St. Peter's UCC Church, Amherst, Ohio

Today we joined the congregation at St. Peter's UCC Church in Amherst which is about a half an hour drive from the campground.  Their service in the summer is at 9:30 AM.  The minister was off on business this Sunday and will be again next Sunday but they had a woman minister filling in and she did a terrific job.

This church was formed in 1850 by a group of German Evangelicals who came to work in the large sandstone quarries in the area. In 1857 they built their first wooden church measuring 32 x 42 feet.  As their congregation increased they built another church in 1892 in a Gothic style.  The sanctuary was not complete until 1923 when the congregation decided to install the beautiful stained glass windows that are a part of the sanctuary today now protected by plexiglass on the outside.  The windows were designed by Pittsburgh Art Glass Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  In 1950 an Annex was added to the rear of the church in order to accommodate a growing education program.  The sanctuary has been redone a couple of times since then.  

There is a patio type sidewalk along the front of the church.  The block in the center of the church have the names of all the previous pastors of the church and their term of service.  Outside of that area, other members of the church must have been allowed to buy a block with their names because it looks like a lot of the congregation has their name in stone.

The Altar

Some of the beautiful stained glass windows

St. Peter's had a guest choir today - The Golden Crescent Men's Chorus.  It was quite a treat!  They sang several pieces so I took a bit of video because they were so awesome!  The Golden Crescent Chorus, Lorain Chapter of The Barbershop Harmony Society is composed of about 60 men from Lorain, Erie and Cuyahoga counties who sing for enjoyment. 

The Golden Crescent Men's Chorus

 Singing "Swing Down Chariot"

 Singing "Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory

The Balcony and more of the stained glass

After church we went back home to change clothes and have lunch.  Then we plan to hike to the West Falls in Elyria.