Union Presbyterian Church in Fort Madison, Iowa, is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and is a part of the Presbytery of East Iowa, which is part of the Synod of Lakes and Prairies. Union Presbyterian Church is designated as a Presbyterian Historic Site by the Presbyterian Historical Society.
The identity statement, according to the church's website, is "An Open, Caring, Compassionate Community of Faith."
The current pastor is the Rev'd John Allen T. Bankson.
On March 26, 1838, less than two years after the founding of the city of Fort Madison by Gen. John Holly Knapp and his cousin, Nathaniel Rundell Knapp,"If These Stones Could Talk," Fort Madison Daily Democrat, July 21, 2020, retrieved August 26, 2024 the Rev. James Augustus Clark was sent by the American Home Missionary Society to organize a Presbyterian church. Clark would become the church's first pastor.Clark, J. A., J. A. Clark letter, Fort Madison, to Reverend Milton Badger, 1842 December 6. Fort Madison, Iowa, Yale University Library Digital Collections, retrieved August 26, 2024
The Fort Madison Presbyterian Church (as it was then known) was the second Presbyterian congregation to be founded in Iowa, after the West Point Presbyterian Church in nearby West Point, Iowa."West Point Presbyterian Plans Celebration," Daily Gate City, September 14, 2022, retrieved August 26, 2024
The founding of the church was near the beginning of the Old School-New School Controversy in the Presbyterian Church, and the fledgling Fort Madison congregation split into two groups in 1840, only two years after being organized. Rev. J.A. Clark and a portion of the members joined the New School, and the remaining members joined the Old School. The two resulting congregations remained separate for twenty years.Amborn, Maxine, and Nelson, Mary, History of Union Presbyterian Church, Union Presbyterian Church, 2003.Hubbard, Joseph W., The Presbyterian Church in Iowa, 1837-1900, Synod of Iowa, 1923; Reprinted by Ulan Press, 2012 On January 2, 1860, the Old School and New School congregations merged, adopting the name Union Presbyterian Church.
One of the most significant pastors in the church's history was Rev. Dr. George D. Stewart (1824–1910), who served the church from 1877 until his retirement in 1904. In 1885, under Dr. Stewart's leadership, the congregation built the brick structure at 7th Street and Avenue F in Fort Madison where it still worships to this day."Rev. George D. Stewart, D.D.," Biographical Review of Lee County, Iowa, Chicago, Hobart Publishing Co. 1905
Leadership Union Presbyterian Church has had a total of nineteen pastors since its founding: + Pastors of Union Presbyterian Church Name Year Called James Augustus Clark 1838 Robert C. McComb 1854 Chauncey Perkins Taylor 1859 George D. Stewart 1877 Harry Clayton Rogers 1904 Frank Gageby 1908 William Graham 1915 Warren F. Goff 1919 Walter Turney 1931 William Pfautz 1954 John Lewis 1965 Arthur Nash 1971 Roger Todd 1982 Marvin Potter 1984 Judith L. Arnold 1997 Robert O. Robinson 2004 Mark Binder 2007 Nancy Oehler Love 2015 John Allen T. Bankson 2024
See also List of Christian denominations#Presbyterianism List of Presbyterian churches American Presbyterian/Reformed Historic Sites Registry
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