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Grace Episcopal Church Has Long Local History Story from The Ponca City News, Sunday,
October 12, 2003
In 1898, a small group of Episcopalians, living in the Ponca City area, began meeting together to worship in the traditional manner of their church, using the Book of Common Prayer. This unorganized congregation was titled St. Andrew’s Congregation. The Rt. Rev. Francis Key Brooke (related to Francis Scott Key, composer of the Star Spangled Banner) was Oklahoma’s first resident Episcopal bishop. On June 15, 1900, he visited Ponca City. The Episcopal Congregation assembled at the Presbyterian Church and Brooke celebrated Holy Communion – the first time this service had been held in Ponca City. In 1902, St. Andrew’s congregation numbered seven families and all services were held in the Masonic Hall, which was part of the old city hall located on the southeast corner of Fifth and Grand. During this time, the Episcopal congregation, served by lay readers from Newkirk as well as other communities, was recognized as a mission of the Missionary District of Oklahoma. Episcopalians had plans to build a church and, in 1914, a clapboard building, referred to as the guildhall, was erected on lots south of the city hall at a total cost of $3,000. At that time, E.W. Marland was senior warden of the congregation. In 1923, the city commission of Ponca City requested all who owned property in the block bounded by Grand and Central and Fifth and Sixth Streets to sell their land to the city so that a new municipal center, occupying the entire block, might be erected. The land was deeded to the city on March 7 1923. The Episcopalians purchased two lots on South Seventh Street and Central Avenue and moved their Guildhall to that location. The building was turned so that its altar stood toward the east. Sometime during this transition, St. Andrew’s Congregation took the name Grace Episcopal Church. In 1929, Grace Church Sunday services were broadcast over WBBZ. During that year, Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Marland entertained church members in their home. With the congregation growing, parishioners planned church expansion. An architect was engaged to design a new parish house and plan the guildhall remodeling. The guildhall was elongated 27 feet, and vestibule was added facing Seventh Street. The parish house, a 36-by-72 foot structure, was erected east of the guildhall and faced Central Avenue. Because many parishioners were active in Ponca City’s Little Theater, the parish house even contained a stage. The parish house was first used Feb. 10, 1931. In 1935, The Rev. Gordon V. Smith became the first rector of Grace Church. He went on to become the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Iowa. Episcopalians held worship services and church activities at this corner until 1952. On Feb. 1, 1944, the Rev. Thomas O. Moehle assumed the rectorship of Grace Church and continued in that position for 30 years. With his leadership, the church grew and plans for a new church building were envisioned. Lots were purchased, and architect J. Duncan Forsyth was engaged to design the new church facility. The original church building, located at Seventh and Central, was sold to the Bethel Tabernacle congregation in 1951. Ground breaking services for the new church building, located at Thirteenth and Grand, were held April 15, 1951. In August of 1951, the parish house was moved to the new site and used for worship services while the new church was under construction. To facilitate the moving process, the structure was split in the center and moved along Ponca City’s brick streets. The parish house was eventually connected to the church building. Administrative offices and classrooms were added in 1954. Dedication services for the new Grace Church were held Whitsunday, June 1, 1952, conducted by Bishops Powell and Casady with Moehle. However, with the exception of a newly designed and installed granite altar, the building lacked the furnishings and appointments which were added as funds became available through memorial contributions, bequests and special gifts. On July 25 1952, the first Sunday services were held in the new building. To accommodate the children attending Sunday school, the residence just north of the parish hall was purchased and named Grace House. Land directly across the street from the parish hall was acquired for use as a parking lot. In 1954, the Episcopal Church Women sponsored the first dance classes for Ponca City youth which were held in the parish hall. Each year, until the early 1990’s young people from the Ponca City community were taught dance steps and etiquette. A new Moeller pipe organ, anticipated and planned for in the church’s original design, was installed in 1967. Following Moehle’s retirement in 1974, the Rev. Franklin Williams became rector of Grace Church, serving until the summer of 1978. The Rev. Lawrence Boyd was called to Grace Church in 1978 from Wisconsin and returned there in 1983 to become dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Eau Claire. The Rev. Isaac Mason served as interim rector until the Rev. John Loving arrived in late 1983. Loving accepted a call to become rector of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in San Angelo, Texas, in April 1990. The Rev. Richard Allen served as interim rector until Rev. Kenneth Armstrong arrived from St. Luke’s Church in Ada to become rector of Grace Church on May 15, 1991. In the years following the dedication of the new church in 1952, many additions have improved the appearance of the interior and exterior of the church and added necessary space for Sunday school classes. During the 1970s, the extensive remodeling was to the parish hall, and St. Nicholas House, located adjacent to the original parking lot, was purchased to accommodate the expanding Sunday school classes. Also added in the 1970s were the Stations of the Cross, designed and created by nationally recognized local sculptor, Jo Saylors. The men of the parish constructed the Chapel of the Resurrection, a columbarium which was dedicated in 1988 in memory of Moehle, who died in September 1977. Recently added to Grace Church is the Christian education center, designed by parishioner Richard Winterrowd and Troy Lewis of Lewis Associates architectural firm and dedicated April 6, 1997. Grace Episcopal Church has progressed from a congregation of a few dedicated families in 1898 to a congregation of hundreds of families at present. Future plans for Grace Church include a complete renovation and expansion of the parish hall, and consideration is being given to hiring a professionally trained church school administrator-youth director.
Grace Church at the Millennium
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