City of Axtell, Kansas Webpage
City of Axtell, Kansas Webpage
The settling of the Swede settlement, about 7 miles southwest of Axtell,
began in 1858. The church was organized on December 18, 1874, with 28
charter members holding meetings in their homes. This humble beginning
became the focal point for religious activity that has lasted to this
day and prayerfully for many more years to come. For years these
Swedish immigrants attended services conducted in their native tongue,
as was that first "Julotta" service, the traditional Swedish
celebration of the birth of Christ.
Organizations have been important to the congregation of Salem including the Sunday School and its yearly picnic which had crowds as large as 3,000 people when Gov. Arthur Capper was speaker for the program, Ladies Aid, Willing Workers, Missionary Societies, Lutheran Church Women, Luther League and its sponsoring of the mid-summer ice cream socials, band and choir and, of course, the Brotherhood who hosted a father/son banquet for 55 years.
The first church was constructed on the 40 acres in Lincoln Township, owned by the congregation in 1884, soon followed a parsonage in 1889. In 1906 the church was remodeled and extended to accommodate the growing congregation. The year 1911 saw the building of Luther League Hall and in 1923 the present parsonage was built. Salem's present red brick structure was built in 1924 and that is where worship services continue as usual for this parish which has been built upon strong Swedish hearts and prayers.
Pastors at Salem included Reverends S.P.A. Lindahl, N. G. Bergenskold, John Seleen, Hokan Olson, P. J. Sanden, F. A. Bonander, A. S. Segarhammer, Gustaf Nyquist, A. T. Train, C.A. Julius, Carl A. B. Swanson, A. W. Lindberg, George L. Search, Vernon Swenson, Charles Hanson, Clifford Swanson, Sverrer Lundh and Harlan Stutheit.
Greetings to Members and Friends of Salem:
Salem's 125th Anniversary Main Celebration Event is drawing near, and other activities throughout the year are being planned. It is our intention to keep you well informed and prepared to enjoy the celebrations.
On March 21, 1999, Salem hosted an "Kaffe and Conversation" led by Marshall County Historian, Oretha Ruetti. All interested shared stories of Salem's 125 years of service to the community.
On May 29, 1999, Salem held its "125 years of Ministries and Organizations" gathering. There was time for renewing acquaintances and sharing memories with others who were a part of the various groups and organizations in Salem's history.
On May 30, 1999 the principal Worship service began at 10:00 a.m. and an Anniversary Service at 2:00 p.m. An organ recital began at 9:30 a.m. preceding the morning service. Caren Loper, a professional organist at a Methodist Church in Overland Park, played for the recital.
The service began with the Augustana Service of Confession and Forgiveness and continued in a spirit of celebration. Pastor Jeff Swanson gave the anniversary message. Forest Landreth and his singing group, "4-Glory", provided special music. Holy Communion was celebrated with former pastors assisting Pastor Stutheit. The service began with a procession of banners.
The Anniversary Service featured reminiscing by former pastors and a special choir sang "Let Mt. Zion Rejoice".
The major purpose of our church is to bring Christ to the people and
the people to Christ through the Word, sacraments and service. We
have done that many times over in 115 years. It is impossible to write
about our spiritual triumphs, so what follows is a testament to the
temporal achievements of St. Michael's Parish.
St. Michael's evolved from old St. Bridget Parish. In 1874, a group of Catholics living in or near Axtell banded together and built a church building at Eighth and Murray Streets (where Regis and Mary Jane Rochel presently live). They arranged for the pastor of St. Bridget Church, six and 1/2 miles north, to celebrate Mass for them on alternate Sundays. In 1881 Rev. Timothy Luber, OSB, organized this group into our present parish. The cemetery was established in 1886. In 1889 our first school opened. This school was in operation only five years.
The present church site, Block 13, was purchased in 1901. The parish had 60 families. Father Taton built four buildings: in 1906 the church was dedicated, the parish house in 1909, a school building in 1917, and the convent in 1918. "The Million Dollar Block," as some called Block 13, was the only block in Axtell joined together by concrete sidewalks.
During Father Hoffman's pastorate, St. Michael's added a high school accredited by Kansas State University. The last graduating class was 1941. Father Hoffman erected the concrete cross in the cemetery as well as its elaborate entrance way.
Father Bradley was pastor until 1929. Father Bradley reduced the debt and brought many of the altar fittings for the church such as the sanctuary lamp, altar, crucifix, candlesticks and processional cross. Father Budreau (1929 to 1934) followed Father Bradley and introduced the gas heating system into the four buildings. In 1945, Father Hauser was appointed pastor. He was the "Buick" man. As he often said, "If a better car is ever built, Buick will build it." He completed the project of redecorating the interior of the church.
Father Hauser died on November 27, 1950. Father Quinlan followed. He oversaw the construction of a new school building. It was blessed by Archbishop Hunkeler in 1960 and is still in operation today.
In 1963 Father Burger tore down the old school building. Father LaGue followed Father Burger in 1963 and brought the Vatican II changes to St. Michael's. Father Pickert replaced Father LaGue in 1966 and under his leadership efforts were made toward paying off the parish debt. Also the church was reshingled and he had the cement platform (basketball court) constructed.
Father Pickert was succeeded by Father Horvat in 1972. Father Frank remodeled the church interior, redecorated the parish house and made repairs to the convent roof and interior. In 1973, one of the parish's native sons, James Shaughnessy, son of Charles and Eileen Shaughnessy, was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese. Father Jim grew up in St. Michael's and went to St. Michael's School.
Father Erickson came to Axtell in 1978. Under Father John the windows of the church were releaded, repairs to the church steeple were completed and he became the school's resident coach. He was successful in touch football, girls' volleyball, boy and girls' basketball and track.
Father Wait replaced Father Erickson in July 1981, St. Michael's centennial year. In the 1980s, the parish's financial situation tightened. Much effort was put into keeping St. Michael School open. In 1986, grades seven and eight were dropped to concentrate our efforts on the other grades. During Father Dennis' pastorate, a parish program to the sick and homebound was established, a finance council was initiated and St. Michael's took part in the Kansas Volunteer Program of the Archdiocese.
In July 1986, Father Dolezal became pastor. Building repairs were needed. A tithing program was begun. Through the volunteerism of the parish men and women and the Knights of Columbus, many repairs and improvements were made. "Food and Fellowship Sunday" was established on the last Sunday of the month. In January 1988, the convent building was demolished. Bricks from the convent were used in the signboard in front of the church. In 1989 all the church records were transferred to computer programs.
In 1996, the rectory project began building with volunteer labor a new modern rectory. Through the efforts of the Knights of Columbus and many other men and women of the parish, the project was completed in the fall of 1996.
In 2001, Father Albert Hauser, O.S.B. became pastor of St. Michael's.
In 1871 Mrs. Sylvia Jane Watkins, a 47-year-old widow with eight
children, came by covered wagon from New York to settle northeast of
Axtell. Upon learning there were dances in the community but no church
services of any kind, she said, "We will organize a Sunday School
for I will not raise my children in a place where there is no Sunday
School or church." She sent word to the neighbors and the
following Sabbath a Sunday School met at the Shockley schoolhouse,
three and one-half miles northwest of Axtell.
Within a year a minister was coming once a month to preach. In 1873 the Sunday School was moved to Axtell where it grew with the times. From this beginning, the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1878 with a membership of nine. Meetings were held in a town hall until a modest chapel was built near 4th and Maple. In 1894 the chapel was moved to 505 Prairie St. The present white frame building was constructed in 1905 at a cost of $8,500. The parsonage at 303 Park Avenue, built in 1912, cost $3,500. By 1917 church membership had grown to 277.
The year 1940 brought a transition to a new church name The Methodist Church and in 1968 unification changed our name again to The United Methodist Church.
In 1997 the Axtell United Methodist Church is yoked with the Beattie United Methodist Church. We share a pastor, the Rev. Pheobe Pitney, and a desire to share the message of God's love with our communities.
Our church family numbers 45-50 on Sunday mornings. Christian education classes for all ages and worship services are held each Sunday and shortterm Bible studies at various times. Services are conducted monthly at two area nursing homes. Members support world missions through apportionments, the Roundup for Hunger and an annual Hunger Supper featuring our specialty scalloped chicken.
Community ecumenical ministries include Vacation Bible School, Christmas Cantata, Lenten Breakfasts, Thanksgiving Service, and World Day of Prayer Service.
Anticipated events within the church include decorating the Chrismon tree, the Easter Sunrise Service, the friendly game of softball with Beattie UMC.
The unit of United Methodist Women in Axtell is organized for the purpose of being in mission. Scheduled programs help women grow in their faith and become knowledgeable about the work of United Methodist missions around the world. Financial pledges help support that work as well as ministries in the Axtell community.
Recent projects include collecting baby items for Ogden Friendship House, providing a meal for a retreat for Incarcerated Families at Camp Chippewa, presenting programs for area nursing homes, serving dinners to bereaved families, funding youth to church camps, hosting the Axtell Business Women's Luncheon and the annual fundraiser - The $10 Dinner.
The first service of the Evangelical Mission Covenant Church was held
June 18, 1872, in the home of Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Hurtie, two miles
north and one-fourth mile east of the present church when J. C. Hurtie
read a sermon and Klause Anderson led the singing. Mr. Hurtie and C.
A. Swanson were the first leaders of the services when no pastors were
present.
Meetings were held in various homes. The Farrar schoolhouse and the Backman School, later called Victory School, were meeting places from 1880-1889. In 1880 the Christmas service (Julotta) was held at Victory School when a peach tree was decorated with cotton and candles.
Through the leadership of Rev. Wm. Person and seven believers, the church was organized in 1880. He preached the first Sunday of every month, coming by horse and buggy from Randolph. He received $75 a year. The first resident pastor, Rev. P. W. Thoren, came in 1881. The constitution was adopted December 29, 1886, with 17 members. The name Swedish Evangelical Zion Mission Church was chosen at the meeting.
The first church was built in 1889, one mile north and three- eighths mile west of the present church. Rev. S. Arnquist was the pastor. Rev. J. Wm. Johnson became pastor in 1907. It was decided to build a new church at the present location. Lumber from the old church was used in the new building. When the roof was ready to be put on, fire started in the shavings, completely destroying the building in the presence of the contractors and carpenters. The members immediately began rebuilding. A parsonage, barn and other buildings were erected the same year.
A large number of pastors have served the church. Some of the more recent pastors were G. 0. Johnson, Warren Jones, Andrew Magnuson, Eugene Bishop, Edgar Lindstrom, Robert Boyle, Ray Kapp, Larry Woodward, D. Elroy Anderson, Nick Gurnsey, Arne Mars, Carold Anderson, Floyd Richardson and Ray Bishop. Pastor Herb Schrader presently serves the church.
Several members have become missionaries. Charlotte Swanson was a missionary to India and is buried there. Ruth Kasper was a missionary in the Covenant Mountain Mission and Nina Leonard was an associate missionary with Cadence International in Germany. Short-term missionaries were Mike and Susan Brown and Ray Bishop to Haiti.
The Sunday School began in 1880 and continues today with classes for all ages. The Ladies Aid was organized in 1885 and later became the Covenant Women. They assist in the local church work and serve in the needs of home and world missions. The youth group was organized July 26, 1888.
Music has always been a faithful part of the ministry of the church. Nils Hasselgren was the leader of the first choir. The first quartet included Lars Stavlund, Arnold Stavlund, Ivar Stavlund and Wallace Backman. As members left they were replaced by Roland Nelson, Ewald Lofdahl and Milton Nanninga. (Visit the Lars Stavlund Home Page)
The church is affiliated with the Evangelical Covenant Church of America.
The Axtell Presbyterian Church was organized April 10, 1879, with a
charter membership of 19 by the Rev. J. M. Brown of Highland who later
became the pastor. The church first met in the schoolhouse, later in
the Axtell Hall. In 1888, the church building was erected and dedicated
under the leadership of Rev. C. C. Hoffmeister. The church was
located a block west of Main Street at Third and Maple.
An addition to the west of the church was completed in 1906. The basement was added in 1922 with a kitchen and fellowship hall. The pipe organ was installed in 1912 when Dr. Moorehouse was pastor. The choir gave a recital under his direction.
Some of the other ministers serving the church were D. L. Moffet, J. A. Currie, George McNabb, D. S. Alexander, Dr. Newton B. Kelly, S. G. Magnuson, Herbert Hultman, Rev. Olney, Forrest Grimm, Albert Mygatt and supply pastor Harry Hirsch.
Dr. Silas Johnson, a member of the church, served 34 years on the mission field in Africa. He translated the Bible into the native language, established schools and trained hundreds of natives in the Christian way of life.
Sunday School classes were held for all ages. The young peoples' Christian Endeavor Society met Sunday evenings. A junior Christian Endeavor was organized in 1908. The Ladies Missionary Society met regularly to quilt, sew and do other Christian work. Their work was funded by an annual fall supper.
In 1954 the 75th anniversary of the church was celebrated with former pastors and members returning for the day. The Rev. Albert Mygatt was the last resident pastor to serve the church before it burned to the ground on December 28, 1958. The members, being unable to rebuild, joined other churches in the community.
In the fall of 1947, a group of people started a move away from institutional denominalism which ended in the establishing of a Pentecostal church in the city of Axtell. Worship services were first held in the homes of Ernest Boyle, Joe Kenworthy, James Still and John White. These services were held during the fall and winter of 1947 under the leadership of Reverend and Mrs. Albert Boegan of Elwood, Kansas.
As the number of worshippers increased, James and Martha Still donated land for a church building. A cement block building was erected on lots seven and eight in block one South Park Addition of the city of Axtell. The name Pentecostal Gospel Tabernacle was first used and later changed to Pentecostal Church of God after the group affiliated with that denomination on September 29, 1949. Reverend Q. A. Cantwell and Rev. Roy McMullen signed the original papers for the church.
Pastors for the church were Rev. Albert Boegan, Elwood, Kansas; Rev. Jack Reddick, Klamath Falls, Oregon; Rev. Joel Belshe, Osawatomie, Kansas; Rev. Fred Mayfield, Topeka, Kansas; Rev. Dixon Cullimore, Frankfort; Rev. Robert Clark, Council Bluffs, Iowa; Rev. Joseph Burns, Kansas City, Kansas; Rev. Robert Arnold, St. Joseph, Missouri; Rev. Robert Boyle, Axtell, Kansas; Rev. James McGill, Barstow, California.
The church served the community well. It acutely felt the loss of potential as people moved from the farms to the city and the shortage of available clergymen forced a curtailment in worship services. The little white block building was torn down in 1995 to make room for progress. The worship services, which served a generation of believers seeking fellowship of like faith, are only memories. It was a good church and it served its congregation well.
The area around St. Bridget (Northeast Marshall County, Kansas)
was first settled in 1857 by a group of Irish immigrants. The first
Mass was offered in a home in 1859 by a priest from St. Benedict Abbey
in Kansas. The parish was established in 1862, becoming the first
Catholic parish in Marshall County. The present red brick church was
built from 1905 - 1908 at a cost of $30,000. The church measures 50
feet wide and 100 feet long. It has a unique architectural style
vaulted Ceilings, no interior pillars by block one's view. It has some
of the most beautiful stain-glass windows in this part of Kansas. The
church was dedicated by Bishop Lillis on September 2, 1908. At the
turn of the century (1900), the parish reached its zenith with over
85 farm families. During the 1920's and 30's the rural population
dwindled. By 1967, when the parish closed, there were only 20 families
in the parish.
In 1970, former parishioners established the St. Bridget Historical Society to maintain the church and cemetery. In 1972, the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas gave the deed to the church building to the St. Bridget Historical Society. In October of 1995, the Kansas State Historical Society declared the church building a "historical landmark" and nominated the building to the national Registry of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.. In September of 1996, the church was accepted and listed on the National Registry.
At one time, besides the church and parish house, stood a school, a convent, a parish hall and a few town buildings. St. Bridget had its own post office from March 23, 1869 to February 1, 1902. There was also a general store and a few residences located near the church.
The Cemetery is located one half mile south and east of the church. It is the original site of the first church building, erected in 1862 or 1863. The cemetery is still being used by former parish families.
Some of the families in 1897 that belonged to the parish were: Carroll, Coughlin, Creevan, Coffee, Coyne, Calnan, Cunningham, Egan, Finnerty, Gallagher, Gossin, Hoffman, Hickman, Huerter, Hughes, Heidman, Keegan, Lally, Lynch, Madigan, McCaffrey, Mitchell, McGinty, Manley, McGrath, McGeeney, Mulryan, Madden, Mealy, Minehan, Ragan, Reilly, Shaughnessy, Simmons, and Smith. The pastor in 1897 was Father Patrick A. O'Sullivan.
The statues in the church were renovated in the summer of 1993 by Johnson Restoration of Vermillion, Kansas. Charissa Johnson-Reynolds was also involved with the restoration of the interior of St. Mary Church at St. Benedict, Kansas.
Arrangements to tour St. Bridget Church (or questions about the cemetery) can be directed to Terry and Norma Stallbaumer, 341 30th Rd. Axtell, Kansas 66403 (785) 736-2910.
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