The original document the below came from is part of the Crawford County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society’s Church Collection and is dated April 12, 2012, but there is not a date of when the document was written.
Grace United Methodist Church to celebrate 100th year Palm Sunday, March 24, 2002.
In 1828 the first Evangelical family known in Crawford County located west of Bucyrus on what is now the Lincoln Highway. The family consisted of a widow, Magdalene Aumiller, and her two sons, George and his wife Barbara; and Daniel. They came from an old Evangelical center in Union County, PA where they were members. Their home was probably the first Evangelical meeting place near Bucyrus.
The work around Bucyrus was given the name Bucyrus Circuit in 1893. With five Evangelical churches already in the area, nothing was done in Bucyrus until 1901 when Rev. W. H. Munk and Rev. L. L. Orth took up the mission. The group first met in the GAR Hall and then in the old armory. They organized March 26, 1902, with 18 charter members: Rev. & Mrs. Munk, M/M Albert Brown, M/M E. E. Class, M/M Albert Drexel, M/M. R. A. Garvin, M/M Samuel Heinlen, M/M B. G. Hieber, Christ Kiess, T. C. Kiess and M/M W. C. Kiess. Later, the First Evangelical Church built its own building and the dedication was April 22, 1906.
June, 1927, the congregation of Salem Evangelical Church, which was located on Parcher Road, voted to merge with the Bucyrus Church. The cornerstone, bell and wrought iron fence from that church are now at the Bucyrus Church.
With increased membership, additional facilities were needed. Under the pastorate of Rev. N. W. Sager, a new educational and social unit was added. The remodeled church was dedicated Dec. 1, 1929 with Bishop S. P. Spreng officiating.
Members of the building committee included: Rev. Sager; David Bauer; C. F. Berry; Estella Berry; Mrs. V. F. Berry; E. E. Class; M/M H. E. Cook; J. F. Cook; M/M W. S. Cook; W. E. Deerwester; J. E. Edmonds; Edith Ferrall; M/M Lambert Haigh; J. W. Haller; Mrs. A. T. Henderson; B. G. Hieber; M/M Edgar Hieber; Ruth Hieber; C. F. Heiby; Lester Jacobs; M/M H. E. Kiess; T. C. Kiess; V. E. Kiess; W. S. Kiess; Mrs. T. C. Lerch; Leslie Linn; Mrs. H. D. Miller, Pearl Oberlander; M/M H. A. Olinger; Mrs. W. C. Park; S. A. Schieber; E. Paul Spreng; F. T. Smith; L. E. Ulmer, Julia Wagner, L. F. Wagner; T. G. Wagner; Mrs. V. I. Walker and E. H. Walters.
In 1947, the Evangelical Conference merged with the United Brethern Conference and the local church’s name was changed to Grace United Brethern Church. With a further merger with the Methodist conference in 1968, the name became Grace United Methodist.
This spring the church is celebrating its 100th Anniversary with a series of three events. On March 26, the cornerstones from the original church and the one put in the remodeled church in 1929 were opened. Then, a new box was added, filled with present day memorabilia. On Sunday, April 28, a play about the founders and the early history will be presented. The play was written by Janet Spreng and directed by Cathy Cook. Rev. Tom Schiefer will speak and Rev. John Osborn will play the piano.
The concluding service is a Homecoming for former pastors and members to return on May 19th. Rev. J. Paul Mutchler, who grew up in this church, will be the speaker. Also expected are these ministers and their wives: Rev. Arnold Eltenhofer, Rev. David Dietzel, Rev. Millard Mead, Rev. William Sowers and Rev. Scott Wilson. The current pastor is Rev. Benjamin J. Black III.
(Contributed by Janet (Kiess) Spreng)
Interested in the entire document? Join Today! Members receive full access to chapter digital collections on the Members Only website. Learn more about Membership.
