March 2008 Newsletter

A History of Hus Memorial Presbyterian Church, part 5
Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Adapted from a Historical Treatise Written by Charlotte Stelcik

The First Church
The year 1889 was the most important year in the history of the church. On March 10, 1889 the church permanently organized as a Reformed Church with about one hundred members. By-laws were written and the church was incorporated. The brethren at once began thinking of building their own sanctuary. It so happened at the time that the Congregational Church wanted to sell their building; therefore on May 2nd this church was bought for $1600 and moved to its new site on the corner of Ninth Avenue and Seventh Street SE. On July 7th the church was dedicated by Rev. Kun and several American preachers before a huge crowd of people.

On September 29, 1889, this church became part of the Cedar Rapids Presbytery which did much to help the Protestant Czech work. Until 1910 the church was a member of the Cedar Rapids Presbytery; in that year it became part of the newly organized Central West Bohemian Presbytery which was talked about earlier.

In the summer of 1890 Vaclav Dudycha, who was the son of one of the first elders and a student at Union Theological Seminary, preached without remuneration in this new church. That fall Vaclav Hlavaty came to the United States as a candidate of theology. He was born in Bohemia, studied in the gymnasia in Kolin, Bohemia, and had studied theology in Vienna and Edinburgh. He came to Cedar Rapids during the Christmas holidays and preached in this newly organized church. On January 7, 1891, the congregation called him to be their minister and on January 25th he was ordained by the Presbytery of Cedar Rapids and installed. From that time on services were held every Sunday and the work of God continued favorably but many times with difficulty. A few months after Rev. Hlavaty’s ordination, a debt of $735 on the church property was paid with the help of the First and Second Presbyterian Churches. After a thirty year struggle to attain their goal the people of this congregation at last had their own place of worship and a regular minister of their own nationality.

The church maintained a preaching station in Walker, whose population consisted of about seventy Czech families, and in 1892 Rev. Hlavaty was requested to visit the community and preach the Word of God. From that time on he visited them regularly and preached in the country school, four miles southeast of Walker. About thirty-five members composed the congregation while most of the others deserted Christianity for atheism. Services however were well attended. This work stopped after Rev. Hlavaty ceased to work in Cedar Rapids.

Rev. Hlavaty’s ministry was an epoch of progress for the church. Within a period of two years, 1891 to 1893, the enrollment of the Sunday School grew from twenty-five to one hundred fifty members and from 1891 to 1900, the church membership increased from ninety to 220 people. In the spring of 1892 a Christian Endeavor, which met on Sunday evenings, was organized with fifty members. By 1900 this organization had grown to seventy members. On Wednesday evenings, biblical and prayer meetings were organized. In 1900 the church had 220 members; 150 pupils in Sunday School with 15 teachers. The following brethren, F. Nemecek, Jos. A. Popelka, V. Horak, John Dudycha, Jos. Troyak, and Frank Stary served as elders.

In the fall of 1892, a fine new manse was built for $1600. This parsonage, which was built on the lot adjoining the church, was erected mainly through the efforts of the women of the church to raise the money.

On August 21, 1906, the Brotherhood of American Yeomen was founded and the local chapter “Jeronym” was established in this church. The name Jeronym was chosen to venerate the name of a professor at Prague University in 1416 who was later burned at the stake. The organization was a secret lodge which was conducted for insurance as well as fellowship of Protestant people. It was in existence until 1918.

The highest number of church members was reached in 1913 with 297 making up the congregation. It is also evident from the minutes that the church partly supported a Czech Home Missionary, Miss Mary Belerad.

In October, 1913, several women decided to organize a ladies society. They gave their club the name “Martha.” Soon they changed it to “Tabitha,” the name it held until it no longer had any members. The organization began with nine members but by 1915 had grown to twenty-two. By 1949 there were ninety-two members. In 1915 the annual bazaar was started and became one of the main events of the organization. They also served a supper that was attended by a large crowd each year.

Because of Him ~ Terry

³⁴Peter began to speak: "I really understand now that to God every person is the same. ³⁵In every country God accepts anyone who worships him and does what is right. ³⁶You know the message that God has sent to the people of Israel is the Good News that peace has come through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Lord of all people! ³⁷You know what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after John preached to the people about baptism. ³⁸You know about Jesus from Nazareth, that God gave him the Holy Spirit and power. You know how Jesus went everywhere doing good and healing those who were ruled by the devil, because God was with him. ³⁹We saw what Jesus did in Judea and in Jerusalem, but the Jews in Jerusalem killed him by hanging him on a cross. ⁴⁰Yet, on the third day, God raised Jesus to life and caused him to be seen, ⁴¹not by all the people, but only by the witnesses God had already chosen. And we are those witnesses who ate and drank with him after he was raised from the dead. ⁴²He told us to preach to the people and to tell them that he is the one whom God chose to be the judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³All the prophets say it is true that all who believe in Jesus will be forgiven of their sins through Jesus' name." Acts 10:34-43 (NCV)