History of Grace E.C. Church

The year 1992 marks the one hundredth anniversary of Grace Church in Akron. However, our church was originally a part of the Evangelical Association, a denomination founded by Jacob Albright about 1800.

At the General Conference of that denomination held in 1885, there arose differences of opinion concerning the powers of the General Conference and the Bishops. This resulted in a division and two groups known as the Majority and Minority were formed.

The Minority group reorganized as the United Evangelical Church. Since the court awarded all the church property to the Majority group the people in Akron who favored the Minority group met for worship in the East Akron school house (at the intersection of Main and Diamond Streets) and in the homes of some of the members.

It was with great anticipation and joy that a new church was built in 1892. The cornerstone laying service took place on Sunday, August 23, 1892. Services were held Saturday night and three services on Sunday in the tabernacle in the rear of the church building with seating for about 600 people. Rev. G.W. Hangen was the minister at that time.

Rev. A.A. Delong preached a sermon in the English language on Saturday night. On Sunday morning Rev. J.H. Shirey preached in the German language. He preached an English sermon in the afternoon and after the sermon an opportunity was given to have names placed in the cornerstone, a dollar was to be contributed by each adult and fifty cents by each child under ten. There were 147 names placed in the stone. Rev. Shirey preached again Sunday night. The grand total of all the offerings taken was more than $450.

The church was dedicated on Sunday, November 20, 1892. Bishop C.S. Haman preached on Saturday night and again on Sunday morning, this time in the German language. Presiding Elder S.S. Chubb preached in the afternoon to a large audience. All available sitting and standing room was used and many were unable to enter the church. Rev. Chubb preached again on Sunday evening and again there were not enough seats to accommodate all the people. According to the records the church building cost $3300 and the members had a building fund of $800. On dedication day all but $16 was raised.

The first Sunday School session was held on Sunday, November 27, 1892 at 1:30 P.M. with 130 persons in attendance. The election of officers was held on Tuesday night January 10, 1893, when the following persons were chosen as leaders:

Superintendent, D.F. Albright; Assistant Superintendent, Martin Albright; Secretary, Mrs. Annie Shirker; Treasurer, Rudy Zeil; Librarians, Ella Groff and Alice Evans; Organist, E.H. Smith; Assistant organist, Minnie Wenger; Trustees, S.K. Wolf and Levi Heck.

During the first twelve years the pastors lived in homes rented in the community. In 1904 the church bought the home of John Schatz, now 929 Broad Street. This home served as the parsonage until 1919 when the church sold it and bought the home of William Ravegum, 56 South Ninth Street. This home was used until 1942 when a newly built home at 1015 Broad Street was bought and served as the parsonage until 1979. At that time our pastor R.J. Stahl asked and was given permission to buy his own home.

The church did not own a parsonage again until May 1986 when we bought 46 Miller Road. In 1991 We were willed Mary and Leona Mohn's home at 802 Borad Street which we began using as a parsonage in June 1992. We then sold the home on Miller Road.

The charge originally consisted of six churches and was known as the Brownstown Circuit. The churches were located in Akron, Brownstown, Rothsville, Lincoln, Ephrata and Vogansville. In 1895 Ephrata was dropped from the circuit and in 1896 Vogansville withdrew. At the Annual Conference in 1904, the charge consisting of Akron, Brownstown, and Rothsville was formed. In 1942 the Annual Conference detached Rothsville from the charge. Akron and Brownstown comprised the charge until 1960 when each church became a separate charge.

From the beginning our denomination has stressed evangelism. The charge conducted an annual camp meeting at Rothsville from 1892 to 1895. Later a camp meeting was held annually at Millway from 1903 to 1916. People came from far and near to hear the preaching and many were converted and added to the church.

Small congregations may sometimes feel that compared to larger churches they do not accomplish much. In 1908 Grace Church recommended two young men as candidates for the ministry. That year Annual Conference licensed William Daniels and John A. Smith to preach the gospel. Rev. William Daniels later moved to Ohio where he served in the United Brethren Church.

Rev. John A. Smith, after serving some of the largest churches in our conference, became presiding elder, and eventually was elected to be the Bishop, the highest office in our denomination, where he served with distinction.

As early as 1895 there was a report on the Quarterly Conference of a K.L.C.E. having been organized at Akron with 46 members. A mission band of 50 members was organized in 1909. The W.M.S. was organized in 1910. 

In 1922 a merger of the Evangelical Association and the United Evangelical Church was consummated. Some of the churches did not enter the merger but reorganized as the Evangelical Congregational Church to which group Grace Church has adhered.

The congregation of Grace Church has always taken pride in the appearance of the church building. In 1905 a room was added to the main church which was used as a Sunday School room for the Primary Department and also as a prayer meeting room. In 1931 extensive improvements were made at a cost of $6,300. These improvements included exterior and interior painting, new pews, pulpit furniture, lights, carpet, art windows, etc.

In 1951 restrooms were installed in the basement and the northwest comer of the basement was finished for use as a room for the growing Primary Department of the Sunday School. By 1953 still more room was needed and excavation was made under the rest of the church. A large room for the use of the Intermediate and Junior Departments of the Sunday School, a kitchen and boiler room for the new heating plant were installed. These rooms were dedicated June 7, 1953. In 1954 the Christian Endeavor presented the church with a Baldwin electronic organ. This organ was dedicated on April 4, 1954. The chimes were installed in 1956 as a memorial to Mr. and Mrs. Lemon Cooper by their daughter, Mrs. Eva Clare.

In 1955 the officials of the church and Sunday School were looking ahead to the future expansion of the church facilities to meet the needs of our growing Sunday School. In 1957 a congregational meeting was called to vote on the purchase of land for a new church. In 1957 the lot on the comer of N. Ninth and Main Streets was purchased from J. Walter Snader for $19,000. In October, 1959 this lot was sold back to J. Walter Snader and the lot on which our church is now located was purchased from Horace Melhnger for $19,000.

At a special congregational meeting October 28, 1962, the congregation approved the plans for a church and educational building as presented by Haak & Kaufman, Architects. At a special congregational meeting January 10, 1965, the congregation authorized the official board to secure construction plans for the educational wing.

On Sunday, November 28, 1965, after the morning worship service a ground breaking service was held. The cornerstone laying service was held on Sunday, June 5, 1966 at 2:00 P.M. Bishop Emeritus, Dr. John A. Smith preached the sermon. 

The Christian Education Building was dedicated November 20, 1966. Bishop H.H. Scanlin preached the sermon at the dedication service. This building served the congregation as both a place for instruction and worship. However, the vision of the congregation was to complete the project with the building of a sanctuary. At a special congregational meeting conducted February 22, 1976 the congregation authorized the building committee to make preliminary plans for the sanctuary.

On June 12, 1977 the congregation celebrated the completion of the debt on the Christian Education building with a mortgage burning service. Rev. Edward Vondran, pastor of Grace Church when the Christian Education building was occupied, brought the message. Plans for the sanctuary continued, and on October 9, 1977, again at a special congregational meeting, the congregation approved the plans for the sanctuary as presented by the building committee.

Ground breaking for the sanctuary took place on February 19, 1978, a day the congregation will remember not only for the significance of the day but also because of the snow and extreme cold. Rev. John E. Moyer, District Superintendent of the charge, presided. The cornerstone laying service for the sanctuary took place October 8, 1978 with Bishop Emeritus John A. Smith presiding.

The dedication of the sanctuary took place on April 1, 1979. The day started with Sunday School and morning worship at the regular times. At 2:30 RM. the dedication service took place and at 7:00 RM. there was an organ recital. During these services and services throughout the following week former pastors and Bishop H.D. Wittmaier brought the sermons. There was also special music during all the services.

 In September 1980 a used school bus was purchased for taking groups to hymn sings, roller skating and other activities. In March of 1991 we purchased a 15 passenger van for taking smaller groups to activities. Also available was our youth directors van so we decided to sell our bus. In March of 1992 the bus was sold to another church.

In May of 1983 our church hosted the Annual conference of the E.C. Church. It took a lot of work by a lot of people in the congregation to do this. We had to feed and house around 300 people during this time. We again hosted the Conference in 1988.

In November 1984 we started to receive interest from a trust fund from the late Mr. and Mrs. Percy Krause who were members of our church. We received approximately $2,500 every three months from the trust fund and still receive that amount today.

The church took a big step in October of 1988 by hiring Ed Vidzicki, Jr. as a part-time director of youth, with the possibility of the position becoming full-time in the future. This became a reality in October of 1992 when Ed became director of family ministries.

We were hoping to pay off the debt on the sanctuary during our centennial year and June of 1992 we realized this goal. We paid the balance with money received from Mary Mohn's estate. We are thankful to her and of course everyone else who made this possible. On August 23 during our birthday celebration of the 100th anniversary of the cornerstone laying of the building on Ninth Street we burned the mortgage. We were now debt free.

Throughout the year of 1992 we had many special services and events and are thankful that the Lord has made all these things possible. Until He comes again we will strive to further His kingdom in Akron and the surrounding area.