With the burden of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Butler County town of Greene, a Bible class was started in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Morey on July 16, 1939. Services were moved to the second floor of a local store in October 1940. The first permanent pastor, Charles E. Segerstom, was called to serve in 1944, with assistance of the Calvary Baptist Church in Forest City, and the Calvary moniker was formally adopted in June of that year.
Ground was broken for a permanent church building in August 1945. The first services were held on May 5, 1946, and a dedication ceremony was held on June 2. The present entryway was added in 1979.
The first record of a Methodist Church in the Adams County seat of Corning can be traced to 1868, when services were held on the second floor of the Bud and Crowley Hardware building. The first permanent church was constructed in 1871, with a large addition added in 1882. The building served members until 1908, when the decision was made to construct a new facility via a 20-2 vote by board members.
The church was built at a cost of $22,000 and was dedicated debt-free on January 9, 1910. A $5,000 Carnegie pipe organ was installed in 1913. An educational wing was added to the building in 1967.
A Christian Church of Christ congregation was first organized in the Van Buren County town of Stockport in 1892. Early worship services were held in the local hoop factory. By 1894, the church had grown to 32 members, and Tarpley Early Taylor led the effort to build the permanent (and present) facility. Tarpley’s immediate family honored his efforts in spearheading construction with the front stained glass windows.
Methodists have been in the Story County town of Maxwell since the town was founded in the early 1880s. Shortly after railroad track was laid through the community, services were held in a schoolhouse before a permanent church facility was constructed in September 1882. The church served members for thirty years until construction began on the present building. A cornerstone was laid on September 17, 1912, with a number of items including a photo of the current church, a copy of the discipline, a local newspaper and a list of building committee and board members.
The church building will celebrate 100 years on February 23, 2013. There are around 150 members.
The history of the United Methodist Church in the Webster County town of Harcourt can be traced to the 1890s, when a group of members of the Swedish Methodist Church in Dayton tired of the trip between the two cities. C.A. Seaborg, the pastor of the Dayton Church, urged the group to investigate the possibility of finding a building in Harcourt. The group raised $730 to purchase a four-year-old church building in the community in June 1900; it had 25 charter members.
In 1950, funds had been accumulated to allow major enlargements and improvements to the building. The cornerstone of the current facility was laid December 10, 1950, with construction completed the following year. New stained glass windows were installed in the 1960s, while extensive interior renovations were made the following decade. The church has shared a pastor with the United Methodist Church in nearby Dayton since 1969.
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