Emmanuel UMC is (as of this writing in 2018) an active church located on Vine Street in Abilene, Kansas. In the early 1880s, several families who had recently come to Abilene to make their home banded together for religious worship. They first met for services in the Pyke school house three miles northeast of town; later, they rented space over an Abilene store and organized a Sunday School. In 1886 the group formed a permanent organization, and in 1887 they were organized as a mission church called the Salem Evangelical Church with Rev. M. C. Platz appointed as the first missionary pastor. The name of the church was later changed to Emmanuel Evangelical Church. The church purchased a chapel, but a new frame structure was built on a different site and the chapel was eventually moved to the new location and converted to a parsonage. In March 1913 the conference changed Emmanuel’s status from Abilene Mission to Abilene Charge. In 1917 the frame church was torn down and the new church built, with one of the first pipe organs of the city installed soon after. The church was enlarged in the ensuing years and was re-dedicated in 1955. In 1956, after the merger of the Evangelical Church with the United Brethren Church, the Abilene church became known as the Emmanuel Evangelical United Brethren Church. After the 1968 merger of the EUB and Methodist churches, the new name was Emmanuel United Methodist Church. Increased attendance and a study of projected needs led to the 1989 decision to begin raising funds for a new building. Accordingly, construction began in 1995 on a new home for the church at 14th and Vine in northwest Abilene. The first service in the new church was held on July 14, 1996, and the consecration was held on September 22 with Bishop Fritz Mutti participating. Addendum Emmanuel UMC voted to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church in 2020 and is now known as Emmanuel Church.

Note written by Sarah St. John; Melinda Rittgers (addendum)