1854
First United Methodist Church
Kansas has had a Methodist presence since the opening of Kansas Territory in 1854. In 1854, Rev. William H. Goode was selected as presiding elder for the Kansas-Nebraska Mission District. “In casting about for an assistant, he chose James S. Griffing, a young pastor of the North Street Mission, Indianapolis, who when found was on top of his new church building helping to erect it.”
The Rev. Griffing was the preacher in charge of the Wakarusa Mission, which included Lawrence and extended from the mouth of the Kansas River west to Fort Riley. In November 1854 he wrote to his fiancé, Augusta, “…I have been traveling alone — not alone exactly, but with ‘Jacob,’ my faithful Indian pony. After coming in the territory, finding that there was nothing as yet but prairie grass to feed a horse, I found it necessary to procure an Indian pony as they alone can endure the hardships of the territory at present.”
He served as pastor for Lawrence Methodists for nearly a year.
Step Sponsored By: The Rev. H. Sharon Howell and Judy and Jerome Niebaum