[metaslider id=227]
Westminster through the years:
- 1905 – 1955 at Westminister
- 1955 – 1980 at Westminister
- Church Homes
A Brief History Summary
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Lincoln, Nebraska, held its organizational meeting February 12, 1905.
The church held a ground-breaking ceremony in November 1905 for a new building on the edge of Lincoln at 23rd and Garfield Streets. This section of town had no paved streets yet at that time.
In August 1925 the church again broke ground for a new church building at Sheridan Boulevard and South Street, again near the edge of Lincoln. The ground floor of the new structure was occupied in September 1926, and the new sanctuary was first used December 5, 1926.
In addition to the windows, art work in the sanctuary included beautiful wood for the chambers of the organ pipes, hand carved by Keats Lorenz, whose carvings were found in many public buildings and included the Nebraska capitol senate chamber doors. The carvings were removed during installation of a new organ in 1976. Remnants of the carvings are in the conference room and the business office.
The chapel was given by the Malmsten family as a memorial to their two sons -one lost in World War 1 and one who survived the war but was killed in a place crash shortly thereafter – and also to the men and women who did not return from World War II. The chapel was completed in 1951 and dedicated in 1952.
In 1982 Westminster Preschool was organized as a ministry of Westminster’s Christian education program. It is a financially self-sustaining outreach program of the church. 1 of only 2 fully accredited Christian preschools in Lincoln. Currently has 125 children attending.
October 2003 the congregation dedicated a renovated education space for children, called Faith Village, as well as a playground, new east entrance, recreation center, Fellowship Hall/multi-purpose room, renovated youth room, parlor-chapel link, and columbarium. The project also included updating of the facility’s infrastructure, such as electrical service, water and some sewer service, furnace and air conditioning throughout the building, elevator, and fire safety service.