For Americans July it's the month in which they celebrate
their independence.
For Frenchmen it's the month in which they celebrate-if they
ever celebrate in France any more- the fall of the Bastille.
And for a devout group in suburban Greece July is the month
when they're going to mark the 100th birthday of their church.
It will be a month when the story of the growth of their
church will be refreshed in the minds of the Greece Methodist Church's
congregation. For the story of the Methodist religion, from the period of Indian
Warfare, through the era of circuit riders and on down to the present will be
reviewed.
It will be enacted in a pageant," Century of
Worship" written by Henry E. Roberts, a member of the congregation and head
of the centennial committee. His fellow worshippers will take on July 25, date
of the church's establishment, the parts played in its development by their
ancestors.
Rochester was hardly more than a village in 1841 when the
Rev. William Williams called a meeting in the old stone schoolhouse of District
9 in Greece. At the session the "Methodist Protestant Church of Greece"
was organized, In 1866 the name was changed to the "Methodist Church."
Services were held regularly, sometimes in the schoolhouse and sometimes in the
Methodist Episcopal church in North Greece.
In 1867 the congregation, its number now increased, bought
the old Christian Church at Greece Center. The substantial cobblestone structure
had been built in 1844.
As the community prospered and the congregation increased
still further, the worshippers decided to construct a new edifice. The classically simple
white church on Maiden Lane, within a stone's throw of Long Pond Road, is the
result of their efforts.
Still a member of the congregation is Mrs. Josephine Combs who, for al she
knows, might have been present when that building was dedicated in 1874.
However, she couldn't be sure for she was only 1 year old at the time.
It wouldn't be hard to picture proud parents taking her along
as they went to witness the ceremonies. Of all her early memories, Mrs. Combs is
reminded most of the days 60 years ago when she and her friends rode to services
in a four-horse wagon, bumping along a dusty road.
It has been smooth going for the church, she recalls, except
for a cyclone in 1890. It blew the roof from all the sheds where horses w
tethered while their masters attended services.
Elmer Justice, in his 80s, is the grandson of one of the founders. His
dearest memory of the old church days, he, is of the oyster suppers held a
members' homes to aid church finances. Whatever oysters were left over, he
remembers, were buried in snow banks in winter, to be dug up the next day.
"It was nearest thing to refrigeration we knew about" he says.
In 1910 a church hall was built. It provided a place to hold
church suppers, socials and entertainments. There are many who can recall helping
father tie the horse in the sheds, while they attended a strawberry festival or
roast beef supper.
By the time 1928 had rolled around the members felt the need
for a larger hall. The old hall was moved was moved to the rear of the church
and an addition made. Then the shining hardwood basketball court and dining room
that is the pride of the church today was constructed on the first floor. The
Sunday school classrooms are on the second. In April 1928, the church was
incorporated under the name of the "Methodist Protestant Church of
Greece."
One of the happiest occasions is the church's experience was
the burning of a $3,000 mortgage in July,1935, freeing the church from all
indebtedness. To make it possible, Frank Fisher, member of the board of trustees
and holder of the mortgage, on which a balance of $1,900 was due, agreed to mach
the entire amount raised by the congregation on the principal. The church
members accepted the offer, and with the co-operation of the entire community,
the goal was attained.
A few years later three of the Methodist denominations
combined and once more the church became known officially as he
"Greece Methodist Church."
