The History of the Seibert Community Church

We have been Ringing Out the Good News of God's Word for 117 years
We have been know by many names since our beginnings in 1889 Seibert Community Church 1889 Seibert Congregational Church 1896 Trinity Evangelical Church 1927 Seibert Evangelical United Brethren Church 1949 Seibert United Methodist Church 1968 Seibert Community Evangelical Free Church 1998
Ministers Who Have Served Our Seibert Church
Religious work began in the town of Seibert in 1889 with the ministry of D. H. Minich, a Home Missionary of the Congregational Church. Others who helped get it established were Robert Knowles, Reverend Lee and Reverend Jones of Iowa. The first church building was erected and dedicated on June 16, 1902. Congregational, Evangelical, Evangelical United Brethren, United Methodist, and Evangelical Free Ministers who have served our church include:
1889 - 1892 D. H. Minich 1892 - 1896 E. Tuttle 1896 - 1902 Charles W. Smith 1902 - 1907 N. H. Hawkins 1907 - 1914 Edward P. Owen 1914 - 1915 E. S. Hughes 1915 - 1916 James Read 1916 - 1917 Jan J. LeFebre 1917 - 1918 E. Shimrock 1918 - 1918 A. E. Hartman 1918 - 1919 P. R. Kiplinger 1919 - 1920 Charles W. Smith 1920 - 1921 A. Sturgis 1921 - 1922 W. P. Barton 1922 - 1923 Charles D. Gearhart 1923 - 1924 S. J. Snyder 1924 - 1925 Peter Rasmussen 1925 - 1927 J. N. Trompin 1927 - 1929 R. D. Dexheimer 1929 - 1929 J. A. Brewer 1929 - 1929 William R. Van Devender 1929 - 1931 W. C. Johnson 1931 - 1933 A. G. Hettler 1933 - 1935 T. A. Marks	1935 - 1935 B. Barthel 1935 - 1935 Victor H. Schroeder 1935 - 1938 S. E. Parrott 1938 - 1944 Leslie E. Gabel 1944 - 1948 C. Lafoon 1948 - 1950 T. A. Marks 1950 - 1952 Oliver Davidson 1952 - 1954 Francis Bayless 1954 - 1958 Raymond B. Scott 1958 - 1961 R. Morris Churchill 1961 - 1965 Owen A. Gayley 1965 - 1970 David Newman 1970 - 1972 David B. Finley 1972 - 1975 Charles M. Wood 1975 - 1976 George Dageenakis 1976 - 1979 Frank Harvey 1979 - 1981 Doris Bingham 1981 - 1982 Eldon Shoemaker 1982 - 1985 Douglas Lewis 1985 - 1988 Margaret A. Huffman 1988 - 1991 Steven D. Reinhard 1991 - 1994 Frederic L. Shuman 1994 - James D. Ruetsch


How BIG is the Church in Your Life?
Taken from the 1950 Genoa Evangelical United Brethren Church booklet, "The Church Messenger", published by Walsworth Brothers, Marceline, Missouri. Copyright 1950
Of course your Church is just so many feet wide and so many feet high no matter who is measuring it. Yet, to some of the members, it is a lot bigger than it is others. To some of us, our Church is a great and wonderful building. For we call it the House of God, and in it we receive strength for daily life. It matters a lot how big the place of the Church is in our lives. When people cease to be Christians it is not usually a matter of them saying to themselves, "We are not going to be Christians any longer." They simply stop coming to church, through carelessness or laziness. Then the flame of Christian faith quickly dims for them. It is Church attendance which is the chief nourishment of our spiritual existence. These hours we spend in Church are continually strengthening us in devotion to the Lord Jesus and sustaining our hope and courage. The followers of Jesus find, when they come together in their accustomed place on the first day of the week, their Master is with them. The Church is so important that it deserves a place in every week. We never need a vacation from Church. If we are away from home on a Sunday, we can usually find a Church not too far away if we try. Even when our plans make traveling on Sunday necessary, we can afford to stop off at some Church we are passing by. The Church deserves our efforts as workers in its various departments. If we can sing, or teach or do any of the things that need to be done in the congregation, we should be very happy for the opportunity. Few things bring such satisfaction as Church work well done. The Church deserves its share of our income. That share ought not to be a little bit which we can spare when we have spent most of our money for other things. It should be a generous proportion which we set aside faithfully every payday. How BIG is the Church in your Life?
The Seibert Church History
In the early days there was a flourishing Stage Coach line which went along the Republican River. There was a stop at Hoyt. Hoyt was located 4 miles north of the present town of Seibert between the Republican River and Buffalo Creek. It was founded in 1887 by Dr. J. S. Hoyt. The railroad came through Colorado in 1888 and Seibert was founded and was named after Henry Seibert. He was an official of the railroad and donated books to the town library. Merchants began moving their businesses to Seibert and it wasn't long before Hoyt became a ghost town. Religious work began in the town of Seibert around 1889 by D. H. Minich, a home missionary of the Congregational Church. A church was organized shortly thereafter and the Seibert Community Church was born. Others who had a part in helping to get the church established were Robert Knowles, Reverend Lee, and Reverend Jones of Iowa. In the spring of 1892 Reverend George E. Tuttle, who was commissioned Home Missionary for Eastern Colorado, severed as pastor of the Seibert Church until 1896. Meetings were held in the Seibert School House. Feeling that the Church had not been properly organized, the people voted to disband and to immediately reorganize. On February 10, 1996 a new organization was effected with eleven charter members - it then became the Seibert Congregational Church.

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