Riverside City History
St. Matthew's Church

The oldest structure still standing in Riverside, St. Matthew's United Church of Christ, is also one of the most distinguished historical landmarks in southern Platte County; it is listed on the National Register of Historical Places. The church was originally a log cabin built in 1844, in the area originally known as "East of Parkville" (later called Brenner Ridge).

St. Matthew's was first known as the "German Evangelical Church". In 1851 it was renamed "St. Peter's Evangelical Church" and later the name became "St. Matthew's". The church was organized in 1844 by the Rev. Conrad Heckmann, a Presbyterian minister, and a small group of German and English pioneers of Platte and Clay counties. Rev. Heckmann was born in Bissendorf, Germany, and educated in Holland, before coming to America.

The founding of St. Matthew's was born from tragedy. During the great flood of June 1844, the Missouri River spread from bluff to bluff, covering even the highest ground in the valley. When the water finally receded and the people viewed the devastation of their homes and crops, they realized their own inability to deal with tragedy and the community's needs and decided to establish a church. Charter members of the church were Adam Renner; Henry Burrichter; Fred and Henry Hartman; Valentine Filger; Henry, Peter and Daniel Groh; John and Simon Klamm; and Jacob Russ. These men and their wives and children formed the core of this early congregation.

In 1851, the members asked the Evangelical Synod of North America for a minister. In 1865 the congregation was admitted to the Evangelical Synod of North America and named "St. Matthew's Evangelical Church". The exact date for construction of the first buildings at the church site are unknown. A log church, a parsonage and a parochial school all were constructed toward the top of the hill during this early period. A larger church building was constructed in 1877. This 1877 building formed the basis of the present church structure. The original parsonage burned in 1886, but was rebuilt next to the church the same year. The church was a one-room frame building with clapboard siding and a high gable shake shingle roof. Although there have been many additions and renovations in the intervening years, the congregation still worships in this century-old structure.

About 1913, the east portion of the present church was extended to form the present chancel. The partial basement under the chancel area housed a coal furnace, replacing a wood stove in the sanctuary. Access to the basement was through a small building placed at the back of the church. The present tower and main entrance were added in 1917. A large stained-glass window installed at a later date now marks the original double-door entrance. The church building was enlarged in 1928 and 1929 with the addition of the south hall and basement. Worship services had been in German since the church was founded but in 1917 (due to anti-German sentiment from WWI), the congregation gave up the language of their forefathers and held services in English.

The bell tower at the church was silent for several years. The Young People's League raised money to give it a voice. In 1918, fund raising efforts bought a bell, which was installed in the tower for a 30-day trial. It must have been satisfactory because the January 1921 records show "Payment for bell - $228.59." The bell quickly took on meaning to the community. When St. Matthew's bell rang out over the countryside, people for miles around would stop whatever they were doing and listen. The bell's song could be heard for quite a distance. It rang at funerals - slowly, once for each year of the deceased's life.

The 750-pound bell did cause some unforeseen problems, however. In 1924, the League paid Dan Klamm $90.79 for material and labor to repair the bell tower. In 1923 a "light fund" was underway to replace the gas lamp fixtures the church's League installed four years earlier. In addition to stage plays, money was raised through ice cream socials, fruit socials and pound socials. In 1924, the League underwrote electrical wiring and fixtures for the church and parsonage to the tune of $189.05.

The Women's Union (originally the Ladies Aid, later called the Women's Guild and now the Women's Fellowship) was active in these early years. Their early benevolences included orphans, German children, the New Eden Building, the old Ministers' Home in Blue Springs, Mercy and Deaconess Hospitals, and numerous poor local families. The ladies financed a good portion of the church budget as well as modernization of the church properties. Their annual bazaar was always a moneymaker, but their biggest source of income was the dinners they prepared for farm sales all over the area. The meals they cooked at the frequent John Deere Plow Co. demonstrations – often for as many as 500 people – earned them the reputation of being the finest cooks in the county. The church League's plays were very successful, and they were taken "on the road" to North Kansas City, Parkville and even Lexington. So when Fellowship Hall and basement were constructed in 1928-29, a stage complete with footlights was included in the plans.

The windows from the razed outer walls of the sanctuary were used in the new outer wall of Fellowship Hall. The unusual architectural features over the folding doors, which separate the two rooms, mark the locations of the original sanctuary windows. During the next decade, the congregation struggled to pay off the debts incurred by that ambitious building program. In 1934, when the Evangelical Synod of North America merged with the Reformed Church in America, the little church on the hill became "St. Matthew's Evangelical and Reformed Church". Stained glass windows for the sanctuary were dedicated in June 1943. In 1944, the Hundredth Anniversary Committee chose the installation of new pews as an anniversary project. Sometime in the mid-1940s, the architecture in the front of the church changed. The opening to the chancel had formerly matched the stage opening in Fellowship Hall. It was oblong with dark wine draperies surrounding the opening. Lloyd Brenner undertook the making of the arch and drew up the plans for it. In 1947 the men of the church excavated the basement under the sanctuary. During the next two years, the women had plumbing installed, purchased a gas stove for the kitchen, had cupboards built, bought folding tables for the new dining room, bought dinnerware, had linoleum laid and equipped the kitchen.

A new parsonage was built in 1951. The old parsonage was razed to permit the expansion of the parking area. In 1957 the church name was changed again, to "St. Matthew's United Church of Christ". About 1964 a used Baldwin organ was purchased. In 1967 a carillon was installed, replacing the bell. In April 1980 a new Allen Electronic organ was purchased. The basement was redecorated in 1983. In the mid-1980s, the lovely old Gulbransen baby grand piano in the church was refinished and tuned. This piano had been given to the church by Louiza Truskey Brenner.

When the carillon was installed in the bell tower in 1967, David Todd purchased the bell. He took it to Weatherby Lake, where it was used to warn boaters of approaching storms and call the community together in times of emergency. After Mr. Todd's death, the bell's voice fell silent. It was moved to a side lawn of the City Hall of Weatherby. In November 1983 Richard Brenner purchased the bell and donated it to the church to be placed in a tower on cemetery grounds adjacent to the church— in time for the church's 140th anniversary. There it remains to remind future generations of what St. Matthew's United Church of Christ has represented to past generations. The bell was rededicated Oct. 21, 1984.

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