.

Today that first building still serves our congregation as Pioneer Hall. Weekly worship continues there, now in the Taizé tradition. It is the oldest Protestant church building in Kansas still in use by its original congregation. Those sturdy pioneers built well!

There have been many additions to the original building over the years—notably the present Sanctuary constructed in 1904 and completely renovated in 2000, and a 1990 addition including new offices, meeting space, restrooms, kitchen, and an elevator which renders nearly all of the building accessible.

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