Our history
St. Paul’s officially dates its history to 1881, but September 25, 1973, is the day for which the parish is best-known.
In the early evening that day, a tornado struck Clay Center, heading north up 6th Street. A group of women were attending a Weight Watchers meeting in the basement and heard the rumble of the storm and cracking and wrenching of the building. But there was no initial crash. After they hurried outside, they — and others who had joined them — saw the old church “shiver and shake an instant before collapsing to the ground.”
After worshiping the next week in what’s now the Neill-Schwensen-Rook Funeral Home, they repaired what was left of the parish house and were able to hold services there, but for the second time in its history, the people of St. Paul’s had to build a church. And after some debate, they decided to rebuild on the original site.
On August 31, 1975, the Rt. Rev. Edward C. Turner, bishop of Kansas, dedicated the new building. On the following two Sundays, the parish celebrated with priests and other diocesan friends and then with friends from the Clay Center community.
The Rev. Earl O. Minturn was serving as rector at the time of the tornado. He was the 22nd priest to lead the congregation in some form since area clergy began holding occasional services in the town in 1871. The parish’s first official rector, the Rev. Horatio Harrison Hewitt, organized the parish in 1881.
The Garden of Meditation, on the north side of the church, is dedicated to Father Minturn. The Rev. Merrill Broach succeeded Father Minturn in 1978, and the Rev. Susan Sawyer served at rector, from 1992 to 2013. In October 2013, the Rev. Sarah Lavonne Seifert joined the parish as priest-in-charge.
Throughout its history, St. Paul’s has been blessed with active lay leaders, despite what appear to have been ongoing challenges with adequate parish funding. After several changes of status from parish to mission to parish and to mission again, St. Paul’s was incorporated as a parish in 1946 during the time that William Beall was serving as senior warden. It became completely self-supporting in 1954 and has retained parish status since then.
By the time of the parish’s 100th anniversary in 1981, Beall was considered its “most distinguished vestryman.” Baptized and confirmed as a young adult at St. Paul’s in 1926, Beall ultimately served as senior warden for about 35 years and as chancellor of the diocese for 16 years. At the time of his death in 1959, he was president of the Kansas Bar Association and was serving Clay and Dickinson counties as state senator.
Frank V. Gay, however, served even longer as senior warden — for more than 40 years until his death in 1924. An old church story says Gay often set an alarm clock to awaken him in the middle of the night in order to attend to the church fires before a Sunday service.
Today St. Paul’s is known in Clay Center as “the little church that feeds people.” Its multiple programs that feed the hungry of our community are models for churches throughout the diocese. Lay leaders from St. Paul’s continue to contribute their time and talent to the parish, the Northwest Convocation and the Diocese of Kansas.
In the early evening that day, a tornado struck Clay Center, heading north up 6th Street. A group of women were attending a Weight Watchers meeting in the basement and heard the rumble of the storm and cracking and wrenching of the building. But there was no initial crash. After they hurried outside, they — and others who had joined them — saw the old church “shiver and shake an instant before collapsing to the ground.”
After worshiping the next week in what’s now the Neill-Schwensen-Rook Funeral Home, they repaired what was left of the parish house and were able to hold services there, but for the second time in its history, the people of St. Paul’s had to build a church. And after some debate, they decided to rebuild on the original site.
On August 31, 1975, the Rt. Rev. Edward C. Turner, bishop of Kansas, dedicated the new building. On the following two Sundays, the parish celebrated with priests and other diocesan friends and then with friends from the Clay Center community.
The Rev. Earl O. Minturn was serving as rector at the time of the tornado. He was the 22nd priest to lead the congregation in some form since area clergy began holding occasional services in the town in 1871. The parish’s first official rector, the Rev. Horatio Harrison Hewitt, organized the parish in 1881.
The Garden of Meditation, on the north side of the church, is dedicated to Father Minturn. The Rev. Merrill Broach succeeded Father Minturn in 1978, and the Rev. Susan Sawyer served at rector, from 1992 to 2013. In October 2013, the Rev. Sarah Lavonne Seifert joined the parish as priest-in-charge.
Throughout its history, St. Paul’s has been blessed with active lay leaders, despite what appear to have been ongoing challenges with adequate parish funding. After several changes of status from parish to mission to parish and to mission again, St. Paul’s was incorporated as a parish in 1946 during the time that William Beall was serving as senior warden. It became completely self-supporting in 1954 and has retained parish status since then.
By the time of the parish’s 100th anniversary in 1981, Beall was considered its “most distinguished vestryman.” Baptized and confirmed as a young adult at St. Paul’s in 1926, Beall ultimately served as senior warden for about 35 years and as chancellor of the diocese for 16 years. At the time of his death in 1959, he was president of the Kansas Bar Association and was serving Clay and Dickinson counties as state senator.
Frank V. Gay, however, served even longer as senior warden — for more than 40 years until his death in 1924. An old church story says Gay often set an alarm clock to awaken him in the middle of the night in order to attend to the church fires before a Sunday service.
Today St. Paul’s is known in Clay Center as “the little church that feeds people.” Its multiple programs that feed the hungry of our community are models for churches throughout the diocese. Lay leaders from St. Paul’s continue to contribute their time and talent to the parish, the Northwest Convocation and the Diocese of Kansas.
