OBERLIN - When the congregation of Christ Episcopal Church celebrates the 150th anniversary of its church building today, its rich history includes a tale of two churches in Elyria and Oberlin.

The ties between the venerable St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Elyria and Christ Episcopal Church are strong and date to 1852, when a “tough old bird” of a rector from St. Andrew’s, the Rev. Anson Clarke, rode his horse from Elyria to Oberlin to lead worship in people’s homes, according to the current rector, the Rev. Brian K. Wilbert.

Clarke was the founding rector of Christ Episcopal, and St. Andrew’s sponsored the fledgling congregation in Oberlin with the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio.

The association between the two churches in Elyria and Oberlin continues to this day.

The church has St. Andrew’s to thank for Wilbert, who was baptized and confirmed at St. Andrew’s before the church sponsored him at seminary in 1982 through his ordination to the diaconate in 1985 and the priesthood in 1986.

Wilbert said it is an honor to serve so close to home. He said he marvels almost daily at the huge heart of the congregation at Christ Episcopal.

For example, he said, the congregation raised $10,000 five years ago to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the articles of incorporation, only to decide to give the money away.

The entire $10,000 was sent to tsunami relief in countries bordering the Indian Ocean after the Dec. 26, 2004, disaster that killed nearly 230,000 people and left more than 1.1 million homeless.

In another community service, the Oberlin Hot Meals Program at Christ Episcopal serves some 30 people at 5 p.m. Monday through Friday with help from the 17 other churches in town, Wilbert said. The social hour begins at 4 p.m.

The church community won’t be cooking on Thanksgiving, but the ladies of Mount Zion Baptist Church will be roasting lots of turkey for the hot meals program at Christ Episcopal at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wilbert said.

Church historians over the years have compiled rich details regarding the church’s place in Oberlin society, Wilbert said.

He laughs in dismay when he reads a copy of an article published in the Oberlin Evangelist in 1855 decrying the formation of the Episcopal congregation, which was seen by some as linked to the Catholic Church.

The congregation at Christ Episcopal was sensitive to the criticism in a village dominated by Oberlin College, a Congregational institution.

It chose to set up two side aisles to reflect the evangelical/meeting house worship style rather than a central aisle, which “was frowned upon as being too Catholic - that you would have processions with crosses and torches” moving up a central aisle, Wilbert said.

Many prominent citizens have attended Christ Episcopal over the years, including Eric Nord, one of the founders of the Nordson Corp., and his wife, Jane.

In keeping with the tradition of using anniversary celebrations of the building as an incentive for doing upkeep and maintenance, the children of Eric and Jane Nord issued a challenge grant to the congregation shortly after Eric Nord’s death in June 2008. Some $45,000 was raised with the challenge grant gift from the Eric and Jane Nord Foundation.

Located at 162 S. Main St., the outside appearance of the Norman-Romanesque style church building has remained about the same, but the area of Morgan and Main streets has changed a lot, according to an account of church history written by Wilbert.

There were numerous homes in the area and the east side of the street had businesses including a mill, a blacksmith shop and a wagon shop when the church was built.

Today none of those buildings remains, but Christ Episcopal survives - and thrives.

The current pews actually date from the early 1800s, when they were donated from an Episcopal Mission in Newton Falls, Ohio, which closed about the time the Oberlin church needed to be outfitted.

The building cost just over $5,000 to complete and, according to canon law, was debt-free when the church was consecrated for use on May 11, 1859.

Some church accounts estimate that 350 to 400 people fit into the church for some services or events.

However, the congregation would be hard-pressed to get half that number seated for services, Wilbert said.

“We can comfortably fit 125 people,” he said.

Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.

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