Christianity in Omaha, Nebraska

Christianity in Omaha, Nebraska has been integral to the growth and development of the city since its founding in 1854. In addition to providing Christian religious and social leadership, individually and collectively the city's churches have also led a variety of political campaigns throughout the city's history.

The first sermon in Omaha was preached in 1854 by Peter Cooper, an English Methodist who operated a quarry in the city. Almost all of the sixteen attendees lived in neighboring Council Bluffs. Within six months the city had a regular Methodist circuit rider who conducted services at the territorial capitol.

The Omaha Claim Club donated two lots for the congregation to build a church, and soon after Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Episcopalians and Roman Catholics followed. Catholics dedicated St. Philomena's Cathedral in 1856, and the entire Creighton family, including Edward, his wife Mary, and his brother John greatly supported the Catholic Church. Pioneer banker Augustus Kountze called for and financially supported the founding of the first Lutheran church west of the Missouri River, which was then called Immanuel Lutheran Church and was located downtown. It was renamed after Kountze's father in the 1880s.

Episcopalians counted a great deal of political leaders in their ranks through the 1900s.St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church, organized in 1867, was the first church for African Americans in Nebraska.

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