1877 - Sunday School started by the YMCA in the West Hill (which is now east of Highland Square) far west end of Akron where there were no churches. All the churches were in the downtown area.
1885-1886 - worship services held with pastors of churches in downtown Akron coming to lead the services
1886 - Sunday School closed because many had joined downtown churches
December 25, 1887 - under the sponsorship of First Congregational Church, the 1st worship service of the West Evangelical Congregational Society of Akron, OH was held, in a building at the corner of West Market and Balch Streets
Covenant - "...as members of this Church, into which we thus organize ourselves, we mutually agree together and promise each other, that we will, with tender Christian love and forbearance, watch over and care for the purity, growth in grace and faithful Christian character of every one of our fellow members."
From the Constitution - "It shall be the object of this Society to maintain the Gospel and the Institutions of religion in connection with the West Evangelical Congregational Society."
April 12, 1888 - chartered congregation with 63 from First Congregational Church, 6 from First Methodist Church, and 1 from the Methodist Church in Peninsula.
1893 - 1200 lb bell purchased (now on the front porch of Fairlawn-West). 18 items that were placed in the West cornerstone in 1909 were laid under the bell in 1976 along with 20 items from the new Fairlawn-West Church. The cornerstone from West is now in the Fairlawn-West courtyard.
early 1900's - Church name is now called West Congregational Evangelical Church. Along with Monroe Presbyterian Church, Church of Our Savior Episcopal Church, and Woodland Methodist Church many community and ecumenical activities were shared including Thanksgiving services.
1909 - building is torn down and a large tent set up on a lot at Fairfield and Hurlburt while a new building is being constructed on their property at West Market and Balch. When winter came they shared space at Church of Our Savior Episcopal Church at Oakdale and Crosby.
1910 - new building is dedicated and the church
is called by this time West Congregational Church.
1918-1919 - due to a flu epidemic services were canceled and weekly communications to the members included suggestions for home worship and news.
1950 - the Wollschlaeger family from Germany sponsored as refugees by the church
1952 - building is still open/unlocked 24 hours a day
- church picnics are held annually at Happy Days Camp.
1963 - after merger of the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical & Reformed Church into the United Church of Christ in 1957, the name is changed to West United Church of Christ.
middle 1960's - With a changing neighborhood and new churches being started farther west in Akron, attendance was dwindling. Nearly 1/2 of the membership was of retirement age.
1944 - Puritan Association of the Ohio Conference of the Congregational Christian Churches begins to look for setting in Akron area for a new church start. First Congregational Church loaned its Associate Pastor the Rev. Earl Linden who started a Sunday School in the Fairlawn area. Rooms were rented in the Fairlawn Elementary School.
May 6, 1945 - a flier is sent home with every school student announcing the new Sunday School.
February 3, 1946 - worship services were begun. The following quotes from the printed history indicate struggles that have in some fashion continued to this day...
"...raise money. Always, where's the money?"
In a section talking about planning to build the first building - "There was talk of a 'Quonset' hut for church, scouts and young folks to have parties and dancing.... Well, right there, Mr. Trunick said 'If this church condones dancing, count me out,' and that was 'finis' for Mr. Trunick. He had been our best financial giver, and a good adult bible teacher, as was his wife, Louise. Mr. Trunick was a lawyer. Dr. North (from the national offices of the Congregational Christian Churches) tried to explain that young people needed lively activities, but Mr. Trunick said he would have no part of it, although he had one young son. Building plans were shelved. The Trunicks left the church."
May 1, 1946 - Rev. Jack Warford called as the first pastor. His wife the Rev. Lorena Warford was also a pastor, but did not serve the church. She did preach sometimes with the services at Fairlawn Elementary School.
June 9, 1946 - Congregation is chartered with 45 members.
Covenant - We are united in striving to know the Will of God as taught in the Holy Scriptures, and in purpose to walk in the ways of the Lord, made known or to be made known to us.
We hold it to be the mission of the church of Christ to proclaim the gospel to all mankind, exalting in the worship of the one true God, and laboring for the progress of knowledge, the promotion of justice, the reign of peace, and the realization of human brotherhood.
May 7, 1947 - Fairlawn Church is received into the Puritan Association.
Fairlawn-West United Church of Christ
October 7, 1973 - West UCC and Fairlawn UCC were officially merged into Fairlawn-West United Church of Christ
1999 - The building was renovated to upgrade its look as well as to make it more flexible for use. The renovation involved about 3/4's of the bldg.
2000 - Prior to this there had been some folks studying about the need for change in way churches functioned in American culture. A number of Fairlawn-West folks (around 50) had visited the Ginghamsburg Church (a United Methodist Church outside of Tipp City, OH) Change Conference over three years to learn more first hand of what this would mean..
In January of this year a consultant, Jeff Patton of Easum Bandy Associates, spent a weekend with the congregation assessing its present situation and what it would take to change to be able to reach out more to the world around us. In the months prior to Jeff's visit we had taken a number of congregational surveys and provided a lot of statistics about our life. This was a major turning point in our life.
Over the next five years the leadership of the church sought to learn more and to help the whole congregation to become aware of the situation not just specifically of Fairlawn-West but of the neighborhood as well as the general world around, particularly of younger ages. We realized that people were not joining organizations like the church as they had in the latter half of the 20th Century. Also, that we needed to find ways to communicate to even the generations of people who were Baby Boomer age and younger who had grown up in Fairlawn-West, but at least 90% were not involved in a church at this point in their life, let alone involved with Fairlawn-West.
This led to some very contentious times. At times it was bitter acrimony among folks. It was clear that the congregation as a whole did not share a common vision for ministry or share the same core values and bedrock beliefs as a church.
January 18,2004 - The annual congregational meeting was held with around 100 people present. The meeting clearly presented a divided congregation where the divisions had become personal for some people. After a wide ranging conversation on a number of issues, the election of officers and of adoption of the budget was deferred to a meeting in May.
May 23, 2004 - The adjourned congregational meeting from January was called to order. The contentiousness from January was present. The discussion and vote on the budget was difficult. When it came time to vote on officers, a person was nominated from the floor to run against the person who had been the treasurer for a few years with the question of whether financial controls were in place and could be trusted. The vote for the present treasurer was strong and was clearly a vote of a majority of the congregation to move ahead. But, a motion also came from the floor after the election to affirm the direction of the church for the past five years and the present leadership. That passed very strongly. After this meeting the division that had been present for a number of years around the understanding of what a church is and what is the mission of the church was clear and the make up of the congregation began to shift.
West Congregational/United Church of Christ
Dr. David T. Thomas, 1888-1892
Rev. John L. David, 1893-1904
Rev. Philip E. Bauer, 1905-1908
Rev. Walter S. Jenkins, 1908-1912
Rev. Roscoe Graham, 1913-1924
Rev. James E. Wolfe, 1925-1929
Rev. Dr. Marvin R. Brandt, 1930-1941
Rev. Harry Nicholson, 1941-1967
Rev. Phillip J. Ramstad, 1967-1973
Fairlawn Community/United Church of Christ
Rev. Earl Linden, 1945-1946
Rev. Jack Warford, 1946-1949
Rev. Homer Yinger, 1949-1972
Rev. Harry Lesure, Associate Pastor, 1963-1972
Fairlawn-West United Church of Christ
Rev. John Sunburn, 1974-1981
Rev. Reuben Schroer, Minister of Visitation, 1974-1984
Rev. Richard Wolfe, Interim, 1981-1982
Rev. Paul Byer, 1982-1994
Rev. Stephanie Haines, Interim, 1994-1995
Rev. David Loar, 1995-
Rev. Bob Dreese, Minister for Youth & Adult Education, 1997-1999
Rev. Bonnie Montgomery, Minister of Education, 1999-2004