Westminster History - Page 1

Westminster Presbyterian Church, Lincoln, Nebraska, held its organizational meeting February 12, 1905.  Seeds for the church were planted in 1892 with a Sunday School called South Mission.  The history is tied to First Presbyterian Church, which began as a mission project in 1869 with funding from Presbyterians in eastern states.  In 1889 First Church began a mission project which became Second Church, and in 1892 Second Presbyterian Church began its own mission project in southeast Lincoln. 

From 1894 to 1896 the South Mission Sunday School met in a store building at 27^th and Randolph Streets.  A sanctuary was constructed at 24^th and A Streets in 1896 and called Pleasant Hill Chapel.  In 1901 the name changed to Westminster Chapel.  Following the February 12, 1905, organizational meeting, when the name changed again to Westminster Presbyterian Church, Dr. Robert M. Stevenson was installed as the first pastor on May 5, 1905.

The church held a ground-breaking ceremony in November 1905 for a new building on the edge of Lincoln at 23^rd and Garfield Streets.  This section of town had no paved streets yet at that time.  The congregation held its first public service in the new building March 26, 1906, and dedicated the building November 3, 1907.  They continued to use this building until 1926.

In August 1925 the church again broke ground for a new church building at Sheridan Boulevard and South Street, again near the edge of Lincoln.  The ground floor of the new structure was occupied in September 1926, and the new sanctuary was first used December 5, 1926.  The building was dedicated May 8, 1927.  There appear to be several legends about how the building achieved its size, but an often told one is that the women of the church, who at that time had no vote in the church, felt that the men had too small a vision.  According to the legend, the night before construction was to begin, some of the women came to the site during the night and moved the stakes, enlarging the building.  Although no one has provided evidence for the story, the legend lives because it embodies a spirit of vision for which Westminster has been known.