The Rossville Charge was Organized in the James schoolhouse, west of Rossville, in 1872. A class was started there that year by the Rev. Paul Strimple, a local preacher. A class was started in Rossville, also, sometime after the founding of the town in 1871. It was decided to build a church in the new town but due to the small membership and financial weakness, this was not attempted for a number of years. Services were held in the Schoolhouse, until Feb. 29, 1880, when the Baptists dedicated their new church on the site now occupied by the Joe Navarre residence on Spruce Street. For two years after that Baptist, Christian, Presbyterian and Methodist shared this building, each having the use of it one Sunday a month, morning and evening, Methodists having such use the fourth Sunday of each month. By 1884, Christians and Presbyterians having built their own churches, the Methodists and Baptists were each using the Baptist Church half-time.

In 1870 a Union Sunday School was organized at the Rossville Schoolhouse. Mrs. Paul Strimple was the first Superintendent. This School flourished for years. The Methodists joined in this School, which met in the Baptist Church after it was built in 1880. The Union School continued at least until 1886. The Methodists, however, withdrew from the School after the dedication of their church.

The Methodist Sunday School was organized April 12, 1885. 54 persons were present the first Sunday. Officers elected for the first year were: Supt. W.A. McWright; Asst. Supt. Mrs. D Henderson; Librarian, Celia Overhuls; Treas., John Weselch; Secy., Ada Gray.

The Sunday School has continued through the years, with its ups and downs. The record of attendance was made April 17, 1927, Easter Sunday, when 202 were present.

The Methodist Episcopal Church was chartered in 1881, the charter being registered with the Secretary of State, June 13. Building did not start until March of 1884. J. W. Clock was pastor then. The Dedication of the Church took place on March 1, 1885. Dr. H. D. Fisher, editor of the Kansas Methodist, preached the dedicatory sermon at the morning hour. Rev. C Holman, former pastor, then located at Silver Lake, gave the evening sermon. No statement of the complete cost is available, but it was all in hand except $500-600, and this was pledged on the day of dedication. A note from September, 1886 expresses the thanks of the Trustees and the Ladies Aid Society to Mrs. Dr. McIntrire for aid in lifting the last note and freeing the church of debt. In the fall of 1894, the South Room addition was built.

The basement was built under the church in 1915 by the Young Men’s Sunday School Class. Under the direction of their teacher, Chas. E. Fritz, they dug the basement. The north wall of the excavation under the M. E. church caved in and made it necessary to build an entire new foundation wall along the north side of the church. Starting out with the intention of installing a furnace under the church, the Methodist people enlarged their plans and excavated under the whole building. Besides the furnace room, a storeroom, a big kitchen and possibly two classrooms are provided in the new plans. The class also poured the concrete floor and walls, then whitewashed walls. Then the furnace was installed. This made a very useful improvement.

To raise money to fit out the basement of the church, the Methodist people held a mock wedding at the church Friday evening. The admission was 5 cents and the money was used to fit out the bride's kitchen. The guests could also bring a present for the bride, preferably something for her kitchen. In connection with the wedding, booths to serve refreshments were arranged and a bazaar with many useful articles for home use could be purchased.

In the spring of 1929 the flood which swept through Rossville from Cross Creek filled the basement, to ruin a new coat of paint put on the walls only a short time before.

The education wing was added in 1960. Due to flooding, the basement had been the object of much work. It was last remodeled in the spring and summer of 1980.

The names on copies of the old charter are barely discernible: W. G. Gilbert, Isaac Lawrence, Joseph Andrews, J. W. Miller, A. E. Strimple, J. T. Heslet, T. M. Attebury.

They didn't mark the beginning of Methodist thought in Rossville, but the incorporators of the Rossville Methodist Episcopal Church did set in motion a sequence of events that continues today.

The church--now the Rossville United Methodist Church--is as uncertain of the future as it was on June 13, 1881.

Could W. G. Gilbert have foreseen the day when dams would span the major tributaries of the mighty Kaw, reducing the frequency and magnitude of major floods?

Could Isaac Lawrence have guessed that within 100--years a man would be able to leave Rossville in the morning and eat dinner in New York that same night?

Did Joseph Andrews envision huge sprinklers striding across the valley of the Kaw, providing moisture to thirsty crops when rain was not forthcoming?

At the time of incorporation, not one of these men had seen an electric light, or a motorcar, or an airplane, or a movie; had heard neither radio nor telephone nor rock music.

The world has changed, and the church has changed. Rossville has changed, as has its people.

Frank Hoyes was pastor in. 1872, the record shows--nine years before the church's incorporation. Then came the Rev, Green, and E. F. Holland and R. L. McNabb, before L. C. Biggs came in 1880. He still was here in 1881, when the church was incorporated. W. G. Campbell served in 1882. In 1883, Calvin Holman served. That name was to return to Rossville, borne by another man.

The women started a tradition in 1886, when the first Election Day Dinner was served.

In the fall of 1894 the South Room Addition was built. The Building Committee was W. G. Gilbert, I. B. Alter, and J. W. Miller. A large Gothic window with stained glass replaced the door in the east end of the auditorium, and another was placed in the south side of the new room. Evidently the latter window, which was filled with plain glass, was replaced by stained glass, through a gift of Mr. Henry Lipp. A stone sidewalk was placed in front of the church in 1889, with two driveways across it, one on either side of the Church. The same fall a bell, size 28, was bought, and installed just before Christmas. In 1902 the Church roof was reshingled. In 1903 the front and sides of the Church lots were filled in and raised to the street grade.

The large sliding doors between the auditorium and the south room were installed through the efforts of Rev. C. Holman in 1910 or 1911.

In 1919 the space in back of the Church was devoted to a tennis court. It was much used for some years, but eventually reverted to a garden.

The parsonage was purchased from J. W. Miller, the transaction being closed December 24, 1919. The money was borrowed, and paid off in the next several years. The last note was burned on Jan. 9, 1925.

In September 1914 the Church held a contest between two Sunday school teams, resulting in a victory for the "Blue" team under command of Dave Yocum. The other team, the "Reds" was captained by Miss Nona 'VanVleck. The contest went on for several months and the attendance at Sunday school and church made a wonderful, growth under the stimulus of the rivalry between the contestants. The Sunday the contest closed drew the large attendance of 140 people when they went to Sunday school. The losers were to entertain the winners with a spread of some kind.

In 1928 we also had a Sunday School Orchestra under the direction of Mrs. Butters. The instruments included; Violins, Cornet, Concert Horn, Slide Trombones, Drum, and Piano.

Murals were created in l955-56 by a group of painters under the direction of Don Jones, pastor of the church from 1949 - 1965. Several church members worked on the project, along with a few individuals from the staff of the Menninger Clinic in Topeka. The work was done on Friday evenings over a period of several months.

The idea of the murals was to tell stories from the Bible in picture form. One of the murals shows stories from the Old Testament, the other shows stories from the book of Luke in the New Testament. Don decided to create a harmony of presentation of the stories by using stylized figures not unlike those found in ancient Egyptian wall paintings, with the appropriate Bible references beneath them. The murals are on display in Fellowship Hall.

In October of 1959 we started to add on a new Sunday School addition to the church. The wet weather brought a number of farmers in to work on Tuesday and Wednesday to put the framing material in place. This may sound like a "believe it or not" – and it is – the largest nail ever used in constructing a building at Rossville will be used by the Rossville Methodist Church.

The education wing was added and dedicated in 1960. The cost was $5100 in money and a priceless amount of work by members of the congregation.

More followed. Dean Page and some men from the Menninger Foundation poured the sidewalk in 1966. A new, $1,005 roof was put on in 1969.

In 1973, a flood wrecked the basement and its contents, again requiring the expenditure of dollars and energy.

The basement again had to be repaired in 1980, when termite damage necessitated replacing termite-infested beams and posts with steel. The congregation took the opportunity to remodel the kitchen.

Changes in the world around us prompted additional changes in the church: higher heating and cooling costs (the seven signers might have snorted at the idea of cooling the church in the summer) and an increased awareness of the limits of our resources argued for insulating the walls and covering the stained glass windows with transparent plastic.

The need for a new building became apparent with the flooding of the basement and then the discovery of termites. A building study Committee, was established early in the year of 1987 by the Rossville United Methodist Church Administrative Board, it first met on June 2, 1987. The notice of that meeting states: "High water provides the inspiration to get started on a Building Committee effort for our church."

The committee highlighted several areas affecting our church which could be corrected, improved, or made possible by a new facility. The need for flood protection, fire safety, and handicapped access leads us out of the basement. The resulting relocation of our kitchen, dining, fellowship, Sunday School, and accessible meeting space out of the basement points us toward a first floor 'fellowship hall.'

Programs of our church such as Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, Youth Groups (within and without our church), and preschool all provide for the church growth as well as opportunities for evangelical growth through our community.

In 1988 a building committee was appointed they were: Dean Page, Chairman, Bill Larson, Bob Macha, Greg Warden, Jim Hays, Scott Kelsey, Linda Gentry, Barbara Eakin and Ed Claycamp. There first meeting was held in January of 1990. They decided the best location for a new building was the present site of the Church.

We were granted permission on March 11, 1991 by Unified School District number 321 to have Church in the Rossville High School during the construction of the Church building. The Rossville United Methodist Church started meeting in the High School August 11,1991. The Presbyterian Church opened its doors to us for other Church activities.

An auction for the Church buildings and other furnishings was held on August 17, 1991 at 10:00, the United Methodist Women served lunch and the United Methodist Men assisted. Ground breaking for the new building started in October 1991.

The Rossville United Methodist Church held it’s first worship service in the new building on Easter Sunday, 1992. Just five years later (1997) District Superintendent John Stoneking lit the mortgage paper using the flame from an altar candle. The flames blazed upward and the smell of smoke briefly filled the sanctuary. The ashes dropped into a silver bowl held by Pastor Ken Rogers.

In March, 2001 stairs were added in Fellowship Hall to make the attic more accessible.

The Women's Foreign Missionary Society was organized in 1910, merged with the Aid Society in 1940 to become the Women’s Society of Christian Service, which itself became United Methodist Women 1973.

Ministers have come and gone, each having his (or her) effect, each giving and receiving from the members of the congregation.

Calvin Holman, grandson of the Calvin Holman who was pastor in 1883, was pastor during his senior year -at Washburn University in 1910, and remained another year. He eventually wound up in California, where he started what became the largest congregation in the Pacific Southwest Conference, and was named senior pastor of the conference.

Many members of the congregation remember Don Jones (part time Pastor) who was pastor in 1949 and served without interruption until 1964. Another Pastor many will remember is Ken Rogers (full time Pastor) who served from 1991 to 1999. He was also the first Pastor to serve in the new Church building. (A complete list of Pastors are listed on the Pastor’s page.)

The story could go on endlessly, because the lives of each member, each family, each pastor are so interwoven that no one can tell where the influence of one ends -and that of another begin. Together, they are part of a tapestry that extends back in time beyond the signing of the charter, beyond the arrival of Methodism in America beyond the beginning of Methodism itself, beyond Christ to the Israelites in the land of milk and honey, and even beyond that.

The rest of the tapestry is being woven today. The members of the congregation, their families and their pastor are part weaver, part thread, part observer. And what the future of the tapestry is, only the Master Weaver knows for sure.

In the following page’s you will find Church documentation and more information off the FAMILY OF GOD in the Rossville United Methodist Church.