Heritage

A petition for formation of the Presbyterian Church, signed by 30 persons was drawn

up in February

1873. In response the Mankato Presbytery appointed a committee of

four pastors to go to Worthington

and organize the church. At the first service on

May 25, 1873, nine men and eleven women were

recorded as charter members.

In the first 25 years there were 10 pastors. The small congregation plagued by a

grasshopper

scourge was unable to contribute much toward salaries. Early in 1873,

however, the Presbyterians made

plans to build their first church at Fourth Avenue

and Eleventh Street. The cost of $2,000 was raised by

the time the church was

dedicated in 1876. It housed the congregation for 26 years.

The second church, located on the site of the Nobles County Library, was built in

1899-1900 at a

cost of $16, 537. All but $2,500 had been raised by the date of

dedication. George Dayton, who was

building committee chair, community banker,

and later founder of the department store that bears his

name, contributed $500 and

got four more members to do the same. Described as one of the most

beautiful

churches in southwest Minnesota, the square frame building with its box tower, gabled

roof, and

stain-glass windows, served the congregation for 61 years.

The wear of time and termites, membership incre

ases, and parking problems

motivated the

congregation to vote in 1953 to purchase 7.5 acres at the present

location for a third church structure.

$567,000 and a tremendous amount of

volunteer labor constructed this lofty and distinctive church. It

was an object lesson in

faith to undertake this big project. On June 4, 1961 the building was formally

dedicated with Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, chief executive for the General Assembly

and former president

of the National Council of Churches as the featured speaker.

On November 6, 1972, many months ahead

of the original maturity date of the

mortgage, the 13-year-old document was burned at a Sunday service.

Since then Westminster has marked other milestones in it mission to serve Christ.

Settlers from National Colony Company
of Ohio, led by Professor R.F. Humiston
and newspaper publisher Dr. A.P. Miller,
planned to stake out a utopia on the
prairie based on religious and
educational ideals and strict
temperance. Denominational interests
asserted themselves and the union
church split into three factions—Union
Congregational, Methodist Episcopal,
and Westminster Presbyterian. A
petition for formation of the Presbyterian
Church, signed by 30 persons was
drawn up in February 1873.