Westminster Presbyterian Church has stood at 2110 Sheridan Boulevard in Lincoln, Nebraska for decades, anchoring a campus of ministry, learning, and outreach on the city's west side. The congregation's stated mission is to be an inclusive faith family, inspired by Jesus Christ, to call, nurture, and empower disciples. Westminster belongs to the Presbyterian Church (USA) and holds three additional commitments that shape its ministry: it is a recognized Earth Care Congregation through the PC(USA) hunger program, a member of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, and a participant in the Matthew 25 Initiative. Each Sunday, worship draws a steady crowd to the sanctuary at 10:00 a.m., a Sudanese-language service fills the chapel at noon, and a Wednesday-evening program called W3 feeds and teaches dozens of children and teenagers. A food pantry the congregation started in 1992 still packs nearly 270 items every week for neighbors in need.
Sunday Mornings in the Sanctuary
Worship takes place at 10:00 a.m. each Sunday in the sanctuary. The service is traditional in feel but with modern elements woven through, a relaxed atmosphere that newcomers describe as welcoming rather than formal. A choir leads congregational singing, prayers and scripture readings follow the Reformed pattern, and a sermon by Pastor Chris carries the bulk of the morning's teaching. The first Sunday of each month is set aside for the celebration of Holy Communion.
For those who cannot attend in person, the service is livestreamed at 10:00 a.m. on the church's YouTube channel, and the recording is available to watch afterward in full. Members who join from home often follow along with a virtual bulletin that lists the prayers, hymns, scripture readings, and sermon title for the day; the archive goes back several years and is organized by liturgical season, from Advent and Christmas through Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and Ordinary Time. For those without home internet, televised broadcasts air on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. and Saturday at 1:00 p.m. on Spectrum Channel 1302 and Windstream Channel 13.
Sudanese Worship in the Chapel
Just after the 10:00 service ends, a second congregation gathers. At 12:00 p.m. each Sunday, the chapel fills for Sudanese Worship, a thirty-minute service led in Sudanese languages for refugees and immigrants from East Africa. The service runs year-round and offers Westminster's Sudanese members a familiar liturgical home while also welcoming newcomers from the broader Sudanese community in Lincoln. It is one of the more visible expressions of the church's identity as an inclusive faith family, and members of the Sudanese community participate in the life of the larger congregation alongside their own worship.
W3 Wednesday Nights for Children and Youth
Westminster's midweek gathering, branded W3 (Welcome to Westminster on Wednesdays), runs from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. during the school year and serves children and youth from kindergarten through high school. The doors open at 5:30 p.m. for open gym and free time, giving kids a chance to burn off the day before programming begins. At 6:00 p.m. everyone gathers for a free dinner served family-style, a touchstone of the evening that the church points to as a way of building real community. Structured programming for children and youth runs from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and includes age-appropriate Bible lessons, small-group discussion with caring adult mentors, and high-energy games that reinforce the theme of the night.
Preschool-age children are welcome with advance notice; Trish Souliere, the Director of Children and Youth Ministries, asks families to reach out by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday to make arrangements. Parents are invited to come for dinner at 6:00 p.m. and stay for fellowship. Special family events fill the rest of the W3 calendar, including a fall Spooktacular with trick-or-treating, a photo booth, and giant games in Fellowship Hall; a spring retreat at Calvin Crest; and intergenerational outings throughout the year such as youth trips to Roca Scary in October.
Faith Village and the Nursery
On Sunday mornings, what the church calls Faith Village runs during the 10:00 a.m. service. The nursery, on the second floor near the east entrance, cares for preschool-age children and younger from 9:45 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. Children of all ages are always welcome in the sanctuary, and worship activity bags sit at the entrance for those who prefer to stay with their parents. The goal of Faith Village is simple: that every child who passes through learns that they are loved by God and by the people of God, and that the Bible stories they hear in these years become lifelong lessons that grow in meaning as they grow older.
Outside of the nursery, special family events round out the year. A Blessing of the Backpacks service each August sends students back to school with prayer; KidCon gatherings turn Bible stories into hands-on experiences for kids and parents; and a costume closet of dress-up clothes lets children step into the stories of outcasts who met Jesus and discover that God does not judge by the outside. Trish Souliere coordinates all of this programming and is the central point of connection for families with children and youth.
Adult Education and Life Groups
Westminster takes seriously the idea that a congregation is also a classroom. Adult Ed meets in the Lounge at 11:00 a.m. each Sunday, immediately following the morning service, and welcomes anyone who wants to dig deeper into scripture and current issues. Programming rotates through member-led Bible studies, presentations on denominational topics such as recent General Assembly actions, justice-focused sessions with partners like Bread for the World, member-led programs on the care of creation, and even hands-on restoration projects such as the work on the sanctuary windows that Jim White and Rod Scott of Architectural Glass Art have been leading. Sunday-morning Adult Ed is open to all and does not require registration.
Beyond Sunday morning, Life Groups meet throughout the week and reflect the wide range of interests and life stages in the congregation:
- Adult Ed, the Sunday-morning Bible study described above
- Faith and Cancer, a support group that meets on the third Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. in the church library under the name "Caring Amid Normal Concerns, Experiences, and Relationships"
- Green at Heart, an environmental and creation-care circle
- Hearts and Hands, a weekly Wednesday gathering from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. in the library for needlework, fellowship, and laughter, with yarn donations always welcome
- History Buffs, a third-Saturday morning history-discussion group with periodic field trips
- Ladies Night Out
- Lunch Bunch, a first-Tuesday gathering at local restaurants from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
- Prairie Readers, a book club that meets in the Lounge
- World on a Plate, a food-and-culture group
The church office can connect newcomers to any of these groups at 402-475-6702.
The Westminster Food Pantry
In 1992 a small group of Westminster members launched what has become one of the church's longest-running outreach ministries: the Westminster Food Pantry. More than thirty years later, the pantry partners with People's City Mission to pack roughly 270 items a week into boxes sized for households of two, three, or four. Thirteen teams of packers rotate through the work, each team packing once every three months; thirteen member households currently carry that load under the coordination of Marilyn Smith and Nora Hinrichs.
The pantry's needs are remarkably specific and remarkably consistent: pancake syrup, peanut butter, canned vegetables, tuna, macaroni and cheese, SpaghettiOs, sugar, oatmeal, pancake mix, hand soap, toilet tissue, and dozens of other staples on a written shopping list. Roughly $1,000 a month in additional grocery purchases makes up what member donations do not cover. Boxes leave the church on Monday mornings to be distributed across Lincoln through People's City Mission. The pantry room itself sits next to the nursery, and visitors are warmly welcomed to stop by and see the work.
Matt Talbot and the Gathering Place
Westminster's outreach extends beyond the building. Every other month, member families cook and serve dinner for 100 to 130 people at Matt Talbot Kitchen and Outreach in Lincoln. Cooks arrive around 3:30 p.m., servers around 4:45 p.m., and the team finishes cleanup by about 7:00 p.m. The rotation lands on the first Friday of even-numbered months and the first Sunday of odd-numbered months.
On the second Friday of every month, a different crew serves dinner at the Gathering Place, arriving at 4:30 p.m. and working with a team of six to eight people. Both ministries welcome new volunteers and consider intergenerational service a particular strength of the congregation. Member involvement in Matt Talbot and the Gathering Place is one of the practical expressions of the church's Matthew 25 commitment to eradicating systemic poverty.
Care Ministries: Prayer, Meals, and Presence
A web of small ministries holds the congregation together when life grows hard. The Prayer Ministry gathers prayer requests and distributes them to a network of intercessors; the ministry teaches that praying for others is a privilege every Christian shares, and prayer requests can be sent to prayer@westminsterlincoln.org. Cook and Carry coordinates meals for households in transition, after a new baby, a hospital stay, a loss, or a surgery. Volunteers simply prepare double what they are already making for their own family and drop it off at the designated time and place; the church calls this small bit of kindness a genuine gift to someone in the middle of a hard season.
Bereavement luncheons at the church offer grieving families a place to be fed and surrounded; volunteers set tables, serve drinks, display and serve food, welcome guests, and clean up afterward. The Faith and Cancer support group meets monthly in the church library and offers space to talk through the feelings that a cancer diagnosis brings to a household, gathering under the name "Caring Amid Normal Concerns, Experiences, and Relationships."
Presbyterian Identity and Affiliations
Westminster is a member congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA). The church also holds three additional affiliations that reflect its ministry priorities: it is a recognized Earth Care Congregation through the PC(USA) hunger program; a member of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, an organization within the denomination that affirms the full participation of LGBTQ+ people in the life of the church; and a participant in the Matthew 25 Initiative, a denominational call to engage in ministries of congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism, and eradicating systemic poverty. All three affiliations are approved by the Session, the church's board of elders.
Governance follows the Presbyterian pattern of representative elders. The Session, the church's board of elders, meets on the fourth Monday of each month at 6:00 p.m. in the Lounge. The Board of Deacons meets on the fourth Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. A Foundation Board of Trustees oversees the church's permanent funds, including the Swanson Scholarship Fund that supports students connected to the congregation.
Weddings, Preschool, and the Wider Building
Westminster hosts weddings for both members and non-members. Couples begin by reading the wedding guidelines and then submitting a reservation request form. The sanctuary accommodates larger services, while the chapel hosts smaller weddings. The church also welcomes funerals and the bereavement luncheons that often follow.
A preschool operates on the Westminster campus, serving families with young children during the week. The preschool has its own staff, admissions process, and programming, and shares the building with the church.
The building includes the main sanctuary, the chapel (home of the Sudanese worship service), the Lounge (used for Adult Ed and many Life Groups), the Conference Room (committee meetings), the Fellowship Hall (large gatherings, the annual Spooktacular, and leadership dinners), the church library (Faith and Cancer, Hearts and Hands, and History Buffs), Cole Hall (Presbyterian Women gatherings), and a nursery on the second floor near the east entrance. Online giving is available, and weekly bulletins and the full Sunday sermon archive are kept online for anyone who wants to follow along or catch up.