17:1 St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran
17:2 Pilgrim English Evangelical Lutheran
17:3-4 Pilgrim Evangelican Lutheran Church
17:5 Lakewood English Evangelical Lutheran
17:6 English Evangelical Lutheran Church
17:7 (Pentecost) Lutherans to Observe 45th Anniversary
17:8-9 Pilgrim Church Will Mark 50th Anniversary
17:10 Pilgrim Evangelical Lutheran Pastors
17:11 (Trinity Lutheran Church) Marks 50th Year
17:12 Springfield Calls Lakewood Pastor (Trinity Lutheran)
17:13 Detroit Street Methodist Episcopal
17:14 Detroit Street Methodist Episcopal
17:15 Detroit Avenue Methodist Church
17:16 Detroit Avenue M. E. Church
17:17 Detroit Avenue Methodist Church
17:18 Rockport Methodist Episcopal Church
17:19-22 Lakewood Methodist Episcopal Church
17:23-24a Lakewood Methodist Episcopal Church
17:25-28 Lakewood Methodist
17:29 Lakewood M.E. (Methodist Episcopal) Church
17:30 Lakewood Methodist Episcopal
17:31 Lakewood Methodist Pastors
17:31a Farewell of Dr. Duncan on Sunday (Lakewood Methodist)
17:32 Rockport Methodist Episcopal Church
17:33 Rockport Methodist Episcopal Church
17:34 Rockport Methodist Episcopal
17:35 Rocky River M.E. Church
17:36 Rocky River M.E. Church
17:37-38 Lakewood Presbyterian Church
17:39 Lakewood Presbyterian
17:40 Lakewood Presbyterian Church
17:41 Men's Bible Class New Home (Lakewood Presbyterian)
17:42 Lakewood Presbyterian Has Had Only Two Pastors Since Founding
17:43 Lakewood Grace Presbyterian to Mark 40th Year
17:44 Lakewood United Presbyterian
17:45 Lakewood United Presbyterian Church
17:46-47 New Jerusalem Church
17:48-49 Church of the Redeemer
17:50-52 Church of the Redeemer
17:53 First New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian)
17:54 Church of the Redeemer
17:55 New Jerusalem Church (Swedenborgian)
17:56 Calvary United Brethren Church
17:57 Lakewood Calvary United Brethren
17:57a-58 St. Christopher's Church
17:59-60 SS. Cyril & Methodius
17:61-63 St. Gregory's Church
17:64-65 St. Hedwig's Catholic Church
17:66-67 Sts. Peter & Paul Russian Orthodox Church
17:68-70 Parkwood Congregational
17:71-72 Church of the Ascension (Episcopal)
17:73-75 St. Paul's Lutheran Church
17:76-77 S.S. Peter and Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church
17:78-79 Trinity Lutheran Church
17:80-81 Membership of Twenty Laid Foundations of Lakewood Methodist
17:82-83 Rockport Methodist Church
17:84-85 Church of the Nazarene
17:86-87 Lakewood United Presbyterian
17:88-90 Lakewood Seventh Day Adventist
17:91-93 Gethsemane Lutheran Church
17:95-97 First Evangelical and Reformed Church
17:98 Georgian Style in Lakewood (Lakewood Congregational Church)
17:99 After 123 Years, Lakewood's First Church Will Come
Down (Church of the Redeemer)
17:100 New Woman Cleric in Lakewood (St. Peter's Episcopal)
17:101 Church to Have Woman Assistant Rector (St. Peter's
Episcopal)
17:102-105 Diamond Jubilee: Italian-inspired Church Is Priest's
Legacy (St. James Church)
ST. PAUL'S EVENGELICAL LUTHERAN
LAKEWOOD PRESS -- March 7, 1918, Pg. 10
Organized in 1904, by seven families from St. Luke's Lutheran Church at West 85th Street and three members from Rocky River. A lot was purchased on Lakeland Avenue, and a mission church erected. Of the charter members eight are still living.
On the 22nd of April, 1917, the present beautiful church edifice, corner Detroit and Arthur Avenues, was dedicated. There are now more than 200 communicant members. From the beginning St. Paul's church has maintained a parish school in connection with the religious work.
While in the Sunday morning services English and German alternate, the Sunday School and the religious instructions in the school are conducted altogether in the English language.
The first pastor was Rev. F. Zucker, who was succeeded by Rev. Carl E. Hoffmann.
The present pastor, who took up his work here in November, 1913, is Rev. J .H. Meyer. He graduated from the Lutheran Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, and served the first years of his ministry in South America.
The congregation owns besides the church building on Arthur Avenue and the school with two lots on Lakeland Avenue, also a parsonage at 1434 Lakeland Avenue.
The following teachers, all graduates of our Lutheran teachers' colleges in Seward, Nebraska, and in River Forest, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, have served the school: Mr. W. Niermann, Mr. G. Witte, Mr. F. Schwass and the present teacher, Mr. Paul Hoffmeyer.
The growth of the church has been constant and she looks with confidence and bright hopes into the future.
PILGRIM ENGLISH EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN
LAKEWOOD PRESS -- March 7, 1918, Pg. 11
One of the latest, if not the latest, of the many churches which grace the corners of the streets and avenues of our fair city is Pilgrim English Evangelical Lutheran Church on the corner of Manor Park and Detroit Avenue. Why this latest addition to the already large family of Lakewood churches? About four years ago, realizing that there was a distinct and persistent call for English Lutheran mission work of the type that was born in the Reformation that transformed the whole world in the time of Dr. Martin Luther, a small group of men and women, mostly members of the Local Missouri Synod Lutheran church, separated themselves peacefully from their former congregation and began this work to which they felt so earnestly called. Surely within so large and flourishing a city as ours and with so large a Lutheran population in our mother city, Lutherans whose children at least are no longer able to speak the German language and yet to whom the sacred principles of Lutherism are so dear, surely there must be a call here for this particular work. Were they mistaken in their diagnosis of the situation? Not if we may be allowed to judge by results. For about a year the little congregation held its services, by the kindness of Dr. Thomas King and Redeemer congregation, in the little chapel on Andrew's Avenue. During this first year the congregation was served by Rev. C.C. Morhart and other English Lutheran pastors of Cleveland and vicinity. In December of 1914, the present pastor, the Rev. Paul G. Kenrich, was called from Baltimore, Maryland, and in June of the following year, the congregation dedicated its present beautiful basement church on one of the finest corners of Lakewood. Today the congregation numbers over 300 members with a Sunday school enrollment of 140. The congregation is self-supporting and has been for more than a year past. It owns its own property, valued at approximately $20,000, and has plans underway for the enlargement of the basement and for building the superstructure.
Among the most valued of the assets of this congregation is its splendidly zealous ladies society of tireless workers, who have been a constant source of inspirations to the whole congregation. Among the other organizations Pilgrim church numbers; a Men's club, choir, Young People's, Young Ladies', and Junior societies and latest of all a Young People's Patriotic League--combining all societies into an organization for service and helpfulness to the boys of the army and navy. While Pilgrim church is a staunch advocate of that sacred principle of Liberty embodied in the constitution of the United States--the complete separation of church and state--and therefore in no sense a meddler in politics, yet she is thoroughly American in all her sentiments and patriotic in all her members. Pilgrim Lutheran Church on the corner of Manor Park and Detroit Avenues stands for the promulgation, in the English language, to the American public, of those self-same eternal principles of truth and of liberty for which Dr. Martin Luther contended in the sixteenth century—the complete and verbal inspiration of the Bible. Its sole and absolute authority in all matters of faith; the absolute liberty of the individual conscience and the complete separation of church and state. Understanding her one great mission to be the preaching of the Gospel of Christ crucified for the sins of the world, Pilgrim church sticks to her mission, year in, year out, in times of war and in times of peace, in sunshine and in shadows, ever the same, and doors are open to all who desire the message of the cross of Christ. You are welcome.
PILGRIM EVANGELICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH
The Dedication of Our Church
Unspecified source, undated
The dedication of our church is now a glorious event of the past, and pleasant indeed is the memory of it. As previously announced, it took place on the 12th of November. On that day we "went with the voice of joy and praise with a multitude that kept holy day. Though rain fell in a steady drizzle the greater part of the day, we estimate that least 1500 persons worshipped with us. The evening service was best attended, many failing to get a seat, not a few failing to get even standingroom. We found that we can seat about 600.
In the morning Pastor George Schutes preached to us about "the true church", dwelling on the comforting blessing of Aaron: Numbers 6, 24-26. Pastor Muhly, who spoke in the afternoon, used as his text Joshua 3,5: Tomorrow The Lord will do wonders among you." Pastor G. Schuessler spoke on the words: "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning,--Luke 12, 35. He said that the Christian should gird his loins because he is Christ's soldier and servant, and a pilgrim; that he should keep burning the light of truth, love and confidence. Referring to the latter, he said: "that if you sit here discouraged and doleful, I am not with you. I can't be. I have the utmost confidence in the cause of Christ, in which I am serving." The excellent music rendered by our singers and organist added greatly to the beauty and appeal of every service.
Of course, our building came in for a great deal of comment. Most of it was highly favorable. Pastor Schutes, as soon as he stepped into the church, could not refrain from exclaiming: "Wonderful windows! That's R. Toland Wright." Our venerable brother, Pastor Weseloh, was equally impressed. After he had extended general congratulations, he said: "And your windows are jewels." Pastor Webber, before whose knowledge of these things we bow in humility, who has seen nearly all of America's best church buildings, declares that in his opinion the window in our chancel is the very finest. It is, more over, a source of unending inspiration for all who worship with us, especially because it so plainly holds before us all Christ, our Lord and Saviour, on the cross.
LAKEWOOD ENGLISH EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN
LAKEWOOD PRESS -- March 7, 1918, Pg. 11
This church owns the splendid lot at the northeast corner of Detroit and Hall Avenues, free of all debt. The congregation worships in a comfortable portable chapel and hopes to build a new church in the near future, and has been gathering a building fund for some time.
Since the new pastor, Rev. Charles H. Tilp, B.D. [corrected to D.D. ?] 1488 Wagar Avenue, took charge, the membership has been increased and others are to be received soon.
The Sunday school meets at 9:30 a.m. and is active and growing in interest and numbers. A Young Ladies' class, of which Mr. B.C. Kibler, 1493 Lauderdale Avenue, is the efficient teacher, has had a remarkable record. The best graded system is used in the study of the Word and there are classes for all ages, with an efficient corps of teachers. Men, women and children not members of other Lakewood churches, are urged to join one of the Bible classes. Mr. R.E. Stimely, 1444 Woodward Avenue, superintendent; Miss Mildred Hallstrom, 1258 Marlowe Avenue, secretary; Mr. H.A. Kurth, 1281 Nicholson Avenue, treasurer. The offerings average more than ten cents per capita. The school and church have contributed to the Y.M.C.A., Library and Red Cross funds as well as to the Syrian and Armenian Relief and are contributing to the War Fund of the National Lutheran Commission which is raising $750,000 for Soldiers and Sailors Welfare.
A Luther League was organized recently and is doing a splendid work among the young people. The devotional survice is held at 6:45 o'clock every Sunday evening. Monthly business meetings and socials are held in the homes of the members. A military social was held February 12, at the home of Miss Prudence Stimely. Mr. V.S. Byler, 1607 Elmwood Avenue is the president.
The Ladies' Aid is a strong arm of the church.
The pastor conducts two Catechetical [corrected to Catechistical] classes, advanced class, Friday at 1 p.m.; beginners, Saturday at 2 p.m.
Lenten services each Wednesday at 8 p.m.
Public worship at 10:45 a.m., and 7:30 p.m.
ENGLISH EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD -- F.C. LOWING
The English Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized January 7, 1912, by Ralph J. White, who is the mission superintendent of the East Ohio Synod of the English Evangelical Lutheran denomination. There were 22 members at its inception. A few months later Rev. H.M. Havice became the pastor and assumed the duties of the work.
At the outset a lot was secured on Detroit Avenue, at the intersection of Hall, and a chapel erected at a cost of $750. There are 81 members at this time, and the congregation is planning to build a permanent church home.
LUTHERANS TO OBSERVE 45TH ANNIVERSARY
LAKEWOOD POST -- May 9, 1963
Pentecost Lutheran Church will mark the 45th anniversary of its founding on May 19. Twenty-five charter members met to organize the Pentecost Congregation in Lakewood of whom five will be present to celebrate this event: John Simon, Sr., George Fenko, Joseph Lukach, Andrew Folta and Adam P. Pangrac.
The Rev. L. A. Jarosi, retired pastor of Holy Trinity, organized the group and served it during various vacancies. The pastors serving the parish were Rev. Andrew Bomba 1923-1927; Rev. Jon Pelikan, 1927-1930; Rev. Adam Valencik 1930-1949; Rev. Martin L. Slovak 1949-1958; and the present pastor, Rev. Samuel P. Mozolak who was called here in 1958.
On September 21, 1952 the congregation erected its new church building at a cost of $225,000. On May 19 there will be rededication of the refurbished church interior and a remodeled church basement. The anniversary guest preachers will be the Rev. Andrew Hvizdak of Pleasant City, Ohio, who will speak at the 9 A.M. Slovak Service; Rev. Andrew Brondos of Massillon who will speak at the 11 A.M. English Worship, and Rev. Albert Marcis of Parma who will speak at the 5 P.M. Vesper Service.
PILGRIM CHURCH WILL MARK 50TH ANNIVERSARY
LAKEWOOD POST -- March 28, 1963
On Sunday, March 31, Pilgrim Lutheran Church will conduct its special Anniversary Service of Thanksgiving at 10:30 a.m. This service will commemorate Pilgrim Church's 50th Anniversary. Rev. Karl H. Ehlers, who was the church's pastor from 1921 until his retirement in September, 1962, will be guest minister, and Rev. Paul E. Woidke, Pilgrim's present pastor, will serve as liturgist.
On April 5, 1913, a group of Lutherans met to organize a church which was to be known as Pilgrim Lutheran Church, 14224 Detroit. On April 5, 1963, exactly 50 years later, Pilgrim Church will celebrate its Golden Anniversary at a dinner which will be served at 6:30 p.m. at St. Paul Lutheran Church on Detroit at Arthur.
At this dinner, Rev. Lester W. Draheim, Chaplain at Lutheran Hospital and fellow -member will serve as master of ceremonies. Rev. Werner H. Jurgens, minister of Christ Lutheran Church, Cleveland, will be guest speaker. Other honored guests will include Frank Maag, president of the congregation, the Rev. Karl H. Ehlers and Paul E. Woidke, and Mrs. Pauline Grumney, widow of Pilgrim's first pastor.
The guest of honor at this celebration will be Miss Catherine Warschefski, who is the only living charter member still with the church. Miss Warschefski has been very faithful in her attendance during these 50 years; for many years she served as secretary of the Sunday School; sheis a member of the Lutheran Business and Professional Women's group and an active member in Pilgrim's Guild.
PILGRIM EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN PASTORS
Source Unknown
Rev. Charles Morhart -- 1913 temporary
Rev. Walter Auping -- 1913 temporary
Rev. George Romoser -- 1913 temporary
Rev. J. F. Yount -- 1913 temporary
Rev. Harry Muh1y -- 1913 temporary
Rev. Paul Kenrich -- 1914 - 1921
Rev. Karl Ehlers -- 1921 -
MARKS 50TH YEAR
CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER -- October 15, 1962
Trinity Lutheran Church, Lakewood, began its 50th anniversary observance with a Sunday school rally and a commemorative service with Dr. John W. Ri11ing, a former pastor, of Springfield, Ohio, preaching. The Rev. John H. Evans, pastor, officiated.
Dollar-size gold-plated medallions in token of the anniversary were given to 150 Sunday school youngsters. Others will be given to persons attending the anniversary banquet Friday night.
The church edifice was dedicated in 1921 and a Sunday school addition completed 10 years ago.
SPRINGFIELD CALLS LAKEWOOD PASTOR
Unidentified Newspaper -- March 6, ?
Rev. John W. Rilling, minister of Trinity Lutheran Church, 16402 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood, yesterday announced his resignation, to take effect July 1.
Rev. Mr. Rilling is leaving to accept a call from the large First Lutheran Church in Springfield, O. His new charge was the mother church of all the Lutheran churches in Springfield. It is 100 years old and has more than 1,000 members. The church also founded Wittenberg College.
Since coming here in 1937, Rev. Mr. Rilling has doubled the membership of Trinity Church and has won the friendship of large numbers of people in Lakewood and Cleveland.
He was graduated from Wittenberg College and Hamma Divinity School, Springfield. He has done advanced study at Leipzig University, Germany, and at Oberlin Graduate School of Theology. He was pastor of the Lutheran Church at Versailles, 0., before coming to Trinity Church.
DETROIT STREET METHODIST EPISCOPAL
HISTORY OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY -- C. JOHNSON -- 1879, Pg. 507
About 1850 a small band of "Bible Christians" used to worship occasionally in the Free Will Baptist church and continued to do so for three or four years. The first class contained sixteen members; its leader being Mark Tegardine. Rev. Richard Roach, of C1eveland, used to come out and preach for them, as did others whose names cannot now be recalled. Members of the denomination known as the United Brethren also had meetings in the Baptist church at that time, and after the Bible Christians discontinued worship, the Wesleyan Methodists formed a class with Tegardine as the leader. Their first minister was Rev. Mr. Crooks.
Later, the Wesleyans gave place to a Methodist Episcopa1 class of twenty members and of that, too, Mark Tegardine was chosen leader; the Rev. Mr. Jewett of Berea preaching the first sermon. A church edifice known as the Detroit Street M.E. Church was bui1t in 1876, at which time Rev. Mr. McCaskie was the pastor. After him Rev. William Warren took charge. The present membership is one hundred and twenty-five. The class leaders are James Primat, John Webb, Stephen Hutchins and Mark Tegardine, and the trustees are Archibald Webb, James Bean, Joseph Parsons and Peter C1ampet.
DETROIT STREET METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
HISTORY OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY AND CLEVELAND -- W.R. COATES -- Volume I, Pg.
179
In 1850 a little band of "Bible Christians" met at frequent intervals for four or five years in the Free Will Baptist Church. It was called a class and Mark Tegardine was its leader. Rev. Richard Roach used to come out from Cleveland occasionally to preach to them. The United Brethren also met in the same building for occasional worship.
After the "Bible Christians" stopped meeting, the Wesleyan Methodists formed a class and Mark Tegardine was its leader. They engaged Reverend Crooks as the first preacher. After a while the Wesleyan Methodists gave way to the Methodist Episcopal denomination and a class was formed and still Mark Tegardine was the class leader. Their first pastor was Reverend Jewett of Berea.
This organization was denominated the Detroit Street Methodist Episcopal Church and a building was ereoted in 1876, when Reverend McCaskie was pastor. Rev. William Warren followed him and the class leaders under Warren were Joseph Primat, John Webb, Stephen Hutchins and Mark Tegardine, and the trustees, Archibald Webb, James Bean, James Parsons and Peter Clampitt.
DETROIT AVENUE METHODIST CHURCH
EARLY DAYS OF LAKE WOOD -- D. A. R., Pg. 95-96
A cottage prayer meeting in the home of Mr. and Mrs. F.M. Barton on Grace Avenue was the first of a series of such meetings held in various homes during the summer of 1897; and in September, the Methodist Conference sent Reverend Hilberry to have charge of the new "Lakewood Mission". Reverend Hilberry and his wife moved to a house at Winchester and Detroit Avenues. The large front room of this house was used for a time for the church services, with Mrs. Hilberry's high top sewing machine answering for a pu1pit. The mission was first called "West End M.E. Society", but in March, 1898, was formally organized, taking the name Detroit Street Methodist Episcopal Church". The members started at once to work for a church building, and a lot was bought that same month. A reception in the home of the mayor celebrated the organization and purchase. A large room over Mr. Southern's grocery store was loaned to them without charge, and this was used until the new building was completed. The following September the first service was held in the new church, on the corner of Detroit and Winchester Avenues. The building was still unfinished, with no roof on the tower, no siding, and only part of the shingles on the sides. The day was stormy, rain came in through the venti1ating holes and under the tower, yet nothing could dampen the fervor and joy of those present. On Thanksgiving Day, the men of the church met and tinted the walls of the rooms. The furnace was cared for in turn by the members. When the church was dedicated in June, 1900, it was free of all debt. This first building is still used, forming the rear part of the newer structure.
The enthusiasm and sacrifice of the people of the church are typical of the zeal and consecration of the members of the eight Christian churches formed in early Rockport and Lakewood before the end of the nineteenth century.
DETROIT AVENUE M. E. CHURCH
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD -- F.C.LOWING
This church was projected in 1897, by its present pastor, Rev. Duston Kemble, D.D., then presiding elder of the Cleveland Conference. Rev. Howard K. Hilberry, just graduated from Baldwin University, made the neighborhood visitation and preliminary meetings were held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. E.C. Kollfrath.
The first regular services were held at 1439 Winchester Avenue, the home of the organizing minister. The formal organization was made in the spring of 1898, the roster including the names of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Butter, Mr. and Mrs. F.M. Barton, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Baird, Mr. and Mrs. E.C. Kollfrath, Mr. and Mrs. C.J. Kellmer, Mr. and Mrs. W.L. Lippert, Mr. and Mrs. S.F. Long, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Lee, Mr. and Mrs. W.A. Lacey, Mrs. Louisa Miller and family, Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Pelton, Mr. and Mrs. H.M. Sherwood, Mrs. E.S. Stoddard, Mrs. J .H. Johnson, and Miss Ella Johnson, Mrs. E.A. Witte and sons, Mr. and Mrs. W.D. Wright and later Capt. and Mrs. J .L. Weeks.
A Sunday school was organized in the hall over John W. Southern's store, corner Detroit and Winchester, with W.L. Lippert as superintendent.
In 1900 the first church edifice was built, but in 1904 it was found to be too small and was enlarged to double its former seating capacity. In the fall of 1900, Rev. Hilberry went to another field and Rev. G.W. Huddleston was pastor for four years. His work was very efficient and the church grew and prospered. He was transferred and Rev. E.I. Collier was pastor for a year. Rev. F.W. Poole followed him for a year and Rev. H.D. Fleming was then pastor for two years.
Rev. Duston Kemble, who really was the moving spirit of the church's organization, became pastor in 1908 and has served for seven years. The church now has a membership of 500 and the Sunday School is one of' the largest in the city.
Rev. Duston Kemble was born on a farm near Findlay, Ohio, just before the Civil War. After his studies in grammar and normal schools he was graduated from the Northwestern University in 1880, from Garrett Biblical School in 1884.
DETROIT AVENUE METHODIST CHURCH
LAKEWOOD PRESS -- October 11, 1917, Pg. 5
It is true of Lakewood, as it was of Brooklyn, that it is a "city of churches.” New and beautiful edifices have been erected there, a new one seemingly being constantly under construction.
The newest is to be the Detroit Avenue Methodist Church, which is to be built by the Chrisford Construction Company, general building contractors of Lakewood.
J.W. Chrisford, president of the company, has announced the early beginning of work on the building which is to be erected at the corner of Detroit and Winchester Avenues.
The building will be constructed of stone and brick and will be approximately 75 feet wide and 80 feet long. It is intended to seat 650 persons in the auditorium, galleries and choir.
The basement of the new church will include a kitchen, a social room, retiring rooms, etc., and the wing and tower will contain the cloak rooms, the class rooms and the pastor's study. The estimated cost of the church is $50,000.
The Chrisford Construction Company is now at work on a number of large contracts in Lakewood. Among them are the Lakewood Baptist Church and the Church of the Ascension in Lakewood.
The offices of the Chrisford Construction Company are located at 1452 Highland Avenue. Mr. Chrisford is president and treasurer of the company. C.W. Schaefer is vice president, and R.E. Hoyt is secretary.
ROCKPORT METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Source Unknown
The Methodists residing in Rockport, in the west side of the river, enjoyed irregular worship in schoolhouses and private residences until 1847, when a house of worship was erected about a mile and a half west of the mouth of Rocky River. The first c1ass was organized in 1828. William Jordan was the leader; the other members being Dyer Eaton, Mrs. Mary Jordan, ----- Whiting, ----- Bennett, Philena Alger, Sarah Doty, Polly Jordan and Sallie Usher. The organization took place in William Jordan's log cabin and there worship was held for some time afterward.
The first preacher was Rev. Henry O. She1don, a most industrious laborer in the moral vineyard. Upon the erection of the church building, in 1847, the trustees were John D. Taylor, John Barnes, Henry Rauch, Benjamin Lowell, and Sidney Lowell. The church membership is now 50. The leader is C. S. Giddings, who is also the secretary of the society. The present trustees are S. H. Brown, Mark Able, C. S. Giddings, F. McMahon, Ira Burlingame, C. N. Wise and Charles Cuddeback. The present pastor is Rev. John McKean.
LAKEWOOD METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Source: DR. W.W.T. DUNCAN
1865
A small company of English people on and around Detroit Street, East Rockport were converted at a camp meeting in Berea. They formed a group of their own and held meetings in an old Baptist church at the east end of Hilliard Road on Warren Road. Ministers of different creeds served this group. Rev. Crooks, a United Brethren minister baptized the first converts in Rocky River. Other pastors serving were Rev. Mr. Parkins, Rev. Mr. Pinch, and two Methodist preachers, Rev. Mr. Jewett from Berea and Rev. Mr. Mower, the latter from Taylor Street Methodist Church, Cleveland.
A Sunday School was organized the first year and Miss Carrie Phelps (mother of A.C. Bartter) was appointed Superintendent. She left town to teach a mission school in the south before the first church was built. Mr. Christopher Southerner was then appointed superintendent. (He was not a member of the Methodist Church.)
1872 - 75
Ministers serving were Rev. Samuel Mower and Rev. Robert McCloskey. The Baptist church was sold by Mr. Frank Wagar, on whose property it was located, so it was necessary to look for another meeting place. Meetings were then held in the school house located on the corner of Detroit Street and West Clifton Boulevard, but the school board authorities decided the school could not be used for religious purposes. Following this desision of the school board, the meetings were held in the homes of the various members, until spring of 1876 when Mrs. Stephen Hutchins, Mrs. Daniel Webb, and Mrs. Archer Webb decided something should be done about a meeting place of their own.
First Board of Trustees appointed:
| Stephen S. Hutchins | John Webb |
| Mark Tegardine | Archer Webb |
On April 10, 1876 the lot, 48 x 223 feet at corner of Detroit and Summit Avenues was purchased from Hiram Barrett and wife, for $1,200. A frame building was planned, and corner-stone was laid May 11, 1876 and building completed the same year. At this time there were only about twenty members. It took not only faith and courage but real effort and sacrifice to make the project possible. It is said that some of these pioneers practical1y mortgaged their farms to raise the necessary amount of money. Cost of the first church including the lot, $5,005.00. It was served by pastors of the Taylor Street Methodist Church.
| 1875 - 78 | Rev. Robert McCaskey |
| 1878 - 81 | Rev. T.C. Warner |
| 1881 - 84 | Rev. John Mitchell |
| 1884 - 85 | Rev. A.H. Lyon |
This appointment and that then known as "River Bank" were united and called "East Rockport and River Bank" Charge.
| 1885 - 87 | Rev. G.W. Houck |
| 1887 - 90 | Rev. S.O. Elliott |
| 1890 - 95 | Rev. F.W.Z. Barrett |
| 1895 - 96 | Rev. R.L. Waggoner |
On February 24, 1896 incorporation papers were filed by
| Daniel Webb | Fred. E. Preslan |
| Archer Webb | R.L. Waggoner |
| Stephen Hutchins |
and the church was incorporated under the name "The Lakewood Methodist Episcopal Church," “ for the purpose of promoting religion according to the discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church."
| 1896 - 99 | Rev. H.P. Richards |
| 1899 - 01 | Rev. Abbott Van Camp |
| 1901 - 05 | Rev. Orlando Badgley |
The charge first came to be known as "Lakewood in 1889.
At the beginning of Rev. Badgley's pastorate in 1901 the membership roll contained the names of 11 members. The addition of 115 new members during the pastorate brought the total number to 185. Such growth made imperitive the provision of a more commodious house of worship. The first subscription for the new church was received January 28, 1902
More land to the west was added during the summer of 1903 and Corner-stone was laid June 26, 1904. The church was dedicated March 26, 1905.
The church of 1905 was also of frame construction and cost with organ and furnishings approximately $13,000. The old church and a parsonage which had been added in 1898, continued to occupy a part of the lot, adding to the facilities provided by the new building. Interesting facts in connection with the building reveal that a single exception the Board of Trustees who provided the church of 1905 have faithfully served the church in that capacity through the twenty-one years since and from the committee planning for the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the church. It consisted of
| George H. Thorne, Chairman | C.H. Thompson |
| J.O. Gordon | George H. Brown |
| *Daniel Webb | Dr. F.S. Burkett |
| W.J. Webb | C.H. Bleil |
| A.C. Bartter | *Dr. C. Lee Graber |
(*) The name of Daniel Webb, a charter member of the church, has since been withdrawn through change in membership and that of Dr. C. Lee Graber added. Mr. A.C. Bartter was the contractor and builder.
1905 - 1915
In the fall following the dedication of the second church in March 1905, Dr. John H. Blackburn was appointed pastor, and served the church 1905 - 1915. During this period Lakewood began its rapid growth and under the able leadership of Dr. Blackburn, Lakewood church began a remarkable period of growth and prosperity. At the beginning of the Conference year in 1910 the membership had reached 580, and all departments of the growing work overtaxed the capacity of the second building. A new structure was proposed. Pastor and people entered heartily into the project and in November of 1911 the ground was broken for the new building. The corner-stone was laid in July, 1912, and the auditorium section was dedicated September 21, 1913. The Sunday School wing was completed and dedicated October 18, 1914.
The cost of the structure did not exceed $140,000 although that figure represented a daring undertaking for the congregation at the time it was begun. The completeness of the present building and the vision of those who planned it in anticipating the growth and needs of the future, are sources of admiration for the pastor and the builders. It was and remains one of the most beautiful and well appointed church structures in Greater Cleveland.
* NOTE: Conference leaflet said $130,OOO.
1915 - 1917
At the Annual Conference in 1915 Dr. John I. Wean was appointed pastor of Lakewood Church and served for two years. Under Dr. Wean's earnest preaching the church continued to grow in membership and to struggle successfully with its indebtedness. During the two years of Dr. Wean's pastorate the membership increased to 1302.
1917 - 1931
With the new conference year in September, 1917, Dr. M.B. Fuller began his work in Lakewood. Under his able leadership and through his ceaseless efforts Lakewood has had a growth in membership perhaps without parallel. The increase has averaged more than five hundred per year during the nine year period, new members having been received practically every Sunday. Through the unified budget plan the debt totaling $95,000 in 1917 has been reduced at an average rate of almost $10,000 per year, and is now (1926) fully provided for by the special effort of last year.
The church has more than kept pace with the rapid growth of the city. Under the guidance of Dr. C.P. Lynch the Church School has led Greater Cleveland in point of attendance for several years and has become a fully graded and departmentalized educational organization, a vital part of the church.
During the trying days 1917-18, 115 young men from Lakewood Church served their country. Two made the supreme sacrifice. The names of these men appear on a fine bronze memorial tablet in the church vestibule. As we near the close of the fiscal year 1925-26 there are many things in the fifty years history of our church in its present organization and its future possibilities in which we may take pride and hope. It has been served by a great succession of pastors, all of whom have been builders and men of vision.
It has served a great community during its growth from a farming section to a metropolitan "City of Homes."
It has achieved its growth, not through the patronage of wealthy members, but through the cooperative efforts of all. This has made for a rare spirit of democracy. This growth has not been achieved without struggle and hardships on the part of a faithful membership. Today the congregation finds itself facing a unique opportunity. It has as its pastor a man unusually loved and respected for his industry, fearlessness, and breadth of industry.
It has a church plant valued at several times its original cost and practically free from debt.
It has a membership of over four thousand communicants who have come from every type of church and community.
It has a great variety of organizations which foster the spiritual, social, moral and mental life of the membership. It provides training agencies for the younger generation which should make for even greater usefulness and influence in the future.
Lakewood church enters Sunday, October 31, 1926 on what should be one of the greatest weeks of its existence, either past or future. Probably most of the present generation of members will not be able to celebrate another occasion like it in our local church. Four big events have been arranged.
(1) Sunday, October 31, two former pastors, Dr. John H. Blackburn, and Dr. John I. Wean will preach.
(2) On Wednesday evening, November 3, "Fellowship Night" will be observed. The choir of twenty-five years ago has been reassembled to furnish the music, and the old and new members will mingle in an evening of social good fellowship.
(3) On Friday evening, November 5, the Homecoming Banquet will bring together the former members and friends of the church with those of the present for a grand reunion.
(4) The climax will come on Sunday morning when the church in retrospect will be presented by Mr. D.G. Jaeger and in prospect by Dr. Fuller. The mortgage burning ceremony will close the service. This cermony will be in charge of George H. Thorne, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and George H. Brown, Chairman of the Official Board.
With the new conference year - 1931 - Dr. W.W.T.Duncan began his work in Lakewood Church
LAKEWOOD METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
MRS. W. J. WEBB -- Nov. 8, 1926
In the year 1865, a small company of English people on and around Detroit Street, East Rockport, heard of a camp meeting being held in Berea, and decided to go to it. They became converted there. They decided they would have a preacher come to preach to them. They got permission to hold their meetings in an old Baptist Church that stood at the east end of Hilliard Road on Warren Road, where the Barber home now stands.
The preachers came at first from Berea on horseback. Rev. Crooks baptized the first converts that wished to be baptized in the Rocky River, down near the flats where the filtering plant now stands. This was a United Brethren preacher. There were others of different creeds who came to preach as they could get them. We have the names of some of them: Revs. Parkins, Pinch, Jewet, and Mower. The last two named were Methodists.
This company of Christians organized a Sunday School the first year. Miss Carrie Phelps was the first superintendent, and one of the first members of the Methodist organization, but she left town to go to teach in a mission school in the south before the first church was build. Then Mr. Christopher Southern, Sr., was Superintendent of the Sunday School, but he did not belong to the Methodist Church. The Methodist preachers came from the city of Cleveland. The story is told that one of the first preachers was a very good preacher, had a lot of fire, pep and earnestness in his preaching, but would not stop to speak to anyone after the service closed if he could help it. But if anyone succeeded in telling him it was a good sermon, he would answer, "Yes, the devil told me so," and go on out.
After a time, Mr. Frank Wagar, on whose farm the Baptist Church stood got the rest of the owners or trustees to sell out their interest in the church for a dollar each.
Then he sold it to Mr. Martinett, who kept a wine garden on Madison Avenue, a little east of Warren Road. He moved the old stone church across lots to the back end of his property and set it on the edge of a ravine and made a wine cellar of it.
This company of Christians had been organized into a Methodist church about that time, and Rev. Robert McKasky was sent out Sunday afternoon from the Taylor Street
Church (now called “The People's Church). They held their meetings in the west schoo1 house on Detroit Street, corner of West Boulevard. Then the school board said a school house could not be used for religious purposes. Then they met in the homes. In the spring of 1876, Mrs. Stephen Hutchins had been thinking and came to the conclusion that they must have a place of meeting of their own. So she went to her neighbor, Mrs. Daniel Webb, another member, and said, "We have to do something to get a church home of our own." They both had bought small fruit farms on Warren Road, but had not gotten them all paid for. Mrs. Hutchins said, "I think Dan will if we can get John, his brother, to do the same." So they hitched up the pony and wagon and drove down to John Webb's on Detroit Street, and told his wife, Sophia about it. She said, "I think I can get John to do that." So they all went along Detroit Street to the home of Archer Webb, another brother, and told his wife about it. She said, "I am sure Archer will lend you the money and give a thousand himself," and he did.
It was Mrs. Archer Webb, Rhoda, that thought they ought to do something for the salvation of souls, in the first place. I understand it was from her talk that the little company of people went to Berea to the camp meeting. They had been a care-free amusement-loving people before that, but they were thoroughly converted. Some were very conservative. They did not think anything but religious meetings should be held in the church. The young people wanted social life, concerts, suppers, festivals, etc., and the older ones needed money to pay their debts. The first social event was held before the church was finished inside, so they had booths where they liked, and had a strawberry festival and sold ice cream and flowers, and some fancy work. But after the building was completed, in the fall after the dedication, an oyster supper was held. And, in order not to use the auditorium they had to cook and serve the supper in the gallery over the vestibule, a space about 30 feet long, after taking the stairway off, and ten feet wide. In it was a two-burner gasoline stove with short legs standing on empty boxes, a wash boiler (perhaps dishpan and pail, I am not sure). Oysters were cooked in the wash boiler. Someone loaned a kettle for the coffee. The kitchen was at the far end. Boards were laid along each side of the gallery for tables. Board benches to sit on back-to-back with a narrow aisle between for the waiters, everything else was loaned from the homes, such as tablecloths, dishes etc.
January 5, 1927
On January 1, Daniel Webb died at 2:30a.m. He was the last of the charter members of the Lakewood (then East Rockport) Methodist Church. William John Webb is now the oldest member. He joined in full membership the day the first building was dedicated. The following winter there were revival meetings held. Quite a number were converted and joined the church. Among them were Joseph Swingler,
his wife, who was Elizabeth Sanderson, and her sister Annis, Herbert Sanderson, Charles Hutchins, his brother George, Minnie Stafford (now Hutchins), Ester and Elizabeth Townsend, Mary Prutton, Mr. and Mrs. Jake Burkamer, Mr. & Mrs. Sullivan, Mr. and Mrs. James Beam, Mr. and Mrs. James Parson, James Gray (who came to make fun and became converted and at once started to study for the ministry) and several others joined about that time.
There were Mr. and Mrs. Jewel Southern, Mr. and Mrs. Bowers, Mr. Clampet, Sr., and Mr. and Mrs. Clampet, Jr., and Mrs. Castle when the first mortgage was canceled. Mr. Archer Webb said he would pay twice as much as the rest of the official board did, so they signed a contract to pay it off in a certain length of time. The following members signed it: John Webb, W.J. Webb, Charles Greening, Charles Thompson, Steven Hutchins. They paid it $25.00 each with $50.00 from Archer Webb.
CHARTER,MEMBERS OF THE LAKEWOOD METHODIST CHURCH
Mr. John Webb, Sr. and his wife Maria
Mr. Archer Webb and his wife, Rhoda
Mr. John Webbm Jr. and his wife, Sophia
Mr. Daniel Webb and his wife, Hattie
Mr, Stephen Hutchens and his wife, Emma Dorcas
Mr. James Primett and his wife Ann
Mr. Mark Tegardine and his wife
Mr. Peter Bowers and his wife, Julia
Mr. James Newberry
Mrs. Johanathan Bates (Hannah)
A few of the charter members of the Lakewood Methodist Episcopal Church went to Berea to a camp meeting several years before the church was organized, and became converted then they had a minister come and preach to them. The first minister came from Berea on horseback. They organized the Sunday School that same year, and Miss Carrie Phelps, mother of Mr. Fred Bartter, was made superintendent. After several ministers had come to preach, Rev. Samuel Mower was sent out from the Taylor Street church (now called the People's Church) and the little company of people were organized under the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mrs. Johnathan Bates gave the church bell during her last illness. She had it hung and heard it ring before she died. Mrs. Bates was sister to Mrs. Archer Webb and Mr. John Sanderson, Mr. Sanderson was grandfather to Mr. George Thorne, Mrs. F.S. Burkett and Mrs. F.E. Stevens.
Mrs. Ida Mitchell organized the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society in March,
Rev. Robert McCasky, 1875 to 1878
Rev. Thomas Warner, 1878 to 1881
Rev. John Mitchell, 1881 to 1884
Rev. A.J. Lyons, 1884 to 1885
Rev. George W. Huik, 1885 to 1887
Rev. S.O. Elliott, 1887 to 1890
Rev. Frank W.Z, Barrett, 1890 to 1895
Rev. Robert L. Waggoner, 1895 to 1896
Rev. Harry P. Richards, 1896 to 1899
Rev. Albert Van Camp, 1899 to 1901
Rev. O. Badgley, 1901 to 1905
Rev. John Blackburn, 1905 to 1915
Rev. John Wean, 1915 to 1917
Rev. M.B. Fuller, 1917 to -
Before the church was built there were several different preachers from several different denominations: Crooks, Parkins, Pinch, Jewet, Mower. Rev. Crooks was United Brethern. He baptized the first converts in Rocky River.
LAKEWOOD METHODIST
LAKEWOOD PRESS -- March 7, 1918. Pg. 9 - 10
Conceived as a community center, the big Bedford stone church at the corner of Summit and Detroit Avenues lives up to the expectations of its builders. It is open every day in the week, and except during the recent fuel famine there have been few occasions since its dedication when some portion of it has not been lighted up at night which is indicative to the passerby of the activity going on within. Its doors are open to every meeting of a community nature, Whether it be a Chamber of Commerce banquet or a Suffrage party luncheon, a lecture by Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis on some phase of the great war, or an address by Mel Trotter at a union meeting in the interest of the City Mission.
The main auditorium of the church will seat approximately 1100 people and its capacity is frequently taxed by the crowds that come out to hear the Rev. Dr. Fuller each Sunday, and the monthly musical service on the last Sunday evening of each month. The church is so constructed that seatings for six or seven hundred within view of the pulpit can be had be raising the partition between the auditorium and the Sunday school room. On the main floor of the church are located the church office, the pastor's study, the choir room, and separate rooms for many of the Sunday school classes.
In the basement is located the gymnasium and shower baths which are open to the young people of the community (except during the fuel shortage) under the direction of a competent instructor, Mr. G.E. Whitman, three nights in the week. The kitchen and dining room, also in the kitchen, are equipped to feed as many as 500 people at one time, and its capacity is often taxed to accommodate the larger banquets held in our city.
The Lakewood Methodist Sunday school, of which Professor C.P. Lynch of the city schools, is superintendent, is the largest in Cuyahoga county, both in point of attendance and enrollment. It is divided into the following departments: Beginners, primary, junior, teen age, young peoples' and adults, each with its own superintendent and staff of officers.
Among the other organizations centering about the church may be mentioned the Ladies' Aid society, of which Mr. J.0. Gordon is the president, which subscribed and has nearly paid $18,000 toward the cost of the church during the past four years.
The Men's club, presided over by Mr. H.O. Merriman, meets once a month for a dinner and an address by some well known speaker. Like the church of which it is a part, the Men's club is a community affair, having many men on its roll and
attending its meetings who are not members of the church.
Troop 60 of the Boy scouts, under the leadership of Scoutmaster H.A. Pope, has established an enviable record among the troops of the city.
The Epworth League of which Mr. C.A. Webb is president, ranks as one of the largest in the county, and is also one of the most active. Its contributions of money to the Fresh Air work of the city and of service to the City Mission and Pleasant Hill mission have earned for it many high encomiums.
The Women's Home and Foreign Missionary societies and allied organizations are contributing much toward "the evangelization of the world in this generation", not only in their generous contributions of money to missionary causes, but also in educating many people along missionary lines.
Second only, perhaps, to the work of the present and past ministers, in the building up of a large congregation, has been the splendid devotion of the musicians of the church. The fine Moler pipe organ has been played ever since its installation by Miss Augusta Hayner, member of the American Guild of Organists. The volunteer choir of about 50 voices was built up by Mr. F. Karl Grossman, now in the National Army at Camp Sherman. The present choir master is Mr. Griffith J. Jones, and under his direction the work has gone forward in a very satisfactory way. On the last Sunday night of each month a musical service is given.
* * *
To Mr. Grossman also must be given the main credit for the building up of the church orchestra. The present director is Mr. Norman M. Collart, and under his direction this organization, consisting of about 12 pieces, gave the January monthly concert and acquitted itself creditably. The Junior orchestra, under the direction of Miss Lucille Brown, is one of the noteworthy organizations of the church. Miss Brown is the head ofthe violin Thirty-Five--Lakewood Special… department in Mount Union college, Alliance. She has trained her juvenile players to a remarkable degree ofefficiency, and the personal esteem in which she is held is a tribute to her charm as a woman as well as her ability as a musician.
The beautiful church was built and dedicated during the pastorate of Dr. J .H. Blackburn and under his administration often years the congregation was built up from a small organization to a number approximating its present proportions. Dr. Blackburn is now serving a successful pastorate at Conneaut, Ohio. He was succeeded by the Rev. J. I. Wean, who during a two years' pastorate made a noteworthy contribution to the temporal and spiritual welfare of the congregation.
The present membership is approximately 1,500. About 200 ofthe names on the roll bear the handwriting ofthe present pastor, Rev. M.B. Fuller, D.D. Dr. Fuller came to Lakewood last September after a successful five years' pastorate in Lima, Ohio, and he has already endeared himself to all with whom he has come in contact. Under his administration the church has taken on a renewed interest and plans for continued growth and additional resources have already been perfected. One of the plans inaugurated by Dr. Fuller is a series of neighborhood meetings which are being held on the various streets of Lakewood on Thursday evenings.
Dr. Fuller is an alumnus of Ohio Wesleyan university and a former student in Boston Theological seminary. He has held successful pastorates in Urbana, Dayton, Cincinnati and Lima before coming to Lakewood and his work here promises to eclipse his past record.
Several years ago the clerical and financial work of the church assumed such proportions that it was necessary to secure the services of a competent layman to devote all his time to the work of the church. This end of the work was started and organized by Mr. L.D. Dungan who served as the executive secretary forthree years. The present incumbent is G.W. Grill. During the past year the church debt has been reduced to the extent of $10,000, and the funds out of which are paid the current expenses and benevolences have been built up.
Mr. Grill is also the editor of Tidings, the little weekly paper which reaches the homes of all members of the church on Saturday. This publication carries announcements for the following week, notices of the Sunday services, and news items concerning members and friends of the church.
Mr. Joseph Roland Piatt, "Lakewood's Lyrical Laureate of Rosewood Avenue", is a member of this church. He is the author of "Songs of the Heart and Soul", and a regular contributor to the Lakewood Press.
The Lakewood Methodist church has had a glorious past, but it is a church with a forward look and expects in the future, as in the past, to make its contributions to the Kingdom of God not only by worship to God but also by service to humanity. The stranger in our midst will find a welcome at its services, the new comer in the community will find a congenial church home, the sin-sick and
soul-weary will be helped and comforted, and the lovers of God and humanity will be given a glorious opportunity to serve.
LAKEWOOD M. E. CHURCH
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD - F. C. LOWING
The second church to get a foothold in Lakewood was a small Baptist congregation that was organized on Warren Road. For some reason the church was unable to support a pastor, or unable to secure one, and after a precarious existence,
Rev. Samuel Mower, who preached at the Taylor Street M.E. Church in Cleveland from 1872-5, accepted an invitation to preach in this church on Sunday afternoon. After a few weeks of service in this Warren Road edifice it was decided to move to a small brick school house on what is now Clifton boulevard and continue the services there.
In 1876 a board of trustees was elected and the church took on the form of a Methodist congregation, and a little later purchased a lot at the corner of Summit and Detroit. One step led to another until on May 11, of the same year, a corner stone was laid for a new M.E. church and the building was completed that same year.
Rev. O. Badgley assumed the pastorate of the church in 1901, and soon thereafter the project of building a new edifice was begun, which culminated in the dedication of the structure March 26, 1905. But the rapid growth of the village soon made another new edifice essential to the expanding work of the church and at the beginning of the conference year 1910, a new church was decided on.
Ground for this new church was broken in November, 1911. The corner stone was laid in July, 1912, the main auditorium completed and dedicated in September, 1913, the Sunday School department began in March, 1914, and completed and dedicated in October, 1914. The total cost of this new and present structure was $135,000, and it is one of the most complete and handsome church structures in the city of Cleveland.
LAKEWOOD METHODIST EPISCOPAL
LAKEWOOD PRESS -- March 28, 1918. Pg. 4
Palm Sunday, March 24, was the greatest day our church has ever known. Two hundred and sixty-four new members were received in full membership, and 21 on preparatory membership. That is as many members as the average church in the United States has on its roll. That is a larger number of new members than the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce has been able to secure in its four months' drive for new members, I think. Most of this week' s issue of Tidings will be given over to publishing the names and addresses of these new members.
I think without a doubt this church will rank second among the Protestant Churches of Cuyahoga County. I think that Epworth Memorial has about 1,900 members, and we now have 1,757.
The present pastor of our church is Rev. M.B. Fuller, D.D. He has been with us since last September, and during that time he has received 490 new members in the church. We have had no special evangelistic meetings, but each new member has been secured by personal work on the part of the pastor and members of the church, and the teachers in the Sunday School.
Last Sunday our Sunday School attendance was 1,060, the high water mark so far. One class, Epworth, had 144 in attendance, and another, Mr. Jaeger' s, had 104 present. The collection amounted to $40.29, and approximately 75 per cent of those in attendance were on time at 9:15 o' clock. Our Sunday school has its own choir, and two orchestras, Miss Lucile Brown being the leader of the remarkable Junior Orchestra, composed of children whom she has been training for the past three years, until at the present time they are playing classical music. Mr. Norman M. Collart is conductor of the Senior orchestra.
George W. Grill
LAKEWOOD METHODIST PASTORS
Source Unknown
| Rev. Samuel Mower | 1872 - 1875 |
| Rev. Robert McCaskey | 1875 - 1878 |
| Rev. R. C. Warner | 1878 - 1881 |
| Rev. John Mitchell | 1881 - 1884 |
| Rev. A. J. Lyon | 1884 - 1885 |
| Rev. S. O. Elliott | 1887 - 1890 |
| Rev. F. W. Barrett | 1890 - 1895 |
| Rev. R. L. Waggoner | 1895 - 1896 |
| Rev. H. P. Richards | 1896 - 1899 |
| Rev. Abbott VanCamp | 1899 - 1901 |
| Rev. Orlando Badgley | 1901 - 1905 |
| Dr. John H. Blackburn | 1905 - 1915 |
| Dr. John I. Wean | 1915 - 1917 |
| Dr. M. B. Fuller | 1917 - 1931 |
| Dr. W. W. T. Duncan | 1931 - 1942 |
| Dr. Harold Ford Carr | 1942 - |
FARWELL OF DR. DUNCAN ON SUNDAY (Lakewood Methodist)
Congregation Will Honor Pastor Tonight
Unidentified Newspaper - June 1942
(See Editorial Page)
Dr. W.W.T. Duncan, pastor of the Lakewood Methodist for the past 11 years and long prominent in Greater Cleveland religious life, will take leave of his congregation Sunday morning. His retirement is automatic under the age regulations which govern the Methodist church.
Theme of Dr. Duncan' s last sermon will be “Friendship' s Farewell.”
Members of the Lakewood Methodist congregation and friends will honor Dr. and Mrs. Duncan tonight at a testimonial dinner and reception in the church. A souvenir of the event, which is under auspices of the Women' s Society of Christian Service, will be a volume of Dr. Duncan' s sermons which the church has published. The book includes ten of Dr. Duncan' s pulpit messages with a biographical sketch by Mrs. Ethel K. Howard and an appreciation by Dr. George W. Grill. Publication is under direction of a committee headed by G.V. Woodward and all copies of the volume have been subscribed for by members of the church and others interested in Dr. Duncan' s ministry.
A final editorial is to appear this week in the church' s weekly publication, “Tidings” through which Dr. Duncan has interpreted and expressed opinions regarding current events during the past eleven years.
Starting June 24 Dr. Duncan, together with a number of other Methodists from Lakewood, will be at the North East Ohio Conference which convenes in Lakeside. Dr. Duncan, chairman of the conference program committee, has secured a number of distinguished speakers from various parts of the country including Dr. Henry Hitt Crane of Detroit, Dr. Harold W. Ruopp of Chicago, Dr. Hornell Hart of Duke university, Dr. Louis J. Taber, president of the Ohio Council of Churches, Dr. Richard Raines of Minneapolis and Dr. George P. Howard of Lima, Peru. The conference adjourns Monday June 29.
Dr. Duncan will be succeeded by Dr. Harold F. Carr of Flint, Michigan who is expected to arrive in Lakewood September 1.
PERSONAL APPRECIATION
Mrs. Duncan and I are utterly at a loss to find words with which to express our appreciation of the wonderful manifestation of friendship and generosity of which we have been the recipients during these days of pastoral farewell.
These expressions are the climax of those which have come to us throughout the years, for a loyal and loving people have given us constant assurance of their kindness and sincerity.
Good wishes and kind words have been accompanied by substantial tokens which have surprised and enriched us. They have been coming, from all organizations ranging from the Men's Club to the boys and girls of the Junior Department and culminating in the amazingly complete Fellowship Dinner provided by the Woman's Society of Christian Service. Planned and executed with perfect precision, yet with the utmost flexibility of spirit it was the most complete evening we have ever known. It was appreciated still more because it was indeed a Family Fellowship when the great dining room was filled to capacity with a large number hearing by amplifier who could not secure seats at the tables. The program provided entirely by brilliant talent from our own church was greatly enjoyed. Mrs. Duncan and I were entirely overwhelmed by the most liberal gift in money. It was doubly appreciated when we learned that it was entirely a spontaneous and representative token secured without pressure of any kind.
We would gladly describe every detail of that occasion and of the fitting farewell feature of last Sunday, but that would impose on the good nature of the new staff of "Tidings." We can only say a thousand thanks! God bless you all! Our bonds of Christian friendship will last forever, here and hereafter.
Clara B. and W. W. T. Duncan
PHOTO 17:31a, CAPTION: Dr. W.W.T. Duncan delivers his farewell sermon Sunday morning in Lakewood Methodist church. (Story elsewhere.)
ROCKPORT METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
EARLY DAYS OF LAKEWOOD -- D. A. R. -- Pg. 92
About the time of the New Jerusalem Church was organized, another small company of Christians in Rockport were forming a church in the log cabin of William Jordan on the west side of Rocky River. The church was organized in the year 1822 by Reverend Reynolds. For twenty years this group had no church building, but met for worship regularly, sometimes in homes, or in the school house; or in summer, on the bank of a nearby brook. For several years the ministers of the people of this faith were circuit riders who rode from place to place on horseback, holding meetings at stated times. The men serving Rockport covered a district reaching from Cleveland to Toledo.
In 1847, the members in Rockport determined to have a church building. They cut the timbers from the forest and built a small frame structure in what was still a wilderness. Indians were sometimes seen here, and wild animals were numerous. This building is still used for worship. It is on the present Wooster Road, a short distance south of Center Ridge Road.
ROCKPORT METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
HISTORY OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY AND CLEVELAND -- W.R. COATES -- Volume I, Pg.
177
From the first settlement of Rockport the Methodists held class meetings in schoolhouses in irregular fashion until 1847, when, a church having been organized, a building was erected one and a half miles west of the mouth of Rocky River. William Jordan was class leader at that time, and the membership included Dyer Eaton, Mrs. Mary Jordan, Mr. Whiting, Mr. Bennett, Philena Alger, Sarah Doty, Polly Jordan, and Sally Usher.
The church was organized in William Jordan's log house. The first preacher was Rev. O. Sheldon. We hear much of him, from his unsuccessful efforts to found a colony in Middleburg Township, on the basis of Christian socialism, he seemed always an active worker and a figure to stand out in the early history of this part of the county.
When the church was built the trustees were: John D. Taylor, John Barnes, Henry Rauch, Benjamin Lowell and Sidney Lowell. In the '70s C.S. Giddings was class leader; Rev. John McKean, pastor, and the trustees were S.H. Brown, Mark Able, C.S. Giddings, F. McMahon, Ira Burlingame, C.N. Wise and Charles Cuddeback.
ROCKPORT METHODIST EPISCOPAL
HISTORY OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY -- C. JOHNSON -- l879, Pg. 505 - 506
The Methodists residing in Rockport, on the west side of the river, enjoyed irregular worship in schoolhouses and private residences until 1847, when a house of worship was erected about a mile and a half west of the mouth of Rocky River. The first class was organized in 1828. William Jordan was the leader; the other members being Dyer Eaton, Mrs. Mary Jordan, ---Whiting, ---Bennett, Phinela Alger, Sarah Doty, Polly Jordan and Sallie Usher. The organization took place in William Jordan' s log cabin, and there worship was held for some time afterward.
The first preacher was Rev. Henry O. Sheldon, a most industrious laborer in the moral vineyard. Upon the erection of the church building, in 1847, the trustees were John D. Taylor, John Barnes, Henry Rauch, Benjamin Lowell and Sidney Lowell. The church membership is now fifty. The leader is C.S. Giddings, who is also the secretary of the society. The present trustees are S.H. Brown, Mark Able, C.S. Giddings, F. McMahon, Ira Burlingame, C.N. Wise and Charles Cuddeback. The present pastor is Rev. John McKean.
ROCKY RIVER M. E. CHURCH
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD -- F.C.LOWING
The first attempt to establish an M.E. Church in Rocky River, that led to the organization ofthe present church and Sunday School was the assembling of a few people in 1885. Among the most influential and persistent were Mrs. Julia Berkimer, Mrs. H.H. Thomas, Mrs. C. Gates, Mrs. Mary E. McMahon, Mr. and Mrs. E.H. Arnold end Mr. and Mrs. G.B. Sloat. The school organized soon grew beyond the capacity ofthe homes of interested parties and meetings for the study of the Bible were held in the school house, until such time as the board declared the school to be a nuisance and shut them out from the school room.
Forced out of the school building the little band decided to build a church, which was done, and a $5,000 structure was dedicated in June, 1893.
Rev. F.W.Z. Barrett was the first pastor, and he was followed successively by Rev. Robert McCaskey, Rev. M.W. Reece, Rev. E.H. Warner, Rev. T.H. Harrold, Rev. Edwin M. Lewis, Rev. Jos. Mottershead and the present pastor--Rev. A.T. Wooley.
ROCKY RIVER M. E. CHURCH
LAKEWOOD PRESS -- March 7, 1918 -- Pg. 11
Rocky River Methodist Episcopal church was dedicated twenty-four years ego this June. It is located on Detroit Road. Rockford M.E. Church on Wooster Road is in connection with Rocky River M.E. church, it being sixty-five years old and was the original Rocky River church.
Rocky River M.E. church has a membership of about 130, and the Sunday school enrollment is 200, with an average attendance of about 150. Mr. Earl L. Stafford has been the Sunday school's very efficient superintendent for the past nineteen years.
The various organizations of the church are the Willing Worker's Society, organized even before the church was organized, with Mrs. Nellie Keyse as president; Mrs. Daisy Rollings, secretary; and Mrs. S.L. Root, treasurer; the Woman's Foreign Mission, with about thirty members, and with Mrs. Hughes as president; and the Woman's Home Mission, with about fifteen members, and with Mrs. C.W. Cuzzins as president.
A very fine Epworth League with a membership of forty-five, also helps to equip the church.
Rev. Thomas Hughes, the present pastor, becomes pastor of Trinity M.E. church, corner of Madison and West 99th street, soon, and it is with regret that his present congregation lets him go to his new field. But he has its best wishes, on his departure.
LAKEWOOD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
LAKEWOOD PRESS -- March 7, 1918 -- Pg. 9
The Lakewood Presbyterian Church at the corner of Detroit and Marlowe will be dedicated on Sunday, March 17, with appropriate ceremonies. Consistent growth each year has made possible the step from a tent at the corner of Detroit and Robinwood in which a Sunday school was first organized in June, 1904, to the present splendid edifice, which will be dedicated next month.
On March 9, 1905, the work was taken over by the Session of the Old Stone church, and was organized as "The Lakewood Branch of the Old stone Church." On May 1 of the same year Rev. Alfred J. Wright took up the pastorate and has continued his work ever since.
After moving from the tent, services were first held in part of the double house at 14312 Detroit street, and later in Miller hall. The chapel was dedicated January 5, 1908. In 1913 a wing was added to the chapel and this doubled the capacity.
In April, 1912, the Cleveland Presbytery organized the Lakewood Presbyterian church, with 342 members. That number has now increased to 760.
Work on the new building was begun in September, 1916, and has been almost continuous since that time. The main auditorium is finished in oak, is beautifully decorated and has very artistic electric fixtures. The seating capacity will about 900. The pipe organ which will have an echo attachment, has been donated by the Ladies' Guild of the church.
The basement contains a gymnasium, kitchen, pantry, shower and locker rooms. The gymnasium is 49x66 feet with an 18 foot ceiling and is surrounded on three sides by a commodious balcony. This room will be used as a dining room, for receptions, entertainments, etc. A corridor at the rear is so arranged that by throwing open folding doors a large stage is available. The seating capacity will be about a thousand.
The chapel will be renovated and used for Sunday school rooms, prayer meetings Christian Endeavor meetings, etc.
The church is open seven days each week and has activities each day and night. The Sunday school is one of the largest in the country, with an average attendance of about 450. A Men's Bible class under the presidency of Mr. David Olmsted and the leadership of Mr. William D. Smith, was organized 1ast fall and has had an average attendance of over 50.
The Ladies' Guild has over a hundred members and has regular monthly meetings. The Men's club, which meets the third Tuesday of each month has a membership of over 200. The next meeting, on February 19, will be addressed by Mr. W.R. Warner of the Warner-Swasey Company.
The three Christian Endeavor societies -- Junior, Intermediate and Young People -- have regular Sunday meetings.
The gymnasium is given over to the boys of the Sunday school on Monday and Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoon. About 75 boys are members of the various clubs. Later it is the intention to organize girls' classes for the afternoons and a men's class for Friday evening.
The exact cost of the new church cannot be definitely stated until everything is complete, but it will be in the neighborhood of $75,000, exclusive of the cost ofthe chapel.
LAKEWOOD PRESBYTERIAN
LAKEWOOD PRESS -- May 2, 1918 - Pg. 5
The Presbyterian form of dedication was used last Sunday afternoon when the new Lakewood Presbyterian church, at the corner of Detroit and Marlowe Avenues, was dedicated. The invocation was given by the Rev. James D. Williamson of Cleveland. Rev. Dr. Adelbert P. Higley, pastor of Calvary Presbyterian church, delivered the dedicatory sermon. Rev. Wilbur C. Mickey, pastor of Bethany Presbyterian church, led in the prayer of dedication.
Mr. T.W. Henderson, the treasurer, read the report of the building committee, which showed that the total cost of the new church and its furnishings, was $74,600, of which amount $38,000 had been paid.
A communion service was held in the morning at which a number of new members were received into the church.
In the evening Rev. Thomas S. McWilliams, of Western Reserve University, delivered an address on the subject: “The Moral and Religious Conditions of Our Cantonments.”
The new auditorium, which seats approximately 800, was filled at all the services. While no effort was made to raise money at any of the services, yet a large sum was contributed in cash and pledges during the day.
LAKEWOOD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD -- F.C.LOWING
This church was first organized as a branch, or mission, of the Old Stone Church, of Cleveland. The date of organization--or consummation of the organization--was Sunday, March 12, 1905, at which time Dr. A.N. Meldrum, the pastor of the Old Stone Church, conducted a communion service and received 19 members into the newly organized mission.
The first work looking to the establishment of a Presbyterian church in Lakewood was the institution of a Sunday School in a tent, at the corner of Robinwood and Detroit Avenues, one Sunday afternoon in June, 1904. This was followed by Sunday school exercises and preaching services in the New Jerusalem church until December 4, when a dwelling house was rented for public worship; and on March 9, 1905, the Old Stone Church congregation got behind the new organization financially, thus assuring success for the enterprise.
May 16, 1907, ground was broken for the present structure of the Lakewood Presbyterian church--built at the rear of the church site to allow of the erection of a permanent structure later- and services were held in it in November for the first time. The edifice was dedicated on January 5, 1908. The organization was continued as a branch or mission until April 12, 1912, when a permanent organization was effected with a membership--many of them from the roster of the Old Stone Church--of 342 souls. Since that time the Lakewood Presbyterian church has enjoyed a healthy growth until today it is one of the more aggressive religious organizations in the city.
LAKEWOOD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
(Men' s Bible Class New Home)
LAKEWOOD PRESS -- March 7, 1918 -- Pg. 2
Next Sunday morning, the lOth, will find the Men's Bible Class of the Lakewood Presbyterian Church in their new quarters, and it is confidently expected 150 men will be present to inaugurate the long looked-forward to event.
The balcony of the new church will be opened as their permanent quarters and will comfortably seat 150 men. Present indications are every chair will be occupied.
A special program is being arranged, and Mr. Soerheide, in charge of City Mission work, a rapid fire speaker with a real message, will be seen in action.
Very likely some of your men friends have in the past week spoken to you about attending this class, but if they haven't, this is an invitation. If you are not affiliated with such a class on Sunday mornings at 9:30, it will pay you to give this class the "once over" at least.
LAKEWOOD PRESBYTERIAN HAS HAD ONLY TWO PASTORS SINCE FOUNDING
LAKEWOOD POST -- no date
Editor's Note - This is the fifth in a series of historical accounts of churches in Lakewood and the West Shore which will appear in The Post during coming weeks.
By Jeanette Glen Thorne
A church with only two leaders during its lifetime is the record of the Lakewood Presbyterian church, located at the corner of Marlowe and Detroit. Rev. A.J. Wright was its leader for twenty-two years. Dr. Leroy Lawther, the present pastor, has served this church for sixteen years.
The church is one that "grew with the town." In 1905 Lakewood was only composed of 4,000 people, and during that year 108 building permits were issued. In the following year the number of building permits doubled, marking the beginning of the real growth of Lakewood.
This was Lakewood when the services of the Lakewood Presbyterian church "to be” were held within half of a double house on Detroit opposite the foot of Olive.
A total of sixteen people banded together to build the beginning of the Presbyterian church. The original members belonged to Old Stone Church as this church in its inception was considered a branch of Old Stone, and it was not until 1912 that it was known as the Lakewood Presbyterian church.
A lot was purchased at Detroit and Marlowe and a chapel was begun in 1908. This $15,329.16 edifice was dedicated in November of that year. An addition was made to the chapel three years later, at which time the membership had grown to 320 members. At the time of the first World War, the congregation dedicated a $75,000 church auditorium; and within four years burned the mortgage on the church.
Today the membership has jumped from its original 16 to a total of 2,200 members and maintains a Sunday school composed of 800 children and 400 adults. Assisting Dr. Lawther is Rev. William S. Hockman.
LAKEWOOD GRACE PRESBYTERIAN TO MARK 40th YEAR
PLAIN DEALER -- October 1, 1966
Grace Presbyterian Church, Lakewood, begun as a mission of Lakewood Presbyterian Church, will celebrate its 40th anniversary in a community service and reception at 7:45 PM Monday.
Ten of the 99 charter members, who are still active in the church, will be honored. They are Mr. and Mrs. Alvan G. Evans, Mrs. William A. Fishell, Mrs. William R. Nelson, Mrs. Thomas S. Flowers, Mr. and Mrs. William J. Primose, Mrs. Albert Schmidt, Mrs. Fred C. Speir and Miss Frances Richardson.
Miss Richardson is a daughter of the first pastor of the church, the Rev. L. H. Richardson and has been organist of Grace Church from its beginning.
Dr. J. Harold Gwynne, pastor since 1952, will officiate.
He hopes that Dr. A. J. Wright, 90, pastor of Lakewood Presbyterian Church when Grace Church was founded, and Mrs. Wright will be guests.
Several church and civic leaders of Lakewood and Greater Cleveland are to speak.
Grace Church worshiped in a basement chapel from 1929 until its present modernistic building was dedicated in 1955.
The church school was added in 1958.
LAKEWOOD UNITED PRESBYTERIAN
LAKEWOOD PRESS -- March 7, 1918 -- Pg. 11
The Lakewood United Presbyterian church, located at the corner of Detroit and Lakewood Avenues, was organized about twelve years ago under the leadership of the Rev. O.A. Keach, now pastor of the First United Presbyterian church, Akron, Ohio. The work was carried on for a time in a small frame chapel situated at the rear ofthe present building, an attractive stone structure.
The congregation has a membership of about 200 and is well organized for progressive work along all lines. While this congregation is not as large numerically as some others, it is distinguished for its liberality in the support of every good work. It is a strong force for righteousness, and the outlook for this congregation was never better than at the present time.
The present minister is the Rev. T.N. McQuoid who was called to this church about the first of last June.
LAKEWOOD UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD -- F.C.LOWING
This church was duly organized April 21, 1905 with the following incorporators: C.J. Neal, C. G. Robinson, Daniel Martin, Clara Neal, Clara Keach, Bessie Brady, Sarah Bayne, William S.H. Brady and H.A. Cochran. The organization was effected at the request of a number of United Presbyterians living in Lakewood, who wished to worship in a church of that denomination.
The first pastor to assume the spiritual duties of the newly formed church was Rev. Orin A. Keach, now pastor of the First U.P. Church, Akron. He was succeeded by Rev. Ainsworth Hope, now at Cedar Rapids, Iowa; next came Rev. A.W. Caldwell, now at Crafton, Pennsylvania.
The church started off with a membership of about thirty, but now has grown to 103 communicants. The Sunday School has an enrollment of 125 and an average attendance of about ninety. The commodious brick structure erected ten years ago was built so that an addition can be easily effected from the south side, and the church has ground sufficient for such an improvement.
NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD -- F .C. LOWING
The doctrines of the New Jerusalem church were introduced into Rockport, now Lakewood, as early as 1813 by James Nicholson, who with his family migrated to this state from Connecticut. He came in a pioneer wagon. Reaching the Cuyahoga River and crossing it at the point where Detroit Avenue now begins, he blazed his way through the forest to the place where the present Nicholson homestead is at present located. Here, with his family, he spent the night. Later he purchased a large tract of woodland, built a log house and began to clear his land. He was for a number of years the only New Jerusalem churchman in this part of Ohio. He was a man of sterling qualities of character and was highly esteemed by his neighbors. His religious faith was the one all absorbing factor in his life. He had gained, as he thought and sincerely believed, a broader and more comprehensive faith in God, in the Bible and the life of Christianity; and he never let an opportunity go by of speaking to his friends of the things that had enlightened his mind and filled his soul. A few of his neighbors became interested in the new faith; but no very great progress was made in propagating the doctrines of the new church until the coming to this state from Massachusetts of Mr. Mars Wagar, and his conversion to the doctrines of the new church through the talks he had from time to time with James Nicholson. Mars Wagar was a graduate of Harvard College. He had lost his faith in God and in the Bible. Meeting Mr. Nicholson, he was surprised to find that every objection he urged against the inspiration of the Bible and the claims of the Christian religion was answered in a way that appealed to his reason. He forsook his infidelity and became an earnest and humble Christian; and with his conversion began the growth of the New Jerusalem church in this locality.
The greater part of the sparsely populated community became interested in the church. The first formal meeting for worship was held in a log school house near what is now known as Granger Avenue. It was a very simple service, conducted by a layman who read a printed sermon. A few years later, Rev. Richard Hooper, a local Methodist preacher from England, was converted to the church; and with his conversion, the meetings began to take on new interest. It was the first formal religious meeting held in this community.
The society was formed in 1830, and continued to worship in the log school house under the leadership of Mr. Hopper, until 1835, when a frame church was built on a lot donated by Mr. Mars Wagar, at what is now known as Detroit and Andrews Avenues.
The Rt. Rev. Thomas Worcester, D.D. of Boston, Massachusetts, made the long journey from Boston to Rockport and ordained Mr. Hooper into the priesthood of the church, in March, 1836.
The society was formed with 28 members. Each member was required to subscribe his or her name to the following articles of faith:
1st. The sole and Supreme Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ in whom is the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.
2nd. The holiness and verbal inspiration of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.
3rd. The necessity of Regeneration, or the new birth in order to enter the Kingdom of God.
4th. The universality of the Redemption wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ.
5th. The Sacraments--baptism and the Supper of the Lord as of binding obligation--baptism the Sacrament ofentrance into the church--and Holy Communion the Sacrament of Christ' s presence in the Consecrated bread and wine.
6th. The need for faith and charity in the daily life.
7th. Heaven as the final home of the good and hell as the final home of the wicked.
This statement of the Christian faith was explained in a rational manner, and the church continued to grow in numbers and power.
The clergymen who have at different times served the parish have been as follows: Revs. Hooper, Day, Newman, Williams, Noble, Mercer, Saul, Frost, Stearns, Cabell, Browne, and King. Deaths and removals to other parts of the country reduced the membership of the church to a mere handful, so that in 1903, when the present pastor, Rev. Dr. Thomas A. King, took up his residence in Lakewood, he found only a few left to begin the work of rebuilding the parish.
The few who were left gathered around him; and his ministry has been one of marked success. Within four years, under his leadership, there was built a beautiful rectory, located on Mars Avenue, the old chapel was removed to a lot on Andrews Avenue and remodeled and converted into a parish house, and the present churchly structure erected and dedicated.
The church has a communicant membership of 150, a flourishing Sunday School, a live young People' s League, a most effective Woman' s Guild and an active Altar Guild. The property of the church is valued at $40,000. The church is out of debt.
CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER
LAKEWOOD PRESS -- March 1, 1918 -- Pg. 11
"Church of the Redeemer" is the local name of this parish. The denominational name of the body with which this parish is affiliated is, "The New Jerusalem Church". This name is taken from the 21st chapter of the Book of Revelation. For St. John's vision of the descent of the Holy City from God out of heaven, we understand to be the Bible symbol of the new dispensation of the Christian religion. We therefore call ourselves New Churchmen and our church the New church, not, however, in the sense of regarding it as a new sect, but as the church that stands for the doctrines of Christianity that have inaugurated the New Religious Age.
The New Jerusalem church is distinctly Christian, differing from denominational bodies of the Christian church only in the explanation which it gives to the Christian doctrines and symbols.
To illustrate: Evangelical Protestantism believes in the doctrine that there is a trinity in the Godhead, but it claims that the trinity in the Godhead is constituted of three equally divine persons, each of whom is singly and by Himself God.
The New Jerusalem church also believes that the Godhead is constituted of a divine trinity, but it does not accept, either the Roman or Protestant explanation of the trinity. We teach that God is one in essence and in person, but that in God there is a divine trinity of Essentials, called the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, and that these three essentials are distinctly one God, just as soul and body and resultant operation of life are one man.
The New Jerusalem church believes in the actual incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ, thus that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Father, as to His eternal divinity, and the Son as to the Humanity which was conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary, and the Holy Spirit as to His divine operation.
Thus the New Church worships the Lord Jesus Christ in whom is the Father, and the Son and the Holy Ghost.
The New Church, in common with all Evangelical bodies, believes in the Bible as the written word of God, but it differs from them in its explanation of the Bible. The New Church stands for the Bible as a spiritual book. It does not undervalue its literal sense, for it regards the literal sense as holy, but it claims that within the literal sense there is a deeper spiritual sense, which sustains the same relation to the literal sense that the soul does to the body. This spiritual sense treats always of the Lord and of his operation in the regeneration of man.
In common with all Evangelical Christians, the members of the New Church believes in the need for personal regeneration, but they do not believe in instantaneous regeneration. The New Church teaches that regeneration is a new birth and that one gradually grows in the life of it, as he reads the Lord's Word, faithfully attends the services of the church, and devoutly receives the Lord's Spiritual body and blood in the Holy Communion; and especially as he lives the Christian life in the shunning of evil because it is sin against God.
The New Jerusalem Church believes in common with all Christians in the atonement of Jesus Christ, but it differs from them in its explanation of it. The atonement as explained in the New Church was the great at-one-ment which Christ effected between God and man in His own person, which at one ment made in Him and by Him may be received by all who believe in Him, repent of their sins and lead a new life.
These are the differences--differences of explanation of the same facts.
The New Jerusalem Church is therefore a thing separate and apart from a mere sect or cult. It has no connection with what is known as New Thought nor has it the slightest connection with spiritualism, which it regards as a diabolical practice. It is simply what we regard as the higher and more rational explanation of the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The New Jerusalem Church was organized in this place in 1835.
The government and ritual of the church are Episcopal. It maintains all the offices and usages of the Church of England.
The present edifice, known as the Church of the Redeemer, was erected on a lot already owned by the parish, and cost $25,000. In addition to the church, there has been built a large and beautiful rectory on Mars Avenue and a parish house on Andrews Avenue. The total value of the property owned by the parish is $60,000. There is no debt.
The communicant membership is 160. There is a flourishing Sunday school, a Woman's Guild, an Altar Guild, and a Young People's League in connection with the church.
The church does its work quietly, seeking always to reach and develop the spiritual life.
The present rector of the parish is the Rev. Dr. Thomas A. King, who has been with the parish about fifteen years.
It has been under his leadership that the parish has acquired its present property and attained its present state of spiritual life. His sermons are free from sensationalism. They are expositions of the Word of God and replete with lessons of daily life.
GEORGE LINDSTROM UNPUBLISHED HISTORY ?
The Church of the Redeemer stands at the corner of Andrews and Detroit. It is a red brick building covered with ivy, and is altogether inviting and quaint with its mammoth doors and iron hinges. Some day we shall call it old, but today its predecessor interests us. It is the little white and green parish house around the corner immediately behind the church, erected almost 100 years ago. It originally stood on the site of the brick church and for a great many years was the social, intellectual and religious center for all of Lakewood, then called Rockport. It is still the select center for the descendents of Lakewood’s first citizens, many of whom have clung to the faith embraced by their forefathers, that of Emanuel Swedenborg. The little church was filled to capacity in the old days, and the church register records the regular attendance of the Nicholson’s, Wagar’s, Hotchkiss’, French’s, Case’s, Southern’s and Howe’s.
The seed for this church was inspired by James Nicholson, who built the lovely New England structure at Nicholson and Detroit. He was our earliest permanent settler, who as a young man of 21 left the comfortable home of his father, a minister in Chatham, Massachusetts, and made the long journey west on foot. It was a tedious trip, beset with danger from wild animals and Indian uprisings, and although one might be young and alert physically, it took its toll in weariness, making many stops necessary. Often these stops were profitable, and so it proved in his case, for it was in Trumbull County, Ohio, that James met and woo’d Betsy Bartholomew one May day in 1812. She was a pert little miss of 18, already accustomed to the rigors of pioneer life, having left her native Waterbury, Connecticut a number of years previously. Three months before the War of 1812, James Nicholson was drafted, compelling him to leave his wife and two small children alone in their log cabin in the wilderness.
In 1818 we find records of his purchase of land in Rockport, where he built a log cabin on Detroit, then an Indian trail leading west from Cleveland. His family had increased, and he soon found it necessary to build a frame house, but due to lack of materials, the beams and rafter were secured without nails, and the slightest wind would cause the house to sway and creak. The Nicholsons bore seven children, James, Hiram, Delia, Melissa, Celestia, Lewis and Ezra. The land was also fruitful, and in 1835 they erected the white colonial gem as we know it at the corner of Nicholson Avenue.
For a number of years James Nicholson had no neighbors, so he had plenty of time to think and very little material to read. No wonder he devoured the books of Swedenborg which he had purchased from an itinerant book agent. His early religious and educational training helped him to interpret Swedenborg’s teachings better than the average convert, and he became so ardent in his beliefs, and set such a good example that as Rockport grew, all the settlers in the near community readily accepted his faith.
One of his most difficult converts was Mars Wagar, who with his wife Keturah Miller came by oxcart from Phelps, New York, and settled in Rockport in 1820. They purchased the farm adjoining Nicholson’s extending from Belle to Warren and south to Madison about 160 acres at $7 per acre. Mars was a tall, heavy set dark man, a graduate of Harvard and an expert surveyor. He was a confirmed atheist, but for the sake of argument and mental recreation, he and the slight, mild mannered, James Nicholson held long sessions disputing the teachings of the Bible. Great was the rejoicing when James finally converted Mars. Neither would rest till they and their wives were able to make the long journey by cart to Wooster, Ohio, home of the nearest Swedenborgian church, that they might be confirmed into their new faith.
They returned greatly inspired and immediately started gatherings in neighbors’ barns, in school houses, and in homes, and finally on the site of the present church, the land being given by the Wagars, the funds for building the church by James Nicholson. The church was finally completed in 1848, every member having had a share in its construction. Timber was cut from trees on the land, and the roughly hewn limbs with bark attached may still be seen in the basement rafters. Building in the early days was a gala community event. Families gathered from near and far, the men setting up the frame, and the women feeding the laborers. The last detail as an elaborate portico at the front entrance added to accommodate the fringe covered surreys in dislodging passengers in comfort. Sunday was the hub of life. It was good to meet and chat with one’s neighbors, and to have such a fine church in which worship God, and to ponder over the amazing teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg, a man who astounded the world with his knowledge 200 years ago, and who still inspires educators and scientists, everywhere.
There was no resident minister for many years, but James Nicholson was on hand each Sunday to interpret in simple language the marvelous writings of Swedenborg. He stressed, as they do today, the love of truth, the desire of be useful, the development of character, the reality of the spiritual world and the certainty of man’s life after death.
At the turn of the century the Swedenborgians boomed throughout the land. Lakewood’s little church proved too small and the new brick was erected to replace it, the smaller building moved back to be used as a parish house. It has been remodeled and painted many times, but the original sanctuary is much as it was when eager hands put it together as a tribute to early Christian training.
FIRST NEW JERUSALEM (SWEDENBORGIAN)
HISTORY OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY -- C. JOHNSON -- 1879 Pg. 506 – 507
Previous to 1841 there were several families of the Swedenborgian faith in Rockport, James Nicholson and Mars Wagar being leading believers. Rev. M. McCarr, of Cincinnati, was invited to come out and form a church, which he did on the 4th of September, 1841, in a schoolhouse near Rocky river. The first members were W.D. Bell and wife, Osborne Case, James Nicholson and wife, I.D. Wagar and wife, Delia Paddock, A.M. Wagar, Boadicea and Diantha Thayer, James Newman, Jane E. Johnson, Susanna Parshall, Mars Wagar and wife, James Coolahan and wife, Asa Dickinson and wife, Richard Hooper and wife, Matilda Wagar, Mary Berthong and John Berry.
The first trustees were W.D. Bell, James Nicholson and I.D. Wagar. The first ordained minister was Rev. Richard Hooper who had been a Methodist preacher in Rockport, and who is said to have been suddenly converted, at a camp meeting, to the new faith. He was ordained directly after the organization just mentioned, and labored vigorously four years as the pastor. Succeeding him the ordained ministers have been Revs. W.G. Day (who preached ten years), L.P. Mercer, D. Noble, John Saal, and George L. Stearns, the present incumbent who was ordained in 1876. The church membership now numbers about forty.
The society worshiped in the Rocky River schoolhouse until 1848, when the present house of worship (remodeled and improved in 1878) was built. The trustees are now Ezra Nicholson, A.M. Wagar and Alfred French.
Incidental to the religious experience of James Nicholson and Mars Wagar it is said that upon their awakening to the new faith they, with their wives, rode in a two-horse wagon all the way to Wooster to be baptized into the church.
CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER
EARLY DAYS OF LAKEWOOD -- D. A. R. -- Pg. 91 – 92
From the time of his coming to Rockport, James Nicholson had used every opportunity to talk to friends and acquaintances about the religious faith, which was the great interest of his life.
Mars Wagar, a Harvard graduate, had lost all belief in the Christian religion. It was James Nicholson who convinced him of the truth of the Bible and led him to give himself to Christian work. So sincere were these two that it is said that they with their wives rode in a two-horse wagon all the way to Wooster, Ohio, to be baptized into the "New Faith". Many others became interested after the conversion of Mr. Wagar, and the first formal worship was held in the log school house near the present Cannon Avenue. This is believed to have been the first formal worship in the township.
Early in 1825, a group of twenty-five people organized a church, the first in the township; and within the first year of their church life, they were able to build a place of worship. Mars Wagar donated the lot on the corner of the present Andrews and Detroit Avenues, and in 1825, the Swedenborgians erected their church, sometimes called "The New Jerusalem Church". Their first ordained minister was Reverend R. Hooper, a local Methodist preacher, who had been converted to the "New Church," as it was then called. This church grew and prospered through the years, including in its membership many prominent families of Rockport. It played an important part in the development of those early days, as many of the ministers were also teachers of the pioneer children.
This first building was used for eighty-two years. It was then moved to the rear of the lot to become a parish house. (A part of the original building is still to be found.) On this site there now stands a beautiful brick structure, The Church of the Redeemer.
NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH (SWEDENBORGIAN)
HISTORY OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY AND CLEVELAND
W.R. COATES -- Volume 1, Pg. 178-179
The New Jerusalem Church (Swedenborgian) has an interesting history. Before 1841 a number of families of that faith had settled in Rockport, James Nicholson and Mars Wagar were the leading believers. They invited Reverend McCarr of Cincinnati to come to Rockport and form a church. He came September 4, 1841, and called a meeting in a schoolhouse on Rooky River. Here and at that time a church was organized.
The first members were W.D. Bell and wife, Osborn Case, James Nicholson and wife, Israel D. Wagar and wife, Delia Paddock, A.M. Wagar, Baadicea and Diantha Thayer, James Newman, Jane E. Johnson, Susanna Parshall, Mars Wagar and wife, James Coolahan and wife, Asa Dickinson and wife, Richard Harper and wife, Matilda Wagar, Mary Berthong and John Berry. The first trustees were W.D. Bell, James Nicholson and L.D. Wagar.
The first ordained minister was Rev. Richard Hooper. Reverend Hooper had been a Methodist minister in Rockport, attended a camp meeting of Swedenborgians and was suddenly converted to that faith, and was ordained at once. He was the pastor for four years. Following him were Revs. W.G. Day, L.P. Mercer, D. Noble, John Saal and George L. Stearns in the order named. Their meetings were held in schoolhouses until 1848, then in other church buildings. In 1878 the church put up a building of their own. The trustees at this time were A.M. Wagar, Ezra Nicholson and Alfred French.
Israel D. Wagar, a son of Mars and Katura, who was one of the first members of the church, gave this as his creed: "I believe that all men will in the end be saved, that the eternal purposes of the A1mighty will never be thwarted or turned aside by his creatures; that 'He is good to all and His tender mercies are over all His works', and that the human mind is so organized that it will yield to treatment, that the wicked by association, discipline and punishment, under the guidance of divine wisdom, will in the end be saved."
The