Westminster...the early years

Presbyterians arrived in Bellevue, Nebraska in 1846, following a Baptist mission established by Moses Merrill. His mission-house served as church, school and community house. In 1958 the first Presbyterian Church in Nebraska was erected in Bellevue and has since been restored and purchased by the Episcopal Church.

Westminster Presbyterian Church was the "child" of the First Presbyterian Church. According to records, Rev. H. J. Hars ha, pastor of the First Church, announced from the pulpit on December 10, 1886, that a meeting was to be held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. William Randall at 820 Park Avenue and Leavenworth Street. The meeting was a gathering o a group of people who felt there was the need for a Presbyterian church in the neighborhood of Park Avenue and Leavenworth streets, a then growing neighborhood in southwest Omaha. In a second meeting at the Randall residence on December 23, 1886, it was decided to form the new church in that area. Services were to be held in homes and nearby store buildings until a new church was built.

On April 25, 1887, the new church was organized with a membership of 45 people at a meeting held at the United Presbyterian Church. On June 21, 1887, the corporate name of the church became Westminster Presbyterian Church of Omaha. The Rev. John Gordon of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was installed as the pastor.

A new church building, a wood frame structure, was built on the southwest corner of Georgia Avenue and Mason Street (now known as 29th & Mason). The building was valued at $25,000.In the early days, there were pew rentals to help with the financial support of the church. Westminster was proud of its independence, not receiving help with the church building form the church erection board. The only outside help was a $1,000 gift from the parent church, First Presbyterian of Omaha.

The first service in this building was held May 19, 1889, with a membership that had grown to 147 people. Evening worship services were held, except during the hot summer months. Westminster always took an active part in missions, including Mission Sunday School (as well as a regular Sunday school), Missionary Society, and Ladies Aid.

As the church grew and prospered, a property was purchased at 35th Street and Woolworth and the current church, a Gothic Revival brick building, was dedicated September 23, 1923. This building housed the sanctuary, with balcony above and basement area beneath for church school classes and a kitchen. Omaha was moving south and west, an expansion that caused relevant growth in Westminster.

Parkvale Presbyterian Church, originally located at 31st and Gold Streets, built a new building at 32nd and Martha. April 2, 1927, Parkvale merged with Westminster, a process that took several years to finalize. Many of Westminster's leaders came from this merger.

As growth continued, Sunday School classes were overflowing into all available spaces, including the kitchen. The Trustees were authorized to borrow $50,000, following a fund raising campaign to build an addition to east side of the current building. On April 8, 1951, ground was broken for the new Educational Unit. The main level housed the classroom areas and nursery. An auditorium and additional classrooms were added in the basement level. The Educational unit also included building and furnishing the Kiewit Memorial Parlor on the main level, a gift from Mr. Peter Kiewit, Jr., honoring Mr. and Mrs. Peter Kiewit, Sr. and Miss Ethel Kiewit. in 1979, Mr. Kiewit gifted refurnishing of the parlor.

In honor of Westminster's 75th Anniversary, the Women's Association gifted a new organ console, making extensive repairs on the current organ and later, added chimes and many new pipes.

January 13, 1965, the congregation voted to remove the old manse and replace it. The new manse was dedicated April 17, 1966, and again celebrated with a mortgage burning ceremony in 1975. The old garage behind the church, which had served as a meeting room and home for church custodians, as well as sheltering cars in the lower space, was replaced in 1977.

Levi B. Williams served as Westminster's pastor from 1942 to 1972, becoming Pastor Emeritus. In his thirty years at Westminster, he wa a part of many changes. Two young men who attended Westminster, Gordon Johnson and Andrew Scott, joined the ministry during Rev. Williams leadership at Westminster.

Since 1887, when a group of persons organized Westminster Presbyterian Church, men, women and children have gathered to worship, study and serve our Lord. They have sanctified their marriages, observed the sacrament of baptism for themselves and their children and have commended their loved ones who have died to God's care.

Through Westminster, persons have found and nurtured personal relationships with our Lord Jesus Christ. The church has been a source of joy and fellowship. It has given comfort to the distraught and the bereaved. It has faithfully served the Lord, it members and the community.

A church is much more than brick and mortar. It is given life and body by its the people and their activities, all dedicated to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

While we remember and honor our past, we invite you to celebrate the present each Sunday at 10:00 a.m. worship followed by fellowship and coffee hour.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

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