Fort Scott Church.
Branches:	ACCA
Date Founded:	1893
Attendance 2025:	64
Address:	1615 South Horton
Website:	N/A

History

In 1893-1894 a few families of German descent began moving to farms near Fort Scott. Most came from Weiner, Arkansas, where they had previously met with terrible disappointment trying to farm the swampy Mississippi bottom land. Among the early families were those of Chris Knapp, Sr., George Knapp, Sr., John Rager, and Fred Greiner, Sr. In 1895, the George Sinn family moved here from Arkansas. The year 1900 was an encouraging one for the little congregation. After seven years of preaching, they finally realized their first convert. He was Gus Rager. During this year, several more families came to Fort Scott: Charley Ehnle from Illinois, Henry Kellenberger and Jacob Pfister, Sr., from Oklahoma, and Will Bruner from Sabetha, Kansas. Making a living off the eastern Kansas soil was both difficult and uncertain. Some of the families had a very difficult time making ends meet and were hard pressed financially. Jacob Pfister, Jr., was 14 when his family moved to Fort Scott. He would often go hunting and later take his game to town so he could buy ammunition to kill more game. He told how his mother used to cry because they were so poor and had very little to eat. Despite these harsh economic conditions, a few more families continued to find residence in the Fort Scott area. Jacob Berchtold and family came from Warsaw, Missouri, in 1904. In 1917, Peter and Adam Mauer moved here from Iowa. Between 1920 and 1923, five families came to Fort Scott from Minnesota: the Joe Banwarts, Emil Banwarts, Wtlliam Rebers, Tim Hohulins, and John Zauggs.

The assembly of believers at Fort Scott met together in homes from 1893 until 1921 when they began meeting in a building purchased from the Presbyterian Church. This church, located at 12th Street and Scott Avenue, cost $2,200. It was quickly repaired and made ready for services. One particularly memorable renovation was the taking down of the steeple and bell from the roof of the church. George Sinn, II, the church's oldest brother, and his son Fred climbed up and took the bell down. An instrument of this sort was considered vain and too "worldly" for those times. Also today, none of the Apostolic Christian Churches have church bells.

In 1965, the brethren in Fort Scott survived a very unnerving experience at this church- a bomb scare. One Saturday afternoon, a lady called Clara Marti informing her, "Your church is going to be bombed tomorrow." Stunned, she called authorities, and the church was searched. Police were there when worship began the next morning. Despite the furor of a bomb threat, nearly all the members attended church services. George Sinn, Sr., served the church for nearly thirty years as a minister. Jacob Pfister, Sr., preached at Fort Scott from 1923 to 1929. His son, Jacob, Jr., became a minister in 1931 and served until ill health caused his retirement in 1970. He served alone in the ministry for fifteen years.

The church's first resident Elder, Raymond Banwart, was ordained November 12, 1972. Previous to this, the church was served by non-resident Elders. They were Joseph Huber, Gridley, Kansas, who as a boy in Germany was raised a Catholic; Jacob Somerhalder, also of Gridley; Emil Schubert, Peoria, Illinois, who used to travel to Fort Scott by train; Noah Schrock, Oakville, Iowa, who, according to Raymond Banwart, was at one time the only church Elder west of the Mississippi River; and Samuel Anliker, Lamont,Kansas.

Raymond Banwart retired as Elder on March 29, 1992, and was succeeded on that date by Charles Sinn who served until August, 1999. John Lehman, Bern, Kansas, became Elder in November, 2004. In the interim, Dennis Warner, Lester, Iowa, had Elder responsibility as a member of the national Elder committee.

Ministers

Ministers
Name	Born	Baptized	Minister	Elder	Retired	Wife	Also Served
Johann Georg Sinn	9/29/1871	1/1/1895		Germany?		Christina Fisher	Neuhütten, Weiner
George Sinn Jr.	9/29/1871	189?				Elizabeth Greiner
Jacob Pfister Sr.	11/25/1851	1/1/1923	9/5/1930			Sophia Rummel	Burlington
Jacob Pfister Jr.	10/19/1886	12/1/1905	1/1/1931		1/1/1970	Anna Hube	Burlington
August "Gus" Sinn	2/4/1908	5/25/2025	1/1/1946			Ruth Pfister
James Bahr	9/10/1929		1/1/1956			Ruth Banwart
Wayne Miller	3/6/1921	6/23/1940	7/1/1958		8/8/1993	Pearl Masssner
Raymond Banwart	4/6/1918	10/29/1939	12/4/1966	11/12/1972	3/29/1992	Kathryn Somerhalder
Harold Kraft	4/5/1932	11/1/1957	6/11/1978		1/19/1994	Wanda Miller
Charles Sinn	10/27/1947	3/3/1968	6/11/1978	3/29/1992	2/22/2000	Karen Roeschley
David W. Sinn	12/8/1957	6/24/1973	9/13/1992		8/25/2001	Joleen Kipfer
Larry Bahr	8/13/1963	11/10/1991	3/28/1998	8/25/2024		Joan Schmidgall
Jeff Fischer	11/28/1960	11/30/1986	3/8/2007			Gloria Streitmatter	Sarasota
Trent Banwart	3/2/1977	3/21/1993	8/28/2016			Kristi Kellenberger
Ryan Kellenberger	10/7/1986	10/21/2001	8/28/2016			Adrienne Bahr

Attendance

Attendance
Year	Total	Members	Sunday School	Year	Total	Members	Sunday School
1953	-	33	25	1996	74	36	18
1956	-	31	22	1998	69	31	16
1959	-	34	25	2000	75	36	16
1962	-	39	27	2002	75	34	18
1965	-	33	28	2004	69	38	13
1968	-	33	28	2006	82	45	18
1971	-	41	22	2008	91	48	18
1974	-	44	24	2010	77	50	11
1977	-	46	21	2012	67	45	14
1980	-	45	21	2014	72	43	16
1983	-	44	29	2016	69	42	18
1986	-	39	27	2018	66	38	14
1989	-	37	25	2020	67	45	15
1992	69	34	19	2022	60	37	14
1994	71	35	22	2024	64	38	16