Euclid Avenue Congregational Church

Euclid Avenue Congregational Church in Cleveland, Ohio, was the outgrowth of a Sunday School begun in 1828 by Sally Cozad Mather Hale. Concerned about the lack of religious instruction in her neighborhood, Mrs. Hale took a group of children into her home on Euclid Avenue for lessons. As the number of children increased, the school was moved to larger quarters, until 1830 when it ceased operation. Around 1840 the school was revived and continued to exist as the Sunday School of Euclid Avenue Congregational Church.

On November 30, 1843, nineteen people associated with the Sunday School met and resolved to form a church. In spite of the fact that all but one of the charter members were Congregationalists, the group decided to adopt, with some changes, the Presbyterian form of church government. The occurred because the only non-Congregationalist, a woman very devoted to the new enterprise, but who "felt that she could not belong to any other than a Presbyterian church," was allowed to have her way, and for the first ten years of its existence the church was known as the Presbyterian Church of East Cleveland. This was not to last, however, for in 1853 the trustees voted to adopt a Congregational form of government. In 1854 the church passed a series of resolutions regarding ecclesiastical affairs and church government. Since that time, the church has been strictly Congregational in its organization, and soon after leaving the presbytery became associated with the Cleveland Congregational Conference.

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