The Church of the Open Door

The year was 1850 and Jennings Avenue, now West 14th Street, was little more than an Indian trail that led south and west to an uninhabited area beyond. The floor of the Cuyahoga River Valley was a lush meadow where violets grew in profusion and the river itself was known as an excellent fishing spot and swimming hole.

There were no stores, no mail delivery, no bridges spanning the valley and people either drove by horse and buggy or walked to town to get their supplies. The City of Cleveland was confined to the lake front, cows grazed peacefully on the Square and the population totaled 21,000 people.

Five farming families from New England lived in the area we now know as Tremont, then called “The Heights.” They were the Branch, Kellogg, Aiken, Hadlow, and Brayton families. The closest church at the time was in the City of Ohio, a healthy trek away even in modern times.

The establishment of Cleveland University in 1851, the city’s first institution of higher learning, marked the epoch of “University Heights.” The school’s founders purchased 275 acres of land, one hundred feet above the valley bottom christening the streets of College, Literary, and Professor.

A university recreation area was laid out, now known as Lincoln Park. People were attracted by the idea of a fine school in beautiful surroundings, and lots were parceled out to raise an endowment. The area’s elite built mansions along Jennings Avenue and slowly but surely the neighborhood’s population grew. 

The untimely death of Mrs. Thyrza Pelton, Cleveland University’s benefactress, spelled the end of Cleveland University. However, the seeds of education had been sown and the idea for a church had been born. The University’s President, Dr. Asa Mahan, tapped from Oberlin College, held worship services on Sundays in one of the academic building’s rooms.

The people of the community began to feel the need for a church of their own and many meetings were held in the home of Mr. John Giles Jennings on Scranton Road. In a small red brick schoolhouse, near present-day Tremont Montessori, Articles of Faith and Covenant were signed by a council of 34 people. Thus, University Heights Congregational Church was born, on Sunday, November 13th, 1859, by a vote of the congregation. Sunday school and prayer meetings continued to be held in the little schoolhouse, then a part of the Brooklyn Township school system, while church meetings were held in the assembly room of the former university. 

The first pastor was the Reverend William Brewster, a man described as a courageous leader with the power to inspire others and a diversity of theological views, particularly regarding temperance and the abolition of slavery. Rev. Brewster had only recently arrived in Cleveland and came from Euclid Avenue’s Wesleyan Methodist Episcopal Church near Sheriff Street (East 4th). He led the new church, whose original members consisted of four different denominations, until 1869 when the Rev. Thomas Noble, a chaplain for the Union Army during the Civil War took the helm. 

That same year, the church’s first permanent sanctuary was completed. It was dedicated in 1870 as Jennings Avenue Congregational Church. Half a mile away, the opening of Lamson & Sessions Company, a bolt manufacturer, heralded an era of rapid industrialization. The plant, located on Walworth Run at 2188 Scranton Road, was one of many factories that expanded the area’s industrial base and attracted successive waves of immigration to America’s heartland. Seven years later, with a membership slightly over 200, the new church was deemed too small, and the building was renovated. Transepts were added at each side, and a vestibule included at the front, increasing the capacity to 700.

Two years later, legislation was introduced to Cleveland City Council to determine the best site for a bridge linking downtown with the South Side. By 1888, the Central Viaduct opened, making a once sleepy and isolated farmer’s enclave attractive to newcomers looking to live close to their jobs. They were furnishing the labor for the oil refineries and steel mills which now dotted the floor of the valley. As the years passed, the original population of New England stock gave way to German immigrants, they in turn gave way to the Irish, the Irish to the Slavic peoples, the Slavic group to the Greeks and Syrians and so on.

The South Side neighborhood continued to grow by leaps and bounds as the pace of urbanization ticked upward across the region and the entire industrialized world. Now known as Lincoln Heights, an ode to the neighborhood’s Civil War training camp and hospital, residential development continued at an increasing rate.

Between 1870 and 1880, the city’s population grew by 72%. In 1891, thirty-year-old Rev. Dr. Charles Smith Mills, of Massachusetts was instilled as the church’s sixth pastor. Upon arrival, Mills began to investigate the needs and challenges of the area and the means to meet them. Under his leadership, the congregation fully committed to the “institutional church” movement.

This novel idea created a ministry for the whole community, devoted to meeting not only religious needs, but educational and social needs as well. Pastor Mills believed such a ministry was particularly fitting due to “a population of tens of thousands living about our doors, people of all conditions, children thronging our streets, swarming by hundreds into our Sunday school… a multitude of young men and women, looking to us for spiritual guidance.”

The institutional church was built on three key characteristics: 

Open Doors - The church was to be kept open during the week for use by the congregation and others within the neighborhood, providing activities for all who came. 

Free pews - The practice of charging pew rentals to finance church operations was commonplace at the time. In 1877, the congregation decided to do away with them to make the church a more welcoming place for people of all economic classes. “It must be remembered,” said Pastor Mills, “that the church is the Lord’s house, and that the poorest man has as much right here as the richest.”  

Evangelism - The message of salvation through Christ became a part of every aspect of the church’s life and work, bringing the Lord’s love to all those who came in contact. 

The growing population was primarily immigrant, mostly unchurched and faced the challenges of survival in the city while adjusting to a new country. New to the United States and frequently with scant financial resources, these new neighbors came with many needs.

Church leaders saw a fruitful field for evangelization and an opportunity to demonstrate God’s grace to those in need. Jennings Avenue Congregational Church was a place where persons of many faiths, traditions, places of origin, and backgrounds could come together and ground themselves in a community of worship and service.

Society was the object of the church’s love, and the congregation was at the forefront of implementing the “institutional” model of outreach.  Recreations rooms, a library, sewing school, and organized play were introduced and quickly gained popularity. A mother’s meeting was established wherein all could discuss their common problems. Before long, the building once again proved inadequate for the scale of the church’s daily operations, dreams, and aspirations. 

Plans for a new church building to accommodate the growing membership and to fulfill the congregation’s mission began in earnest. A site located a mere five hundred feet south of the Howard Street building was donated for these purposes and ground was broken in April of 1893. Wasting no time, the cornerstone was laid three months later to much fanfare.

Sydney R. Badgley, lauded church architect, created the design for the new Richardsonian Romanesque building utilizing the “Akron Plan,” named for its initial use by First Methodist Church in Akron. This innovative design was characterized by a sloping floor to the pulpit with concentric rows of curved pews. Attached Sunday School rooms were built with moving walls and partitions. These could be easily adjusted to create one large auditorium out of the two spaces and allowed maximum use of natural lighting, unobstructed sight lines, acoustics, ventilation, and space. 

The current building, at 2592 W. 14th Street, officially opened in November of 1894. The former building on Howard Street was sold to St. Augustine, which relocated there from the Southeast corner of Tremont and Jefferson streets. Such importance was placed on the welcoming nature of the church that six separate entrances were incorporated into the building’s original design. Men and boys were able to enter off Starkweather Avenue to their reading, game, and locker rooms. Women and girls were able to enter off Jennings Avenue to their own locker room and gymnasium entrance, with easy access to the parlors, reception spaces, kitchen, and pantry.

The grand main entrance measures twenty-two feet in diameter with a graceful semi-circular stone arch that hugs all those who climb its broad steps to the protection of the church’s covered porch. The arch denotes a sense of hospitality which beckons all who pass to enter. With the dedication of the new structure, came a new name: Pilgrim Congregational Church of Cleveland.

The massive building totaled 43 rooms. The overall arrangement included the main sanctuary and Sunday School on the upper two floors and the social and institutional activities on the ground level. At the time of its construction, there were no public utility companies. If one desired the luxury of electricity, it would need to be generated.

Pilgrim accomplished this by building its own power plant, becoming the first building on the west side of the Cuyahoga River to use electricity. A coal fired steam boiler and turbine powers a flat belt pulley system that spins a generator to create electricity for lighting. Many of the church’s fixtures can be operated using gas jets or electric bulbs to this day. 

Like much of Cleveland’s historic building stock, it is unlikely that Pilgrim Church could ever be replicated. Its roof trusses were made of huge timber beams assembled on site. The majestic and highly detailed golden oak woodwork and ornamentation was likewise created on the job. Unlike some of the city’s other notable structures, Pilgrim is composed of solid stone and mortar. Many of our city’s most recognizable landmarks are built of steel and concrete, faced with stone veneer.

Tiffany style-stained glass windows, Victorian stenciling, a Farrand Votey pipe organ, and a stained-glass dome adorn the sanctuary. The design places an emphasis on natural elements and forms. Earthy time-period color schemes mimic the American landscape and makes one feel closer to God. The stained-glass dome, designed by Elizabeth Parsons, measuring 24 feet in diameter, draws the eye upward towards heaven and transcends all earthly beauty. 

The people of Pilgrim, a just peace, open and affirming, sanctuary church, have been meeting every Sunday morning for 164 years. They welcome all to experience the historic building’s power to inspire, welcome, comfort, delight, and glorify.

The church continues its institutional work aided by its facilities, including a commercial kitchen, library, gymnasium, and theater. More importantly, Pilgrim continues to serve the greater community through its food pantry, outreach work, support groups, and “Spirits and Social Justice” forum. To learn more about Pilgrim, visit their website at pilgrimalive.org. 

Pilgrim Church, designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style rises to a height of 150 feet. Photo circa 1915.

This article references: With Doors Open Wide, A History of Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ, by Terry L. White, 2009.