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KEARNEY — First Christian Church in Kearney holds a special place in 63-year-member Bob Bragg’s heart.

It’s where he met his wife, Dorothy, more than 60 years ago.

“I saw this beautiful gal sittin’ up in the choir, Dorothy, of course, and all of a sudden I joined the choir,” he said, his voice quivering with emotion.

A year later, the two were married.

Sunday, First Christian Church will celebrate its 135th anniversary with a worship service at 10:30 a.m. and a celebration dinner to follow at noon.

Since 1874, the congregation has built four churches, but it has been through a period of declining programs and membership since 1994, according to the Rev. Lew Champ.

“In our 135th year, the church wants to envision a new future,” Champ said.

According to church records, the church was organized by eight charter members on Nov. 8, 1874, at the Forehand schoolhouse eight miles northeast of Kearney.

Worship services were in the schoolhouse for three years before the congregation moved to Kearney and met in the unoccupied Baptist Church for two years.

When the Baptist Church was needed, members of First Christian Church decided to build a small house, 22 feet by 24 feet, to serve as a temporary chapel. The chapel was built on Second Avenue between 24th and 25th Streets and cost $587.26. The church was moved to two other locations before a permanent church building at 25th Street and Avenue C, was built in 1889.

“This neat little frame church, with its equipment, cost $4,600. It would seem that the church had made good progress during the 15 years of its existence as it had at that time a membership of 75 and a well-equipped building seating 300 people,” church records state.

After the turn of the century, the church struggled for existence. When the state established the Normal School, now the University of Nebraska at Kearney, in Kearney in 1905, new leadership was brought to the church and new life was given to all departments, church records say.

A few years after that, the church began outgrowing its building and began to plan for a bigger, better and more centrally located church. A lot was purchased on the northeast quadrant of 25th Street and Central Avenue in 1913, and a new church was built for $26,000.

Bob remembers one stoplight in town at 25th and Central where the church was located.

“Every vehicle that was going through town had to go through that stoplight,” he recalled, noting the church was not even 20 feet from the curb.

He said when large trucks would accelerate from the stoplight, there was a huge roar and the pastor would have to pause his sermon until the light changed.

Bob said motorcycles would make a lot of noise, too.

“It seemed like every motorcycle in town went by there,” he said and pretending to rev a motorcycle throttle the way he remembers motorcycle riders doing. “Remember that, Dorothy?” he asked his wife.

Dorothy, a 68-year member of the church, said she remembers one pastor who got so excited about a sermon he accidentally hit a wood door that was on three sides of the sanctuary in that building.

“It sounded like he was bringin’ the church down,” she said with a laugh.

On the 90th anniversary of the church on Nov. 8, 1964, ground was broken for the current church at 3311 Ave. I.

The current church was dedicated in May 1966. Final cost was $300,000.

Champ said knowing the history of the church is a gift that is passed down from previous members, and it is important to celebrate and give thanks for the gift of the church.

“The journey has been long and exciting,” he said.

Bob said the best stories about the church are the ones that have been passed down.

One story he remembers from previous members was from the Great Depression when the church was heated by coal.

“Things got so bad they couldn’t afford coal,” he said. Men of the church decided to chop wood to heat the building. Things at the church got worse, and the congregation couldn’t afford to pay the minister. The pastor had a prayer meeting with the elders of the church, and things began to improve.

“I remember that story because it could have gone either way,” Bob said. “The church could have folded.”

He said the congregation stayed together because the members cared about each other.

“We’re still functioning today on that premise.”

e-mail to:

sarah.mulder@kearneyhub.com

Anniversary Service

 First Christian Church will celebrate its 135th anniversary Sunday with a worship service at 10:30 a.m. and a celebration dinner at noon. The celebration is open to the public.