The Church Beautiful
On Easter Sunday, April 21, 1889, Presbyterians, awaiting the land run of 1889, gathered for worship in Arkansas City, Kansas. The next day they would be a part of the vast throng who would rush to stake claims in the unassigned lands in Indian Territory. A city called Guthrie would spring up overnight with homes, businesses and churches. It is exciting to know that they did not leave their spiritual heritage behind.
The first Sunday after the run, a large number of people gathered on the corner of Broad and Cleveland for worship and a brief message by the Reverend Robert McCastin, Pastor from Arkansas City. There were no seats and the preacher stood on an inverted flat-bottom boat. (No one knows where the boat came from.)
On June 9th, a charter was granted, and on June 14th the church was organized with 41 charter members. The first pastor, the Reverend W.T. King, was installed on June 26th, 1889.
In the winter of 1890, the congregation secured the use of the United States Court Room, located at the corner of Division and Harrison. In 1891 the first church was built on the corner of Noble and Division. It was simply an auditorium, and was used until December, 1925. The present building was dedicated in March, 1927. The program from that day called the structure “The Church Beautiful.” During its construction, services were held in the Masonic Temple. In 1979 the basement of the church was remodeled and Fellowship Hall was built.
Contributing to the Presbyterian witness in Guthrie was the United Presbyterian Church, organized in 1902, and located at Ash and Cleveland. In 1959, following the national merger of the two units of Presbyterianism, the local United Presbyterian Church was united with the First Presbyterian Church and so the tradition continues.
The Sanctuary
The current building was dedicated in 1927. All of the stained glass windows are part of the original construction. As in most sanctuaries, the pictures are often arranged in Biblical order.
Ours begin with the first window on the right toward the back of the sanctuary. The first shows the Holy Bible – the Word of God. John 1:1 tells us, “In the beginning was the Word.”
This is followed by the journey to Bethlehem – the fulfillment of God’s promise… Emmanuel – God with us.
The sea and the cross hold a significant place in the ministry of Jesus. So many great lessons and miracles occurred by the sea, each pointing to the victory of the cross.
The fourth window shows “light” which was God’s first message – “Let there be light.” Jesus later said “I am the Light of the world.” Later He gave us that title when he said, “You are the light of the world.”
The window at the front on the left side shows bread. Jesus prayed, “Give us this day our daily bread.” This also represents all our necessary provisions and sustenance.
The anchor is the implement that keeps us steady. Hebrews 6:29 says, “Hope is the sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.”
The three crosses. Jesus was the man in the middle. The man on the right supported him. The man on the left ridiculed him. That was the way he died and the world still seems to do that.
The last window shows the dove – the symbol of peace and the Holy Spirit. It is a reminder that God works in the world.
Our balcony window shows Jesus as the Good Shepherd. He was drawn to children because the weak and innocent need his special care.
The chancel painting, by renowned early 20th Century western artist Charles Becker, is a replica of William Holman Hunt’s The Light of the World, and was dedicated in 1935. Becker was commissioned through a committee lead by Mr. C.L. Shireman to honor his wife, a long-time member of our church. Inspired by Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me,” the original painting hangs in the large chapel at Keble College, Oxford.
The chancel stained glass window celebrates our reformed Presbyterian tradition featuring a very prominent “W.” At the time our building was dedicated, the standing confession of the Presbyterian Church was the Westminster Confession.
A chancel remodel in 2011 added a permanent cross below the painting. We replaced pews with movable chairs and an upholstered privacy screen, all of which can be removed for weddings and special events, if desired.
Music is a beloved and integral part of our worship. The 10-rank Hillgreen & Lane pipe organ was dedicated along with the new church in 1927. The Steinway Baby Grand, “Miss Helen’s Piano,” is a 1937 Steinway dedicated to then church organist/pianist and local legend Helen Jenkins.
The carillon, added in 1970, is now electronic. Restrooms were added to the narthex in 2013.
Our sanctuary seats at least 264: about 200 downstairs, and about 64 in the balcony.
The Narthex
The narthex originally had two sets of wooden doors that opened out toward Noble Avenue. In 2008, two of these doors were removed and replaced with stained glass windows, one of which is a memorial to Scott Conner. The doors that were removed from the narthex were relocated to the basement to mark the entrance into the new library that was being built at the same time.
In 2013, the narthex was updated again. The two rooms on the east and west sides of the main entrance, previously known as the History Room and the Acolytes closet, were converted to modern restrooms to better accommodate the needs of our congregation. Prior to this, the only restroom facilities were located in the basement and next to the parlor. Neither of these was easily accessible to the congregation, particularly during worship services. A new buffet style storage unit was purchased to replace the storage lost when the restrooms were built.
The Parlor
At one time, the parlor was usually considered the domain of the church women. Here is where they held meetings and had receptions as well as many other church activities. Our early women did not need a parlor though to carry out their work. One of their first activities was described by the daily newspaper of that time as Guthrie’s “First Social.” They served strawberries and ice cream to the community in June, less than two months after the opening of the territory. The main purpose of this social was to help raise funds to buy chairs to replace the boards and barrels used for seating in their tent church.
Actually, that social also resulted in one of their first missionary projects. A benefit concert was planned at that social. You probably thought that benefit concerts such as Farm Aid and Feed the World were recent developments. This concert was to raise money to help the flood victims of the May 31st Johnstown, PA flood.
Mission work was a top priority for the women. They supported many foreign missionaries including a Mrs. McKean who had been one of the first ladies in the church. She was sent to Teheran in what was called at that time – “Eastern Persia.”
Another national disaster that the local congregation responded to was the churches stricken by the California earthquake of 1906.
When the frame church was built on this present site in 1891, the ladies once more began raising funds for chairs – this time they were for the little ones in the Sunday School department. Some of these little red chairs still show “Oklahoma Territory” on the bottom. In 2011 some of these little red chairs were moved to the sanctuary to be used during worship service and “A Word with the Children.”
Pictures showing the early church buildings and members are found on the shelves and around the Parlor today.
The Library
The church library was constructed as a service project by the Presbyterian Women and finished in January of 2008. Funds for the project were raised through the Irish Stew Luncheon, Geranium Sale, and a generous bequest. In an effort to preserve the history of the church, an enormous antique bookcase was moved from the much smaller location of the original library and was reinstalled in the new, larger library. The bottom piece of the bookcase is all one unit and a hole had to be cut in the wall of the original library and the piece threaded through the hole in order to make the move to its new location. Two church mice accomplished this move over the course of a weekend while the offices were closed and no one ever noticed. The two doors that were removed from the narthex entrance were reinstalled in the library as well. The pews that sit in the library were originally located in the United Presbyterian Church at Ash and Cleveland, as were many of the photos that are found on top of and among the shelves of the bookcase.
The Chapel
The small chapel in the basement was a place where people were able to worship in private, or during Sunday worship services. The Sunday service was broadcast from the sanctuary into the chapel. At this time it is under renovations.
The pews and other furnishings in the chapel were originally located in the United Presbyterian Church and were moved to the current location when the church merged in 1959 with the First Presbyterian Church.
The Third Floor
The third floor of the church includes Sunday school rooms and the church nursery. In the early days of the church the Sunday school rooms were full of children each Sunday. These rooms were the original location of the little red chairs that were purchased by funds raised by the Presbyterian women. These rooms are in approximately the same configuration as they were when originally built.
Fellowship Hall
Fellowship Hall was completed in 1979 after the congregation voted to approve the project. True to its name, the Fellowship Hall provides a place where church members gather to carry out the work of the church and enjoy each other’s company.
Congregational meals, Circle of Friends meetings and meals, and of course, the church youth group often meet and eat in Fellowship Hall. This multipurpose building is also frequently used by members of the community for wedding receptions, community Lenten Luncheons, civic and non-profit organization meetings, and the annual Friends of the Library book sale.
In 2011, the kitchen in Fellowship Hall was remodeled and provides a very nice commercial kitchen. Four commercial dishwashers, a commercial refrigerator, a high capacity ice machine and a proofer/warmer were installed and make the task of preparing and serving meals a much more pleasant and efficient task.
New flooring was installed in the foyer of the Fellowship Hall at approximately the same time the kitchen was remodeled.
