The First Congregational Church in Great Bend, Kansas dedicated their first building in 1879.  The congregation continued to grow, and a new brick building was begun in May 1910.  This new structure, finished in March 1911, cost $30,000 and included a new pipe organ.

In this new building were a large number of stained glass windows, many of which served as memorials to prominent church and community members.

---

This small rectangular window depicting the young Christ is dedicated to the memory of Eugene H. Lindas.  Lindas was the eight-year-old son of Dr. Henry and Jessie Lindas of Great Bend and the grandson of John Lindas, an early settler of Pawnee Rock, then of Larned, and proprietor of Lindas Lumber Company.  In 1910, Eugene Lindas drowned while playing with friends in the Arkansas River, south of Great Bend.  He was three months shy of his ninth birthday.

Amasa C. and Naomi A. (Terry Moses) were the parents of seven sons who grew to maturity in Great Bend.  With the help of their father, these men contributed greatly to the growth of Great Bend in milling and banking.  Upon the decision to build a new church, the sons supported the creation of a stained glass diptych in memory of their parents because of their influence in starting the Congregational Church.  The couple were charter members of the church.  Additionally, A.C. was the first superintendent of the Sunday school

 

 

 

By 1959 the church had again outgrown its facilities.  After a new building was constructed at 21st and Polk, the windows from the old church were removed and sold or placed in storage.

In 1991, Dorothy Moses Morrison, great-granddaughter of one of the founding members of the congregation, donated five of these windows as a gift to the Barton Community College Foundation.  The windows were resorted in 2000, and then installed in the renovated chapel which was renamed in her honor.

---

Joseph and Jane McMullen reared seven children, moving to Barton County from Pennsylvania in 1878.  The elder McMullens engaged in farming in Liberty Township before moving to Great Bend.  The McMullen children purchased a stained glass window for the new Congregational Church in their parents' memory.  Their sons became prominent citizens of Great Bend and vicinity, the family running the McMullen Laundry for many years.

The sons of Mary A. Moses purchased a stained glass window in memory of their mother who raised fourteen children.  Moses' son, George, was Barton County's first sheriff, while another son, Edward, ran a successful mercantile business.  A daughter, Laura, married C.P. Townsley, founder of the Inland Tribune, who also was a lawyer and judge.  Another window, dedicated to the memory of Judge Townsley is displayed in the foyer of the present First Congregational United Church of Christ.

The information for this page is taken from the Chapel brochure prepared with the assistance of the Barton County Arts Council and the First Congregational United Church of Christ