In 1913 Iola’s fledgling First Church of the Nazarene held services in the home of John and Anna Randel, 306 S. First St.
Saturday evening and Sunday members of the church, who meet in a spacious sanctuary and associated facilities at 1235 Walnut St. N., have activities planned to commemorate the church’s centennial.
“We will have a meal at 5 o’clock Saturday afternoon at the church for out-of-town guests and members,” said the Rev. Daren Baldwin, completing his second year as its pastor.
Sunday services will start with special music. Four, maybe more, former pastors will share memories from the pulpit.
“I have a short sermon planned,” said Baldwin, to give the visiting pastors time to reminisce. “Then, we’ll have a potluck meal at the (Dr. John Silas Bass) north community building.
“It is neat to be a part of a church being 100 years old,” he said.
ACCORDING TO a history of the church, Brother Chambers, district superintendent of the Kansas District of Church of the Nazarene, arrived at the Randel residence one day and announced he was in Iola to hold a revival and start a church.
The Randels and others joined in and the church was organized in October 1913.
Groundwork for this was laid in 1912 when two preachers came to Iola to hold a tent meeting.
The church’s first dedicated building was at First and Neosho streets, where congregants met from 1920 to 1927 and then again from 1939 to 1966. During the intervening time, 1927-1939, services were in the old Baptist Church building at Sycamore and Monroe streets.
By the late 1950s, membership had surpassed 100 and in the early 1960s consideration was given to a new church building. In 1967 the church moved to its present location on Walnut Street North.
Congregational growth and concerns about flooding on South First Street — the church there was under water in 1951 — prompted the move.
Membership reached 150 in the late 1960s and topped 200 in the 1980s. Thereafter, membership waned some.
Since Baldwin come aboard growth has occurred, with 70 to 80 attendees most Sundays.
