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The 1960s; theatre in McKay Hall from 1967
A theatre instead of a gym: First Presbyterian Church (the congregation itself is carried in Churches & Religion) built its mid-century ministry around the arts. When the congregation expanded its downtown building, it chose to build a performance space instead of a gymnasium — the decision its pastor, the Rev. Dr. Annie Epling, still cites: the theatre program's own mark reads "Estd 1965," and Visit Fort Wayne likewise dates the program to the 1960s. McKay Hall, added in 1967, contains the theatre — 330 seats, by the church's own history — with a lobby that doubles as an art gallery hosting a series of exhibits.
The program: First Presbyterian Theater mounts about six productions a year, Shakespeare and Christmas shows among them, and has a local reputation for edgier work and civic dialogue. Epling describes the church as one of only two in the country with its own fully equipped 300-seat theatre. The gallery and theatre together make the church one of the downtown arts campus's near neighbors in fact, if not in Arts United's ownership.
Sources:
- First Presbyterian Church, "Roots" (firstpresfortwayne.org) — the 330-seat theater and gallery in the mid-century expansion; News-Sentinel, Cityscapes (1993) — McKay Hall (1967) contains the theater and the art gallery.
- Input Fort Wayne, "The sacred and the creative" (February 2026) — the theatre-instead-of-gymnasium decision and the "one of only two" claim (the pastor's); Visit Fort Wayne, "Unique Fort Wayne, Indiana Theatre" — program established in the 1960s, six productions a year.