USA > Ohio > The Church of the Brethren in northeastern Ohio > Part 11
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The Paradise church gives full support to community religious emphases, cooperating in weekday religious education in the public schools, a vacation church school, union commu- nity services, and other interdenominational activities. The
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members show their concern for the world's needy people, for both home and foreign missions, for Christian higher education, and for the care of our senior citizens by continued support of the district and Brotherhood outreach programs.
The Annual Meeting was held twice within the territory of the Wooster church; first, on June 12, 1848, five miles southeast of Orrville, at the farm home of Jacob Kurtz in East Union Township; and second, on May 21, 1872, at the farm home of Elder Cyrus Hoover, near Weilersville, adjoining the Paradise church. This meeting is recorded as having been attended by about seven thousand persons.
THE READING CHURCH
The present Reading church is an offspring of the old Sandy church, which was located in the early 1820's in the western end of Columbiana County, in Knox Township. In the years between 1820 and 1825, about fifty members moved to this part of the state from Mahoning County and from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland. The first permanent settler in the township was John Thomas, who came from Pennsylvania.
The early meetings of these German Baptists were held in log houses, without any organization, as early as 1810. The families of Peter Summers, John Niswander, and Samuel and Henry Thomas comprised the original group. Sometime between 1826 and 1835, Abraham Heestand (Hiestand or Heastand) with his family moved to the western end of Columbiana County and located on a farm surrounding the present church grounds, which he donated to the congregation. An able leader and worker, with the assistance of others he was influential in developing a community that grew into a populous and prosperous church.
The Sandy church included what is now known as the Freeburg, Reading, and Science Hill churches. In 1860 the Sandy church established a mission, known as Liberty, four miles west of Minerva. Meetings were held in various places until 1860, at which time a house of worship was erected.
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Lewis Glass was the first minister. In 1878 the church house was enlarged to its present proportions, forty by ninety feet. The membership of the congregation in 1861 was two hundred forty-nine. Records of early communions held at individual homes were kept as early as 1856. The first communion held in the church house was that of June 9, 1880.
One of the first ministerial meetings in the district was held in the Reading church on May 6 and 7, 1892. The church house provided ample room for a meeting of this kind.
At a council meeting held on August 18, 1900, the Sandy congregation was divided into two sections, all of the congregation west of the Stark and Columbiana county line to be called the Freeburg congregation and the others to be known as the Reading church. Thus came to an end the Sandy organization.
Many changes have been made through the years toward modernizing the building. A furnace was installed and a piano was purchased. This improvement was followed by reversing the seats, with the pulpit being placed in the north end of the church. Later, electricity was installed. Several years ago new pulpit furniture was presented to the church in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Walter G. Stoffer by their family. The kitchen was modernized and restrooms were installed in the basement in 1952.
A mural painting depicting the Twenty-third Psalm was presented to the church by Rena and Mary Heestand in memory of their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Heestand and Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Heestand.
In July 1952, the members voted to purchase a tract of land on which to erect a ready-cut house for a parsonage, the gift of Lela and Kenneth Cope. Under the direction of John Baker, Walter Johnson, and Donald Hoffman, and with much volunteer labor, the parsonage was finished in November. It was dedicated on Sunday afternoon, November 16, 1952; C. H. Deardorff delivered the dedicatory address. A gift of new living-room and dining-room furniture and accessories for the parsonage was presented on December 16, 1952, by Lela and Kenneth Cope in memory of Mrs. Cope's grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Eli Stroup.
These are some of the ministers who have worked in the church since its beginning in 1825 (the list includes those who
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The Reading Church
served Sandy, Freeburg, and Reading) : Abraham Heestand, John Nicholson, Lewis Glass, Edward Loomis, Eli Stroup, M. W. Hahn, Noah Longanecker, John F. Kahler, J. J. Hoover, David Byers, Joseph Heffner, A. W. Harrold, A. I. Heestand, Floyd Irvin, F. B. Weimer, G. S. Strausbaugh, S. B. Stuckey, Aaron Shively, D. F. Stuckey, M. M. Taylor, J. C. Inman, E. G. Diehm, G. K. Beach, J. I. Byler, J. D. Zigler, Adam H. Miller, Paul Miller, Harvey Lehman, I. R. Beery, Dale Gibboney, and Raymond Risden. Joseph Heffner was called to the ministry by the Reading church in 1905.
Raymond Risden, who was born and reared in Homeworth, became a member of the Reading church in 1935; here he was licensed to the ministry in 1937 and ordained in 1938. After pastorates in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Indiana, he was called by his home church as its pastor in 1952. He remained in the parish until 1957.
Among the deacons of the Sandy congregation have been John Weaver, William L. Myers, D. E. Bowman, D. S. Bowman, David Shively, Peter Stouffer, A. Wyman, Eli Thomas, Frank Weaver, James Benner, Levi Heestand, Samuel Stouffer, John Culler, and Samuel Heestand.
The Reading church elected the following deacons: B. F.
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Roose, Edwin Garman, Walter G. Stoffer, Owen C. Hahn, James M. Thomas, Donald Hoffman, Daniel Braid, Walter Kimes, Earl Stroup, and Walter Johnson. Charles Messer, a deacon, moved into the community with his family from Iowa.
As a part of the missionary activity of the church, the young married people's class contributed generously to the support of Hazel Messer while she was in India.
A well was drilled at the parsonage in November 1957, and a gas furnace was installed in the church in the fall of 1959. The church received a generous legacy from the estate of Jesse and Mary Teegarden of Cleveland; Mary Teegarden was a former member of the church. Extensive remodeling was done between 1960 and 1962: a new entrance was built on the east side of the church; the sanctuary was remodeled with the pulpit again being placed at the south end of the building; the fellowship hall was paneled; a new floor and a new ceiling were installed; and a church-school room was built in the basement.
Willis Bosserman was our pastor from September 1, 1957, to September 1, 1959. Loren Frantz was with us from September 1, 1961, to May 1, 1962. The present pastor, Robert L. Heeter, began his service on July 15, 1962.
THE RICHLAND CHURCH
As the Brethren moved westward after the Revolutionary War, they were in search of good farming land. Consequently a large percentage of our present Brotherhood membership is clustered in the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
A group of these people settled in Franklin Township, Richland County. Here they organized a congregation sometime between 1830 and 1840. Calling this congregation the Tunker Society, they held their meetings in the houses of Jacob Whisler and Henry Worst and in the schoolhouse. The first members were Jacob and Henry Whisler, Christian Rittenhouse, Samuel and Jacob Landes and their wives, and Joseph Rittenhouse and his wife. The early leaders were James Tracy, Henry Showalter, and Elias Dickey.
In 1857, land was given for a building site by John Kendall
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and Michael Keith, according to records kept by Edna Porter Pifer. The following year a small church was built. At the time of the two-hundred-fiftieth anniversary of the Church of the Brethren (1958), we of the Richland church were privileged to celebrate our one-hundredth anniversary.
The first love feasts were two-day meetings beginning at 10:30 A.M., on Saturday. At that time the congregation gathered for a short worship service followed by a dinner cooked in a large open kettle. Two of the members had been appointed to buy a beef and butcher it in preparation for this occasion. After the Saturday noon meal, the members gathered for an afternoon of preaching and prayer in preparation for the communion service. On Saturday evening they gathered around the table for the feetwashing service and their fellowship meal followed by the communion service. Many visitors came from a distance and spent the night with members living close to the church. On Sunday, morning and afternoon preaching services were held, the noon meal being served at the church. Love feasts were held in the homes and the barns of the members until 1898, when a thirty-foot addition was made to the original church building. This provided ample room for the love feasts to be held in the church and for overnight visitors to be housed in a back room.
Some of the ministers serving the church under the free-ministry system were James Tracy (1840); Henry Showalter (1852); William Murray (1870); Peter Helfer (1884) ; James McMullen (1887); and Levi Feightner (1889).
On April 9, 1907, a parsonage was purchased. The following year, Ira Long came with his family to pastor the church. He remained until 1916. Lester Heisey was here from 1916 to 1921. Chris Lehman came in 1921 and was with us until 1924. For a period of three years the church had no resident pastor, the pulpit being filled by W. L. Desenberg and Aaron Heaston. In 1927, J. W. Fyock was called. R. H. Cox came to us from Pennsylvania in 1930 and served the church until 1936. F. Blake Million was then with us from 1936 until 1958. J. Herman Reinke now ministers to the congregation.
On April 27, 1890, the first Sunday school was organized with N. W. Helfer as superintendent, Daniel Kline as assistant, and Samuel Porter as secretary. There were four teachers and twenty-four pupils present. The school was held from
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April 1 to November 1 for a trial period, and then was continued. One year later there were only five in attendance, but they persevered; at the close of the next six months the average attendance was thirty. In four years it had reached seventy and by 1895 had reached one hundred twenty-five.
The membership of the church also grew. In 1858, at the time the church house was built, there were forty members. By 1888 there were fifty-four; in 1918, sixty-nine; in 1948, one hundred twenty; and now, in 1962, one hundred twenty.
The first Christian workers meeting was organized in 1909 under the pastoral leadership of Ira Long.
In 1920, the church requested the district meetings involved to change the line and place the Richland church in the Northeastern District of Ohio instead of Northwestern Ohio. The request was granted.
The missionary outreach of the church went forward along with its internal growth. In May 1926 the church council adopted the following recommendations: (1) to make the Lincoln Heights mission permanent; (2) to invite the district mission board in to look over the field; (3) to call Sister Etta
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BRETHREN.
The Richland Church
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Helman to work in the church and mission. For two years a goodly number of members went in to the Lincoln Heights mission on Sunday afternoons as volunteer workers. After Brother Fyock came, the church shared him with the mission. In the council meeting of October 1929, the home mission board recommended that the Lincoln Heights mission be placed under its supervision for one year. The members of the mission board at that time were Brethren Stuckey, Taylor, Cassel, McFadden, and Shepfer. The mission continued under their supervision. At the council meeting of December 1934, the Richland church relinquished all responsibility toward the mission.
In 1948 the church building was remodeled. The original structure was raised and moved back on the lot. A full basement and a vestibule were added. On May 15, 1949, the newly remodeled facilities were dedicated, W. H. Miley giving the dedicatory address and D. R. McFadden delivering the dedicatory sermon.
The elders who are known to have served the church since it was transferred to Northeastern Ohio are George S. Strausbaugh, 1924-1930; R. H. Cox, 1931-1933; Ira Long, 1934-1937; C. H. Deardorff, 1938-1939; David Sower, 1940-1943; Russell Bollinger, 1944-1946; D. R. McFadden, 1947-1948; W. H. Miley, 1949; C. H. Deardorff, 1950; and J. Herman Reinke, 1951 -.
The deacons through the years have been Samuel Hetler, called to office in 1880; William Kline and N. W. Helfer, 1887; John H. Dishong, 1899; A. A. Pifer and B. F. Pifer, 1912; C. E. Copeland, Stewart Cocanour, and O. O. DeLong, 1931; Doyle McCarron, 1946; Milo Cocanour and Jack Reiner, 1953; Mark Menke, Vollie Lewis, and Stanley Weddell, 1957. We thank God also for those other faithful deacons whose names are not on record.
THE SUGARCREEK CHURCH
The Baltic congregation began holding services as one of the original groups in the union church at Sugarcreek after the church house was built in 1894.
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In 1913 the Reformed and Evangelical United Brethren churches withdrew from the union house and built their own houses of worship, thus leaving only the Mennonites and the Brethren sharing in the use of its facilities.
The services in the union house continued as a union Sunday school with each of the two groups taking turns conducting the worship services until the coming of William Stauffer as pastor of the Mennonite group. Soon after his arrival, the two groups were divided with each group having its own church school and worship service. The Brethren began
The Sugarcreek Church
their Sunday school at 8:30 A.M., following with the worship service starting at 9:15. At 10:00 A.M. the Mennonite group began their Sunday school.
In April 1954 the Mennonites suggested to the Brethren that we consider buying their interest or selling our interest in the union house and separating completely. The Brethren met in council at Sugarcreek, on October 25, 1954, and decided to enter into negotiations with the Mennonites on their proposal. The official board of the church, consisting of Moderator Harlan C. Grubb, Pastor Guy S. Fern, Ministers Edward Shepfer and W. D. Fisher, Deacons Joseph Moomaw, Edison Moomaw, Peter Domer, Glen Domer, Clayton Miller, and Harold Snyder, and Trustees Calvin Brown and Harold
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Domer were appointed to meet with the Mennonite committee.
After many meetings, the Mennonites made it known to our committee that they wanted to buy our interest in the house and asked us to set a figure that we would accept. Our committee then met and, after considering such things as the worth of the building, the state of repair, the cost of erecting a new church house, and other similar factors, decided on fifteen thousand dollars as a fair price for our equity. This figure was accepted by the congregation on June 1, 1955. Following this action, preliminary building plans were drawn up and presented to us by Wilbur Shoemaker of North Canton.
At about the same time the Mennonites agreed to pay us the sum we had requested. On August 8, when the trustees met, the two Brethren representatives, Calvin Brown and Harold Domer, signed the deed over to the Mennonites and received their check. During the time the Brethren continued to use the building they paid one hundred dollars a month as rent.
At the 1955 district conference the members of the Baltic congregation who worshiped at Sugarcreek petitioned for and received permission to organize as a separate congregation. The last joint council meeting of the two groups was held at the Baltic house on September 2. The Sugarcreek members approved the building plans that same night.
One of the last acts of the negotiating committee was the appointment of a building committee consisting of Edison Moomaw, Junior Trachsel, Harry Domer, Warren Burger, and Harold Domer. On Sunday morning, September 25, these were approved and authorized to be the first trustee board as well as the building committee. The negotiating committee also appointed a building fund committee composed of Edward Shepfer, Calvin Brown, and Robert Brown.
The excavating for the new building on Yoder Avenue, Sugarcreek, began on September 17. Our first service in it was held in the basement on March 4, 1956. The dedication services were held on August 12 of that year, President Calvert N. Ellis of Juniata College being the guest speaker.
At the time of this writing (1962), Robert P. Fryman is ministering to the young congregation as its pastor.
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THE WHITE COTTAGE CHURCH
In 1901 the old Jonathan Creek church was divided into three congregations: Jonathan Creek, Greenwood, and Goshen. The Goshen territory included all of Muskingum County, containing thirty-nine members.
Quincy Leckrone was elected pastor of the new congrega- tion. The first deacon was M. W. Printz, who was elected in 1901.
Elijah Horn, a local member, had previously served the Jonathan Creek church as a free minister; preaching mainly at the Goshen house, he went also to the Helser house and to Greenwood.
The Goshen church house was located about seven miles southwest of Zanesville on the Roseville Road. A second church house, the old White Cottage house in the town of the same name, was purchased through the influence of Brother Printz in 1901. Built in 1851 and owned by the local Methodist Episcopal church, the structure was of the traditional rectangular meetinghouse type. The Methodists, having just built a new church, accepted the offer of the Brethren, who then rededicated the building on August 14, 1901. Quincy Leckrone conducted the services, assisted by Elijah Horn and other ministers.
From 1906 to 1921 regular services were not held in this church. Meetings were conducted irregularly by visiting ministers. Brother Leckrone was the pastor until 1906. Brother and Sister Quinter Horn were elected to the deaconship on October 19, 1911. In the summer of 1916 Brother Leckrone organized a Sunday school, which was held on alternate Sundays in the White Cottage and Goshen houses. Until the school's reorganization in 1918, the classes, which were continued in both houses, were held only in the summers. In the spring of 1923 a weekly Sunday school was started at White Cottage.
A ladies' aid society was organized in 1918, Birdella Thompson being its first president. On July 28, 1919, Brother and Sister L. H. Gray and Brother and Sister J. F. Shrider were elected to the deaconship.
George S. Strausbaugh was chosen as the first elder of the church on April 28, 1919. Charles H. Deardorff, then living
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in Michigan, was called as pastor in the spring of 1921; at that time a house was purchased and remodeled for use as a parsonage. After working with the church for nearly four and a half years, Brother Deardorff moved to Hartville. In August 1925, Ervin Weaver of Indiana moved into the parsonage; he continued here as our pastor for four years.
The older Brethren belief that to have a musical instrument in the church was a sin was modified in 1924 when Sister Zella Williams donated an organ to the White Cottage house; it was
CHURCH
The White Cottage Church
used until 1927, in which year the young people's class of the church school bought a piano. Another piano was later purchased for use in the basement.
In 1926 the Goshen house was robbed three times. In the first case all the linens, dishes, and a borrowed stove were taken during the night following a love feast. Several months later the lighting plant was stolen. Two weeks after this the carpets, the pulpit Bible, and even the velvet on the pulpit were taken. The house was then closed and all services were held at White Cottage.
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Following the sale of the Goshen house in 1929, the district meeting granted the congregation permission to change its name to White Cottage.
Clinton I. Weber of Illinois answered the call of the church for a pastor in September 1929. Brother Weber remained with us for five years, during which period he took four years of college work at Muskingum College, in New Concord.
In March 1930 a B.Y.P.D. was organized, the following officers being elected: Goldie Brown Slack, president; Reta Kelly Rucker, secretary-treasurer; and Clinton Weber, adult adviser.
Evelyn Horn, a member of the congregation, left in June 1930 for Nigeria to work as a registered nurse in the missionary program. The congregation provided one half of her support during her years there.
On September 1, 1934, when J. D. Zigler came from the Owl Creek church to become our pastor, he found a church building with facilities quite inadequate to accommodate the expanding program of the congregation and in need of extensive repair. In the spring of 1935 it was decided to remodel the building, adding ten feet on one end and ten feet on one side for church-school rooms. The old structure was raised and a basement was dug under it. A small debt which remained after the completion of the remodeling was soon paid in full and the note was burned on December 4, 1939. J. Perry Prather of Dayton preached the dedicatory sermon on October 20, 1935. Quincy Leckrone, who had preached the dedicatory sermon in 1901, read the history of the church.
Events of significance to the church took place during the next few years. Paul F. Shrider was called to the ministry on May 5, 1936; two years later he was installed into the full ministry. On September 2, 1937, the name of the ladies' aid society was changed to the women's work. In 1943 Miss Mareta B. Shrider, upon graduation from Bethany Seminary, was sent to West Virginia to aid the church there; on December 1 of that year she was sent to Flat Creek, Kentucky. On November 6, 1945, the church called Charles and Hazel Roberts to be deacons.
Brother Zigler moved to Alliance in 1946. Through the efforts of the church-school superintendent, L. E. Spring, and others the church carried on without a pastor for seven
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months. Then, in March 1947, H. P. Garner of Florida came to us, beginning his pastoral duties with a week of pre-Easter meetings. On April 29, Brethren Adam Miller and J. D. Zigler were in charge of installation services for Charles and Hazel Roberts as deacons and Brother and Sister H. P. Garner as pastors.
The old parsonage was sold in April 1947. A modern, more convenient cottage near the church was purchased, and the Garners moved into it early in April 1948.
On July 19, 1948, Paul and Erma Horn and Paul and Goldie Slack were called to the office of deacon. Installation services for them and the incoming pastor were held on October 9, 1951.
A number of pastoral shifts have taken place during the last twelve years. In May 1951, Brother Garner was called to the pastorate of the Bristolville church. One month later, Ivan Fausnight, with his family, came to us from Bethany Biblical Seminary. He left in August 1955 to assume the Maple Grove pastorate. On September 1 of that year Alvin Kintner came from Adrian, Michigan; he was our pastor until August 1959, when he went to the New Philadelphia church. That autumn Wayne P. Harman came from West Lafayette to be our interim pastor; later he decided to remain on a full-time basis. On April 12, 1960, the church asked for his ordination. Alvin Kintner, representing the district ministerial board, conducted the ordination on the following May 22.
We observed our fiftieth anniversary as a congregation (which was the one-hundredth anniversary for our building) with an all-day meeting on September 16, 1951. J. D. Zigler, a former pastor, was the morning speaker. The traditional basket dinner was served at noon. Speakers in the afternoon included William Worstall, Quincy Leckrone, Merlin Kelly, Missionary Evelyn Horn, and Ivan Fausnight. The Mount Perry chorus provided music.
Other happenings in recent years are illustrative of the progress being made in our congregational life and outlook. In October 1951 the council meeting approved the preparation of a budget; a central treasurer now handles all church accounts. On September 12, 1954, a dedication service was held for our new organ and chimes; Paul Hurd furnished special music for this service. During the school year of
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1953-1954, Peter Semler, a German exchange student, lived with the F. R. Worstall family and was active in our youth and general church groups.
THE WOODWORTH CHURCH
In 1900, Woodworth was one of those characteristic rural villages consisting of several dozen houses, a general store, a post office, a school, and three saloons. Mr. and Mrs. D. N. Garver had moved into the community several years before and had become acquainted with the people and their customs. The Garvers, having been reared in Christian homes, felt the need for some definite Christian organization in the community. One day Brother Garver stopped at the store of S. A. Coler, where he and Mrs. Coler talked over the problem of starting a Sunday school. They decided to ask the school board members for the use of the schoolhouse on Sunday afternoons for the purpose of starting a union Sunday school. The members of the board gave their consent, and within several weeks a school was organized. This was in 1904.
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