Townsfolk pretty much thought West Side Presbyterian Church members were crazy when, in 1906, they built a church way out on the west edge of town: at Sixth and Maine streets.

Everybody thought they were crazy again when, in 1967, they built another church in the boonies: at 10th and Kasold streets, which weren’t paved.

Today, that first site is in the heart of Lawrence. And the current site also is right in the middle of town, several miles from the west edge of Lawrence.

This weekend, West Side will gather to celebrate its 100th anniversary. As it does so, church members are focused on continuing a tradition of mission that has been their hallmark for a century.

“We’re looking forward to the next hundred years,” says Richard Peters, a church member since the late 1960s.

The church started as a Sunday school class that met at Pinckney School in 1905. That original building at Sixth and Maine – where Taco John’s now sits – was built a year later, after it had outgrown the Pinckney space. It was known as Second Presbyterian Church until the 1920s, when the current moniker was adopted.

West Side Presbyterian Church, 1024 Kasold Drive, will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a presentation Sunday.

The current site, at 1024 Kasold Drive, was built to allow for more people and more parking.

The church currently has about 110 church members, and members perform more mission work than some churches that are much larger.

Current and former mission projects include:

¢ Serving at Lawrence Interdenominational Nutrition Kitchen. West Side was one of the first churches involved with LINK.

¢ Repairing clothes for those in need.

¢ Hosting five 12-step groups that serve hundreds each week.

¢ Compiling bags of supplies for the Salvation Army.

¢ Gathering supplies for new mothers in need at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

¢ Sponsoring a Boy Scout troop since 1927.

¢ Contributing the highest amount per capita to the Presbyterian mission fund in the Presbytery of Northern Kansas.

“I think that says a lot of what we’re about,” Verna Stanwix, a church member since 1956, says about missions. “I think it’s who we are.”

It’s been that way consistently since the beginning.

“Most churches, over that time, whether they grow or become stagnant, their focus almost always changes,” says the Rev. Bill Woodard, pastor at West Side for two years. “This church has had a focus, for 100 years, on mission. It’s not about how big it’s going to get. In everything the church does, the first thing they think about is mission.”

That’s not to say the church doesn’t want to grow. Woodard says members are trying to do a better job of outreach and letting the community know about the mission work, in part to draw in new members.

For its centennial, the church will have a reunion and history presentations Sunday following its 11 a.m. worship service. It already gathered for a barbecue, concert and – what else? – a mission project, compiling “disaster kits” for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.

“It’s one step along the way,” says Pat Rummer, a member since 1949. “We got to 100. Now we can work on the next 100.”