In the early 1870’s Seventh-day Adventists from around Topeka, Kansas, were organized into a church. They met in rented buildings until 1882 when they moved into their own large frame church downtown which served them well for nearly a hundred years.
Following evangelistic meetings in 1927 the building needed to be enlarged, so this was accomplished by lifting the church off its foundation and turning it to run east and west. Large, well-lighted rooms were made in the basement for the church school and Sabbath school rooms. However in 1954 an opportunity came to buy the Quinton Heights Elementary school building, so the rooms in the basement could then be used exclusively for Sabbath school. The Quinton Heights school was old when they bought it, and no amount of repairs seemed to be able to hold it together too long.
With the encouragement of Elder S. S. Will, the current conference president, a vote was taken at a church business meeting on June 11, 1967, to buy land for a new church school. A 10-acre building site was located west of Topeka on a gravel road running through farm land, and was purchased for $9,000. Pastor Fred Schultz did much of the work himself and urged the members with expertise in carpentry to donate labor as well as funds, and in the fall of 1968 the Topeka Church School on Wanamaker Road was ready for the boys and girls.
The members knew they had outgrown the old church, but churches aren’t bought and sold every day. So God’s providence was evident again when in 1970 before they advertised the church for sale, the church board was offered $30,000 for the old church building down town. With a few tears and regrets from the old-time members, the church on the corner of 5th and Western was sold with the provision that the Adventists could continue to use it for 18 months or until they could get a new church built. At least they had land beside the new school where the church could be constructed.
Pastor Dwight Taylor, the volunteers and hired contractors worked together, and the building slowly took shape. The final building cost was about $165,000. By 1974 everything was in readiness, and on March 23 the happy people braved an early spring snowstorm for the first meeting in the new church.
That was 50 years ago this year, so on March 16, 2024, there was a big anniversary celebration where current and former members joined in reminiscing and sharing memories of God’s providence in choosing the site on a gravel road west of town which today is a five-lane busy thoroughfare. Of course through the years there have been changes on the inside of the building, but the mission is still the same–to have a place to bring families and friends for fellowship, study of God’s Word and progression of spiritual maturity. What has God wrought!
