Templeton Church Invites Community to 140 Year Celebration June 18
Templeton United Church of Christ is celebrating a milestone this Sunday with a variety of community events to be held at the church located one mile south of the intersection of SD Highway 34 and 374th Avenue west of Wessington Springs.
An open house will be held at the church beginning at 9 a.m. followed by a 10:30 a.m. worship service. Keith Kraft, UCC Conference Minister for the Wessington Springs region will be presenting the message along with Jeff Luce and Rebecca Trobec. All are welcome for a meal and short program under the Kyle Evans Memorial Wagon Train tent following worship. Albums showcasing the church’s rich history will also be on display. More about the event can be found in an ad in this week’s print and e-edition on PAGE TEN
Read more about the history of Templeton Church in the passage below written by Tom Dean, Senior Trustee of Templeton.
A brief history of Templeton
BY TOM DEAN, SENIOR TRUSTEE Templeton United Church of Christ was founded in 1883 at the homestead of Rev. John Cross. Rev. Cross had emigrated from Iowa. He filed a claim five miles west of Wessington Springs and just north of the current Highway 34. He built a “grout house” of plaster and stone which became his home, a post office and a meeting place for the newly formed Templeton congregation. Rev. Cross selected the name Templeton, the maiden name of his wife who died before the move to South Dakota. He brought with him a large church bell and specified that the bell was to belong to the new congregation as long as the church retained the name Templeton. That bell now hangs in front of the current Templeton Church building and is rung regularly on Sundays.
Unfortunately the “grout house” was not well constructed and collapsed several years later. The congregation then met in private homes and school houses until 1901 when Lizzie Gotwals donated a plot of land a mile west and a mile south of the original location. A church building was promptly constructed. It served as a base for the Templeton congregation until it was totally destroyed by a tornado in 1924 (historical accounts report that “everything was gone except the light plant in the basement and several weeks later someone stole that!)
Not to be held back, the congregation set about fund raising and within a year a new building was constructed. That building, with an addition that was attached in the 1960’s, is in use today. The most recent development is the installation of running water and an indoor bathroom.
Rural churches, and churches in general, face many challenges. Templeton is no exception. However, at this point we want to celebrate 140 years of accomplishments. A small but energetic congregation looks forward to many more years of learning from and promoting the teachings of Jesus.