Union Presbyterian Church (Fort Madison, Iowa) is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and is a part of the Presbytery of East Iowa, which is part of the Synod of Lakes and Prairies. Union Presbyterian Church is designated as a Presbyterian Historic Site by the Presbyterian Historical Society.
The identity statement, according to the church's website, is "An Open, Caring, Compassionate Community of Faith."[1]
The current pastor is the Rev'd John Allen T. Bankson.[1]
On March 26, 1838, less than two years after the founding of the city of Fort Madison by Gen. John Holly Knapp and his cousin, Nathaniel Rundell Knapp,[2] the Rev. James Augustus Clark was sent by the American Home Missionary Society to organize a Presbyterian Church. Clark would become the church's first pastor.[3]
The Fort Madison Presbyterian Church (as it was then known) was the second Presbyterian congregation to be founded in Iowa, after the West Point Presbyterian Church in nearby West Point, Iowa.[4]
The founding of the church was near the beginning of the Old School-New School Controversy in the Presbyterian Church, and the fledgling Fort Madison congregation split into two groups in 1840, only two years after being organized. Rev. J.A. Clark and a portion of the members joined the New School, and the remaining members joined the Old School. The two resulting congregations remained separate for twenty years.[5][6] On January 2, 1860, the Old School and New School congregations merged, adopting the name Union Presbyterian Church.[6]
One of the most significant pastors in the church's history was Rev. Dr. George D. Stewart (1824-1910), who served the church from 1877 until his retirement in 1904. In 1885, under Dr. Stewart's leadership, the congregation built the brick structure at 7th Street and Avenue F in Fort Madison where it still worships to this day.[6][7]
Leadership
editUnion Presbyterian Church has had a total of nineteen pastors since its founding:
| Name | Year Called |
|---|---|
| James Augustus Clark | 1838 |
| Robert C. McComb | 1854 |
| Chauncey Perkins Taylor | 1859 |
| George D. Stewart | 1877 |
| Harry Clayton Rogers | 1904 |
| Frank Gageby | 1908 |
| William Graham | 1915 |
| Warren F. Goff | 1919 |
| Walter Turney | 1931 |
| William Pfautz | 1954 |
| John Lewis | 1965 |
| Arthur Nash | 1971 |
| Roger Todd | 1982 |
| Marvin Potter | 1984 |
| Judith L. Arnold | 1997 |
| Robert O. Robinson | 2004 |
| Mark Binder | 2007 |
| Nancy Oehler Love | 2015 |
| John Allen T. Bankson | 2024 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Welcome To Your New, Caring Faith Community In Fort Madison". August 13, 2024.
- ^ "If These Stones Could Talk," Fort Madison Daily Democrat, July 21, 2020, retrieved August 26, 2024
- ^ Clark, J. A., J. A. Clark letter, Fort Madison, to Reverend Milton Badger, 1842 December 6. Fort Madison, Iowa, Yale University Library Digital Collections, retrieved August 26, 2024
- ^ "West Point Presbyterian Plans Celebration," Daily Gate City, September 14, 2022, retrieved August 26, 2024
- ^ Amborn, Maxine, and Nelson, Mary, History of Union Presbyterian Church, Union Presbyterian Church, 2003.
- ^ a b c Hubbard, Joseph W., The Presbyterian Church in Iowa, 1837-1900, Synod of Iowa, 1923; Reprinted by Ulan Press, 2012
- ^ "Rev. George D. Stewart, D.D.," Biographical Review of Lee County, Iowa, Chicago, Hobart Publishing Co. 1905