Murray Presbyterian Church

The theme of this year was moving from survival to mission. The presence of Pastor Heidi McGinnis as the leader of the congregation inspired the members to encourage others to become a part of the church and the year saw a substantial increase in new members. Average attendance for this year was 84 persons per service.

The church decided to go to a unicameral system, in which the functions of the Board of Trustees would be taken up by the Session. Thus, the Board of Trustees ceased to exist as a separate body. The new organ was installed, an electronic Rogers C445. The youth group Kirk Klub was started by Sharlyn Konfrst. The work of the newly formed Board of Deacons was very active in the life of the church. The choir, having been formed the previous year under the direction of Paul Mars, continued to provide the worship services with quality vocal music.

The Sunday school program continued to grow, this being only the second year that the Presbyterian Church had organized Sunday school on its own, after a lengthy period of cooperation with the Murray Christian Church, due to low Sunday school enrollment at the Presbyterian church. Vacation Bible School continued to be held in cooperation with the Christian church.

In the Year 1992

In October Pastor Heidi McGinnis accepted a call to serve as the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue, Nebraska. This came as quite a surprise to the congregation. Later that year a pastor nominating committee was elected to conduct a search for the next pastor.

In the Year 1993

David Matsumura served as the full time interim pastor until the arrival of the new pastor, Marty McDaniel. David was instrumental in organizing the Session into various operational committees, for the first time in the church’s history. David was very active with youth work during his time at Murray. The highlight of the year for the youth was a summer mission trip to Topeka, Kansas in July.

The pastor nominating committee was hard at work during the early months of the year, narrowing down the stack of dossiers to find the person who would be right for the church as the next pastor. On Father’s Day the nominating committee presented to the congregation for a candidating sermon, Martin McDaniel, pastor of the Piney Flats Presbyterian Church in Piney Flats, TN. Following the worship service Marty was voted in as the next pastor. His first Sunday as pastor in Murray was August 15.

This year the newly formed Session committees were all active and accomplished much in their respective areas of responsibility. The Missions committee promoted the Bi-Centennial Fund, denominational capital funds campaign in our church, raising money specifically for projects that would improve rural churches.

In the Year 1994

The key development was the formation of a committee (chaired by Ron Gochenour) to pursue the construction of an addition to the church that would provide an upstairs bathroom. In April, Gary Rieke and Al Konfrst offered a sketch of a floor plan for an addition that would provide significantly increased usable area, upstairs and down, with a modest price tag. The committee liked the proposal and presented it to the session. This floor plan became the basis of the addition that was eventually built. The Session did not want to consider beginning construction until at least half the needed funds were in the bank. From this time the fundraising began in earnest, coordinated by Sherrill Konfrst. By the end of the year, there was over $10,000 already in the building fund.

This year the Sunday school curriculum switched to the new "user friendly" "Hands-On Bible Curriculum" by Group. The teachers were very pleased with this development. The Kirk Klub went to see the movie "Schindler’s List" in the spring and during the summer attended the all day "Lovefest" Christian rock concert in Milford, NE. This year saw the beginning of a tradition initiated by the newly formed "Fellowship & Family Life" committee: the annual Church Picnic.

In the Year 1995

There were noticeable increases in membership, Sunday school enrollment, and the balance in the building fund for the new addition. The worship committee made new Lenten banners for the sanctuary. A new monthly program this year was the Family Builders parenting program. Sue Dindinger and Anne McDaniel took over as leaders of the youth group and gave it a new name, PYF (Presbyterian Youth Fellowship). VBS was "Market Place 29AD," held on the grounds of the Christian church, featuring Bible times stories, costumes, and activities, focusing on the life of Jesus. This year the "Fellowship & Family Life" committee added two new activities to the annual church calendar: the family retreat at Camp Calvin Crest and the Valentines Sweetheart banquet. During the summer the Session formally decided that the dress code for summertime worship would be "casual."

In the Year 1996

Membership continued to increase even though finances were still tight. The "Group" dissolved as its purpose had been absorbed by various committees. VBS was "Antioch 49AD" very similar to last year, but this year focusing on the missionary travels of the Apostle Paul. Fellowship & Family Life teamed up with PYF to sponsor jointly a fall cookout & hayrack ride and Christmas caroling at the Masonic Home. A new committee was formed this year to facilitate cooperation with the Omaha American Indian Church and assist in their ministry to the American Indian community in Omaha (this was the only year this committee was in existence). This year the "Singles Night Out" dinner group became "First Friday’s Dinner Out," and sought to include any interested couples.

In the Year 1997

The major milestone was the commencement of construction on the new church addition. This was facilitated by the reception of a building project grant from Presbytery in the amount of $11,900. Upon receiving the grant the Session decided to begin construction. since $37,000 was in the bank, and deemed to be sufficient to construct the outer shell of the addition. The Missions committee was actively involved in the ministry of the Omaha American Indian Church.

In the Year 1998

The upstairs portion of the new addition was finished (including the complete remodeling of adjacent areas) much to the delight and satisfaction of all involved. All of the contentious wrangling over the configuration of the new kitchen was laid to rest as everyone was delighted with the pleasing appearance and ease of use offered by the new church kitchen.

A special Sunday service was held in May to honor 100 years of worship in the current sanctuary.

In the Year 1999

The project to construct an addition to the church building was completed this year. The addition was completed debt-free, which was hardly conceivable when the project began. Even those who questioned the feasibility of the project had to admit the finished product was exactly what the church needed. We threw a Birthday/Thank You party for Fay Jose to thank him for all his time and effort contributed as the volunteer unpaid general contractor for the project. A meaningful Dedication Service was held for the addition, mentioning in particular the many people in whose Memory and Honor money was contributed for the project, and recognizing those who made substantial contributions of skilled labor to the construction of the addition.

Other notable achievements during this year included receiving 12 new members into the church. In October a second service was introduced, taking place before Sunday school, and emphasizing an informal worship style and contemporary praise music.

In the Year 2000

This year the early worship service became an established part of the church's program. It was this year that the Session crafted and adopted the current Mission Statement, its pointed brevity inspired by Ron Gochenour. With the retirement of Paul Mars as Choir Director after ten years faithful, dedicated volunteer service in this capacity, the church hired Cheryl Grimshaw as the new choir director.

In the Year 2001

The major building project this year was the restoration of the interior appearance of the sanctuary. The roof was replaced, and then the interior plaster on the walls and ceiling was repaired and completely repainted. When completed everyone agreed that worshiping was a much more meaningful experience when the appearance of the sanctuary directed our thoughts toward God, without its flaws distracting us.

In the Year 2002

In the Year 2003

This year marked the 40th Anniversary of the appointment of Virginia Spangler as church organist. The church has been blessed with over 40 years of her superior quality of organ playing. A special service of recognition was held for Virginia, and she was presented with a special plaque honoring her dedicated service to the church through the years.

This year marked the tenth anniversary of Marty's arrival as the church's pastor. This made him the longest tenured pastor in the 143 year history of the congregation (two other pastors served the church for 9 years and 10 months, but none longer than that until this year). In honor of this achievement, as well as the fact that on this year fell the 20th anniversary of Marty's ordination and Marty & Anne's 25th Wedding anniversary, the congregation presented Marty with a beautiful new pulpit robe.

A Men's breakfast group was active this year, meeting for food, fellowship, and performing useful tasks around the church. At the manse, this year marked the completion of the project of replacing 11 original windows that had outlived their usefulness. A new gas furnace and air-conditioner were installed at the manse, replacing the original united with high efficiency units. New vinyl was also installed on the manse kitchen floor.

In the Year 2004

The big project this year was the church's participation in the 40 Days of Purpose Spiritual Growth Campaign. Marty Kixmiller enthusiastically invested countless hours in getting the campaign organized and recruiting people to assist with the program. We truly experienced a blessing as we journeyed together through our 40 Days of Purpose, and how wonderful it was to see the whole congregation involved in small group Bible studies.

In the Year 2005

The year saw the departure of a number of church members for various reasons, many of whom held offices in the church, necessitating the election of mid-year replacements on the Session and Deacons. Sherrill Konfrst took over as Sunday school superintendent this year, replacing Anne McDaniel who had held the job for the past 10 years.

In the Year 2006

This year Anna Mallett and Haley Eldred took over leadership of the Wednesday Gang after the departure of Janice Hewett, who had led the program, along with Anna, for numerous year.

In September, Pastor Marty announced that he had accepted a call to the United Presbyterian Church in Boyden, Iowa. On October 8, Marty bade a tearful farewell to the congregation, and thanked everyone for the wonderful years that he and his family had spent in Murray. He had served the church as pastor a total of 13 years. The Session quickly moved ahead to find a replacement, encouraging Presbytery's Committee on Ministry (COM) to offer timely assistance in this process.

After Marty's departure, the Sunday morning schedule was changed to one service that would include elements of both the informal early service and the 10:30 traditional service, but at a new time: 10:00 AM, with Sunday school being moved to 9:00 AM. As the pastor search process went on, Lay Preachers were employed to lead worship most Sundays, and ordained clergy arranged to lead worship on Communion Sunday.

In the Year 2007

A Pastor Nominating Committee formed as quickly as the Session was able to get the approval of Presbytery's COM. As expected, the PNC worked hard and worked quickly to identify the church's best prospect for their next pastor, seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and trusting that God would lead the right person to our church. On July 1, 2007 Jeff McDonald led the morning worship service and was presented to the congregation as the desired candidate for the next pastor. The congregation then unanimously elected Jeff as their next pastor. Jeff's first Sunday as the new pastor of Murray Presbyterian Church was July 15, 2007.