History | bethany-presbyterian

Seventeen Facts about Bethany Presbyterian Church

Bethany was founded in 1889 as a Sunday School of Old Stone Church on West 25th St. It was the first successful attempt to found a Presbyterian church on the West Side.
We observed our 125th anniversary July 6, 2014.
Bethany has six former and current pastors in the PWR: Ken Jones, Roger Perks, Charlie Hurst, Ogie White, Lynn Thompson Bryant and Sharon Budin.
Jean Dimond was installed as Associate Pastor 10/1/1960; she was one of the earlier women ordained as a Teaching Elder (Pastor) in the Presbyterian Church.
Three women from Bethany have been ordained as Teaching Elders (Pastors) in the past 30 years: Robin Schreiber, Meredith White and Mary Susan Pisano.
Former Co-Pastor, Victoria Curtiss, served as PWR Executive Presbyter.
Bethany was one of the four founding churches of the West Side Ecumenical Ministry in 1966.
Bethany hosted the Metropolitan Church, a LesbianGay congregation, in the mid 1970s.
Bethany's racial/ethnic membership is 51% White, 28% Hispanic, 17% Black/African American and 4% Other.
Bethany is the only church out of 729 churches in the Synod of the Covenant with more than 20% Hispanic members. (PCUSA Comparative Statistics 2012 Table 5)
Two of Bethany's Ruling Elders (Session Members) Harold Barton and Rosa Bibler and The Rev. David Bowie served as leaders of the Synod of the Covenant's Cross-Cultural trips to Central America in the 1990s.
Elders Gisela and Rafael Pacheco have served in leadership positions in the Hispanic Caucus of the Synod of the Covenant.
The Community Meals program started in August 1983 was one of the first congregation-based free meals programs in Cleveland. The program continues to provide meals 3-4 weeks per month. The PWR and seven churches send volunteers/money in support for the program: Old Stone, Fairmount, John Knox, Parma-South, St Andrews, St Colemans, and Bethany.
The Rollin H. Gerstacker Foundation since 1957 has contributed cumulatively over a million dollars in annual grants to Bethany. Rollin and Eda Gerstacker were members of Bethany during the first half of the 20th century, and their son Carl eventually became Chairman of the Board of Dow Chemical.
A generous gift from Elsa U. Pardee to the College of Wooster in 1944 has guaranteed the opportunity for a college education (based on financial need and academic acceptance) to any member of Bethany and Parma-South. Elsa, the twin sister of Eda U. Gerstacker, was a member of Bethany and her husband James Pardee was a member of Parma-South and a founder of Dow Chemical.
Messy Church, an intergenerational hands-on worship experience was started in England and brought to Bethany 2014 by Rev. Sharon Grace Budin. Bethany is the first Messy Church site east of Indiana in the United States.

Bethany Presbyterian Church

Seventeen Facts about Bethany Presbyterian Church

We observed our 125th anniversary July 6, 2014.

Bethany has six former and current pastors in the PWR: Ken Jones, Roger Perks, Charlie Hurst, Ogie White, Lynn Thompson Bryant and Sharon Budin.

Jean Dimond was installed as Associate Pastor 10/1/1960; she was one of the earlier women ordained as a Teaching Elder (Pastor) in the Presbyterian Church.

Three women from Bethany have been ordained as Teaching Elders (Pastors) in the past 30 years: Robin Schreiber, Meredith White and Mary Susan Pisano.

Former Co-Pastor, Victoria Curtiss, served as PWR Executive Presbyter.

Bethany was one of the four founding churches of the West Side Ecumenical Ministry in 1966.

Bethany hosted the Metropolitan Church, a LesbianGay congregation, in the mid 1970s.

Bethany's racial/ethnic membership is 51% White, 28% Hispanic, 17% Black/African American and 4% Other.

Bethany is the only church out of 729 churches in the Synod of the Covenant with more than 20% Hispanic members. (PCUSA Comparative Statistics 2012 Table 5)

Two of Bethany's Ruling Elders (Session Members) Harold Barton and Rosa Bibler and The Rev. David Bowie served as leaders of the Synod of the Covenant's Cross-Cultural trips to Central America in the 1990s.

Elders Gisela and Rafael Pacheco have served in leadership positions in the Hispanic Caucus of the Synod of the Covenant.

The Rollin H. Gerstacker Foundation since 1957 has contributed cumulatively over a million dollars in annual grants to Bethany. Rollin and Eda Gerstacker were members of Bethany during the first half of the 20th century, and their son Carl eventually became Chairman of the Board of Dow Chemical.

Messy Church, an intergenerational hands-on worship experience was started in England and brought to Bethany 2014 by Rev. Sharon Grace Budin. Bethany is the first Messy Church site east of Indiana in the United States.