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(This article is excerpted from one that appeared in the October 18 edition of
The Reading Eagle and is used by permission.)
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, 33 S. 11th St., Reading, celebrated its 125th anniversary on Reformation Sunday, Oct. 26. It was on Reformation Sunday 1878 that the Rev. William Myers preached the first sermon at Grace Church.
The Rev. Steven E. Belinski has been pastor of Grace Church for 20 years.
The guest preacher at the Oct. 26 worship service was the Rev. Stanley Trout, native son of Grace and now the pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, Hazleton.
Coincidentally, Belinski's mother is a member of Christ Church, Hazleton.
Following the worship service, the congregation celebrated with a dinner at Stokesay Castle. Bishop David R. Strobel brought greetings at the dinner. The main speaker was nationally recognized motivational speaker Rita Miller.
Mood Swing provided music.
The cornerstone for Grace Church was laid in May 1877 when the congregation was established as Grace Chapel. Trinity Lutheran Church,
Reading, provided a loan of $5,000 for the purchase of the land. A total of 54 members comprised the congregation.
In 1883 the congregation paid off the debt to Trinity. By 1888, the church council decided the chapel needed to be enlarged. So the congregation worshipped at a public school, Bingaman and Orange School, during construction. The new church was linked to the chapel's south corner tower. It was patterned after a 16th century French gothic cathedral and seated 1,500 people. The new church was incorporated as Grace Lutheran Church of the City of Reading.
In the 1900s, the church established a Luther League and organized Troop 19 of the Boy Scouts of America.
The arrival of Pr. Belinski as pastor signaled the start of new programs including Oktoberfest, Spring Fling and Breakfast and Conversation. There was also remodeling and the addition of more parking spaces.
Among the community service projects undertaken by the church are after school tutoring, summer day camp, food pantry site, holiday parties for neighborhood children, Operation Bookbag, disaster relief support and volunteering at Salvation Army Furniture Bank.
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