Pilgrim Congregational Church

Congregationalists were among the first and most influential Christian denominations in Cleveland, Ohio. Many Congregational churches in early Cleveland were made up of both Congregationalists and Presbyterians, who had formed the Plan of Union in 1801 in order to more efficiently establish churches on the frontier, which the Western Reserve was considered at the time. When it was founded in the Near West Side neighborhood of University Heights (now Tremont) in 1854, Pilgrim Congregational Church (originally University Heights Congregational) joined an already thriving Congregationalist community, with First Congregational Society of Brooklyn (now Archwood United Church of Christ) and the Euclid Avenue Congregational Church on the East Side.

The congregation quickly outgrew the original brick church, which was built between 1865 and 1870, and moved into the current (2014) building located at 2592 West 14th Street in 1894. The design of the 1894 church building was unique, as architect S.R. Badgeley combined worship space with the growing need for a community center, which would include a library and the first kindergarten in the city of Cleveland. By 1919 the building had expanded to include a gymnasium complete with shower rooms, a boxing ring, and bowling alleys. The Congregationalists of early Cleveland were active in improving the lives and living conditions of the many immigrant communities who flocked to the city during its industrial heyday, and Pilgrim Congregational Church was especially well known for ministering to the local Czech community, teaching English classes and providing job training for recently arrived immigrants.

By the end of the nineteenth century, Cleveland was home to the largest number of Congregationalist churches outside of Boston and Chicago. Still a thriving congregation, Pilgrim Congregational Church, now Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ, has been affiliated with the United Church of Christ since 1957.

During the 1990s and early 2000s, Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ was instrumental in the revitalization of Tremont, which had fallen into disrepair alongside the industrial decline of the 1970s and 1980s. Pilgrim has fostered local theater companies such as Theatre Labyrinth in the 1990s and the Mamai Theatre Company in the 2010s, which have both used the church as rehearsal and performance space. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights and marriage equality have also been key issues for the church, which has been an active participant in the annual Cleveland Pride Parade and was a supporter of the 2014 International Gay Games held in Cleveland.

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Pilgrim Congregational Church

From the guide to the Pilgrim Congregational Church Records, 1876-1961, (Western Reserve Historical Society)