Maplewood in Holland in Ottawa County, Michigan — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Grace Episcopal Church / Grace Episcopal Church Buildings
Photographed By Kathy Garman, June 4, 2021
1. Grace Episcopal Church Marker
Inscription.
Grace Episcopal Church, also, Grace Episcopal Church Buildings. .
Grace Episcopal Church. In August 1866 Manley Howard and Heber Walsh invited missionary Rev. Robert Wood to conduct an Episcopal service in Holland. Grace parish was organized the next year. The Rev. Joash Rice Taylor, its first rector, led the congregation into the Diocese of Michigan on June 10, 1868. It joined the new Diocese of Western Michigan in 1874. Struggling as a missionary parish in a community dominated by Dutch Reformed churches for sixty years, it lacked a rector for months at a time and faced limited resources, debt and fires. Grace became independent of missionary assistance and self-supporting in 1928. It stabilized and grew under the leadership of the Rev. William C. Warner, rector from 1943 to 1968. Grace was a leader in offering women leadership opportunities.,
Grace Episcopal Church Buildings. The 1871 Holland fire destroyed Grace Episcopal’s first church, a former one-room school on 10th Street across from Centennial Park. Gordon W. Lloyd designed a carpenter gothic church for the congregation’s second location at 11th and Pine. Built in 1873, it burned in 1886. Grace’s third church, on 9th Street, used timbers and window frames from the previous building. It was dedicated on March 11, 1889. When the congregation outgrew that space, Roger Allen and Associates of Grand Rapids designed this building in the style of an English parish church. It was consecrated in 1954. Additions doubled the size of the church in 1985. The altar was moved to the new north end of the sanctuary, and the pews were reversed. In 2017 the church installed a Pasi organ.
Grace Episcopal Church
In August 1866 Manley Howard and Heber Walsh invited missionary Rev. Robert Wood to conduct an Episcopal service in Holland. Grace parish was organized the next year. The Rev. Joash Rice Taylor, its first rector, led the congregation into the Diocese of Michigan on June 10, 1868. It joined the new Diocese of Western Michigan in 1874. Struggling as a missionary parish in a community dominated by Dutch Reformed churches for sixty years, it lacked a rector for months at a time and faced limited resources, debt and fires. Grace became independent of missionary assistance and self-supporting in 1928. It stabilized and grew under the leadership of the Rev. William C. Warner, rector from 1943 to 1968. Grace was a leader in offering women leadership opportunities.
Grace Episcopal Church Buildings
The 1871 Holland fire destroyed Grace Episcopal’s first church, a former one-room school on 10th Street across from Centennial Park. Gordon W. Lloyd designed a carpenter gothic church for the congregation’s second location at 11th and Pine. Built in 1873, it burned in 1886. Grace’s third church, on 9th Street, used timbers and window frames from the previous building. It was dedicated on March 11, 1889. When the congregation outgrew that space, Roger Allen and
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Associates of Grand Rapids designed this building in the style of an English parish church. It was consecrated in 1954. Additions doubled the size of the church in 1985. The altar was moved to the new north end of the sanctuary, and the pews were reversed. In 2017 the church installed a Pasi organ.
Erected 2018 by Michigan Historical Commission - Michigan History Center. (Marker Number L2305.)
Location. 42° 46.589′ N, 86° 6.68′ W. Marker is in Holland, Michigan, in Ottawa County. It is in Maplewood. Marker is at the intersection of Michigan Avenue (Business U.S. 31) and Cherry Street, on the left when traveling south on Michigan Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 555 Michigan Ave, Holland MI 49423, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Credits. This page was last revised on August 5, 2023. It was originally submitted on September 18, 2021, by John Garman of Rochester Hills. This page has been viewed 414 times since then and 76 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on September 18, 2021, by John Garman of Rochester Hills. • Mark Hilton was the editor who published this page.
