Minden Presbyterian Church
is a member of Pines Presbytery, Synod of the Sun, and
the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church
(USA). The Presbyterian Church was organized in the Fall
of 1851 by Rev. J. Franklin Ford. Since Presbyterians
had no church building, they met for worship in the
Methodist Church when that congregation had no service
of their own. The Methodist Church was organized in
1839. Some of the first pastors are presidents and
teachers of the Minden Academy and the Minden Female
Academy. The first church building was a one-room white
frame building enclosed by a picket fence and was built
in 1189 on land donated by Hervey Drake and W.A. Drake.
It was at the location of the present church. Our present
sanctuary, which is Neo-Gothic architecture, was built
in 1924.
Classrooms are housed on the second floor
behind the sanctuary. Building and furnishings cost
$35,000 in 1924. A new Hook and Hastings organ, donated
by Mr. & Mrs. C.M. Hutton and S.G. Webb, was installed.
The sanctuary remains much the same except that the
choir loft was moved from the podium to a side room that
was originally a multipurpose room for overflow crowds
and church activities. The podium was made smaller, and
the organ has been reworked twice, with additional ranks
added. In 1962, the three large stained glass windows in
the front of the sanctuary were installed. In 1971, the
remaining front window and narthex window were added. In
1995, side windows were replaced with stained glass. The
Hutton Hall educational building was added in 1955, and
an activities building was built in 1985.Our sanctuary
has recently been renovated inside and out with new
paint, varnish, carpet, pew cushions, and the organ
reworked. Minden Presbyterian Church is the oldest church
building in Minden and is also located in the Historic
Residential District.
The Downtown Churches
The first congregation in the city was the Methodist
Church, which began holding services regularly in 1839.
Today the First United Methodist Church, has been
located on the same site, but has seen several building
since 1839. The current building resembles the older
building and does have the original stained glass from
the former 1905 building. The Minden Baptist Church was
organized in December 1844. Today it is the First
Baptist Church in it’s 5th building this one replacing
the 1925 building in 1977.
The first preacher for First
Baptist was George Washington Bains the
great-great-grandfather of President Lyndon Johnson. The
President made an appearance at the 125th anniversary
celebration in 1969. The Minden Presbyterian Church was
not formally established until 1851. Today, the 1924
church building still in use is the oldest in the
downtown area. After several English settlers came to
Minden in the late 1840’s the need for and Episcopal
Church became apparent. The church you see today was
built in 1951 replacing the 1870’s structure that was
located near where the Civic Center is today. The first
Catholic Church was built in 1870’s. St. Anne’s Catholic
Church would be lost to the tornado on May 1, 1933.
African Americans who were held as slaves worshiped in
the churches of their masters during that pre-Civil War
era. Later many Black churches would form and a few are
still in existence today. One such church is St. Rest
Baptist Church.
