Friberg-Cooper Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, in my own words. Back in 1896, out in rural Wichita County, a congregation needed a place to worship. They didn't have a chapel, didn't have a hall, didn't even have proper chairs.

What they had was A. W. Friberg's granary, and they made it work, settling in on hay bales like it was the most natural thing in the world.

And honestly, maybe it was. That's where this story begins. Now, a granary will get a congregation started, but it won't carry them forever.

The Carey family, the Andree family, and the Friberg family all dug deep, and largely due to that generosity, the congregation raised its first real sanctuary right here in 1902. They called it the Friberg Methodist Episcopal Church, naming it after two of their own charter members, John and Mary Friberg. A proper church, with a proper name, rooted in the people who built it.

Then came 1938. The structure burned. Just like that, gone.

But here's the part that'll stay with you: when they built the present sanctuary to replace what was lost, they built it around the original cornerstone. That cornerstone didn't go anywhere. Thirty-six years after the congregation first gathered on hay bales, that stone was still there, and they built the new walls right around it.

Then in 1947, a merger with the Cooper Methodist congregation strengthened the church further, and the name became what it is today, Friberg-Cooper Methodist Church. From a granary in 1896 to a standing sanctuary that holds its original cornerstone inside its walls. That stone has seen it all, and it isn't going anywhere.

What the marker says

This congregation first gathered to worship in local farmer A. W. Friberg's granary in 1896, using hay bales as seats. Largely due to the generosity of the Carey, Andree, and Friberg families, the congregation was able to build its first sanctuary, the Friberg Methodist Episcopal Church, here in 1902, naming it after charter members John and Mary Friberg. After the structure burned in 1938, the present sanctuary was built around the original cornerstone. A merger with Cooper Methodist congregation in 1947 strengthened the church, which remains a focal point of this rural community. (1991)