Winchester RPC

Location: Winchester, Kan.

Presbytery: Midwest

Organized: 1868

Membership: 65 communicant; 11 baptized

Pastor: Paul Finley

History

Kansas became a state in 1861. Two years later, Rev. W.W. McMillan visited, having been sent there as a missionary among the Reformed Presbyterians who were homesteading in the northeastern part of the state. In 1866, he became the pastor of the Olathe congregation, the first RP congregation in Kansas.

In 1867, Rev. Josiah Dodds, the pastor of a Reformed Presbyterian congregation in Indiana that was reduced in size because of members moving west, resigned his pastorate to do likewise. Rev. Dodds led the Winchester Covenanters in worship on the Sabbath, and, within a short time, on Sept. 8, 1868, the Winchester Reformed Presbyterian Church was organized by a commission of the denomination.

Bolstered by continuing westward movement of Covenanters and by large families, the Winchester Reformed Presbyterian Church grew rapidly. By the third decade of the next century, the congregation had the largest communicant membership (about 220) in the denomination. However, membership began to decline during the 1930s and 1940s because of the economic hardships of the Great Depression and the deaths of many of the early settlers. Confronting the ongoing pressures of a changing rural economy and the lack of employment opportunities in the immediate area have been challenges for the congregation since the 1960s.

But the fact that Winchester is less than an hour from cities such as Kansas City, Topeka, Lawrence, and Leavenworth has enabled the community—and congregation—to remain viable. The congregation has had two church buildings during its 140-year existence. The first building was used for only a short time as the growing membership made it inadequate. The present building was constructed in 1903 and was built to hold approximately 300 people. It is located on a state highway on the north side of the town of over 600 and thus maintains a high visibility in the community, as well as to passers-by.

Ministries

The Winchester RPC has been recognized through the years for the many individuals from its membership who have become involved in the wider ministries of the denomination, both abroad and domestically. This was particularly true in the early part of the 20th Century, but the pattern continues.

Members of the congregation are also presently involved in leadership positions in the state, county, and community.

Two members of the congregation serve on the Manhattan Commission of Midwest Presbytery, giving oversight and direction to a possible new work near Kansas State University.

The Winchester congregation seeks to maintain a visible witness in the community in a number of ways. Each September, the congregation hosts the teachers and other personnel from the local public school district for a meal held at Camp Curry. Over the past three years the congregation has reintroduced a ministry to the children of the community by conducting a vacation Bible school. A dinner is served each Memorial Day to provide a source of sustenance, and opportunity for fellowship, to many who return to the community to decorate graves in the Reformed Presbyterian Cemetery adjacent to the church building.

Over the past five years, the pastor has had opportunity to lead a Bible study each week at the United States Disciplinary Barracks, the only U.S. military maximum-security prison, located on the grounds of Ft. Leavenworth. This ministry doesn’t directly impact the local congregation, but, as the men who attend the study are released from imprisonment and return to varied parts of the country, some continue to build on the foundation laid by becoming involved in Reformed churches where they have settled.

Prayer Requests

• That strength and vitality would continue to be granted to an increasing number within the congregation who have attained the age of threescore years and more.
• That the high school and college youth of the congregation would be led in the major decisions facing them regarding schooling, employment, marriage, and living location.
• That God would lead families with young children to become involved in the congregation’s life and ministry and thus give encouragement for the present and hope for the future.