About Our Church
First Presbyterian Church has graced Wamego for 155 years. We offer a warm, welcoming, and inclusive community. Worship services are relaxed but traditional, and those who are seeking and questioning are always welcome.
At First Presbyterian Church in Wamego:
We seek God for who God truly is, not who we want God to be
We pray to do God’s will, not for God to do our will
We strive for our way and God’s way to be united in love
We care, we worship, we teach, we proclaim, we serve, and we DO!
Curious about our history?
Visit the church library to read a full history written by Dr. B.J. Kerr.
Our FPC_Insider blog from 2011-2019
also contains some great memories.
Leadership
Rev. Carmen Raines, Lead Pastor
Carmen Raines assumed a part-time role with the church in fall 2024. Rev. Raines is an Ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA). She received her Master of Divinity from Central Baptist TheologicalSeminary, with supplemental study at University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. Rev. Raines completed her clinical pastoral experience for chaplaincy with Research Medical Center in Kansas City and Loma Linda University Health. She works as a chaplain at Stormont Vail Health in Topeka caring for patients and staff throughout the health system.
Rev. Raines came to ministry after a career in music education. She taught choir, band, and general music to public school students of north central and northeast Kansas. She has been an active musician in the church, directing choirs, pageants, designing worship and performing. As an educator in the church, Rev. Raines has led numerous Sunday School, VBS, and youth events, as well as developed an online Sunday School platform for the Presbytery of Northern Kansas during the pandemic. Rev. Raines has been preaching and leading worship in Presbyterian churches of northern Kansas for about 10 years.
Rev. Ron Goodman, Associate Pastor
Rev. Ron Goodman formally assumed a part-time role with the church in spring 2025 after providing occasional pulpit supply for several years. Pastor Goodman served 40 years in pastoral ministry in Overland Park and Lawrence, Kansas, and Harbor Springs, Michigan. He and his wife, Barb, moved to Wamego in 2015. Goodman graduated from Ozark Christian College and received his Master of Arts in Religious Studies from the University of Kansas. He also works as Director of U.S. Partnerships for Counteract International, a faith-driven organization that helps incarcerated youth in Central America turn their lives around by providing access to mentorship, life and job skills training, and Biblical guidance.