Archwood Church is over 185 years old. Founded in 1819, we are the oldest
UCC in the city of Cleveland. We are also the result of a merger of Archwood
Congregational Church and Fourth Evangelical and Reformed Church in 1967, which
followed the national merger of those two denominations in 1957.
In the
1950s the membership of Archwood Church was over 1,000 people, most of whom
lived in the church's neighborhood. When the freeways were built in the 1960s,
as many as 5,000 homes and businesses in our immediate area were torn down,
causing an outward migration. Busing in the 1970s also caused some families to
move to nearby suburbs. These changes contributed to the decline of the church,
to such an extent that in the early 1990s there were only 30 people in worship
on an average Sunday, most of whom were over 75 years of age.
This
struggling congregation found it difficult to find a pastor, and for three
years, while actively searching, was served by an interim pastor. The regional
UCC executive that assists congregations to find pastors suggested that they
look at the candidacy of openly gay pastors, many of whom have difficulty
finding placement, even though the UCC was the first denomination in the United
States to ordain an openly gay man in 1972. The UCC, through one of its
predecessor bodies - The Congregational Church - was also the first in the U.S.
to ordain a person of African descent in the late 1700s - and the first to
ordain a woman, in 1853.
In 1992 the search committee came to a conclusion
about the best qualified candidate and extended an invitation to David Bahr to
preach a "call sermon," after which the congregation would vote. A two-thirds
majority was required to extend a call, and the margin was exactly two-thirds.
Most, but not all, of those persons who voted against his call left the church
immediately. The Cleveland Plain Dealer carried the news that the church had
called an openly gay man as its pastor. Visitors, gay and non-gay, started
coming to the church and becoming members. The long-time members who remained
were exceptionally loving and welcoming. Over 180 people have become members since that time, and the
number of active friends continues to grow.
An Open and Affirming Covenant
was developed to make explicit the church's welcome of all people and which
expressed its commitment to be intentional in growing as a multi-cultural,
multi-racial congregation. A few years later our diversity further developed as
we began providing interpretation for deaf and hearing impaired individuals.
Deaf members are fully integrated, as members of the Governing Body and as
participants in our small group ministries. Many hearing members have started to
take sign language classes at the church.
In 2001 we began to consider an
explicit statement of our commitment to justice and peace. From that we
developed a Just Peace Covenant, similar to other UCC congregations.
Beginning in 2011 we begin a new chapter in Archwood's history with our new Settled Pastor Sara Ross.