The First Presbyterian Church of Clay Center has been around since 1871, when a congregation of 10 joined Reverend John D. Perring to form the church. It sat at the corner of Blunt and 7th Streets on a lot purchased for $30 from Clarke and Harriet Anthony. (About $776 today.)
The building was damaged by a tornado on July 2, 1880 and could not be repaired.
A new church was built at the corner of Clark and 6th Streets, made from stone from the George Neill quarry, northeast of Clay Center. Neill gifted the stone to the church, but was paid $20 in total. ($619 today.) Neill also gifted a plot of land where the Lower Lincoln country school was built in 1878.
J.P. Campbell, banker and owner of the Clay Center Times, drew the building plans and oversaw its building.
The location was expanded in 1903 for a total of $3,300. (About $118K today.) In 1915, the church was remodeled, which included jacking up the entire building to add a basement, and adding a pipe organ.
A fire damaged the church on New Year’s Day of 1933, and rebuilding began immediately. During this time, church was held at the high school. More than 700 people attended the dedication.
In 1952 the church expanded by purchasing the house to the east. It was used for Sunday school classes before it was torn town. In its place, the educational building was added and attached to the church.
Air conditioning was added in 1954 and in 1956, the church’s membership grew to more than 1,000 members.
For more than 20 years, the church housed the Clay County Child Care Center, a predecessor to Head Start, which is now Little Learners Childhood Connection.
In its 153 years, the church has had 25 reverends. The current, Scott Lingle, has been there since August of 2014. The shortest serving Reverend was Rev. A.B. Field, who held the position from January to April of 1885. The longest-running Reverend was Rev. William L. Tillman, who served from 1951 to 1968. He was the maternal grandfather of current church secretary, Holly Chestnut.
