Archwood Church is over 185 years old. Founded in 1819, we are the oldest UCC in the city of Cleveland. We are also the result of a merger of Archwood Congregational Church and Fourth Evangelical and Reformed Church in 1967, which followed the national merger of those two denominations in 1957.
In the 1950s the membership of Archwood Church was over 1,000 people, most of whom lived in the church's neighborhood. When the freeways were built in the 1960s, as many as 5,000 homes and businesses in our immediate area were torn down, causing an outward migration. Busing in the 1970s also caused some families to move to nearby suburbs. These changes contributed to the decline of the church, to such an extent that in the early 1990s there were only 30 people in worship on an average Sunday, most of whom were over 75 years of age.
This struggling congregation found it difficult to find a pastor, and for three years, while actively searching, was served by an interim pastor. The regional UCC executive that assists congregations to find pastors suggested that they look at the candidacy of openly gay pastors, many of whom have difficulty finding placement, even though the UCC was the first denomination in the United States to ordain an openly gay man in 1972.
(The UCC, through one of its predecessor bodies - The Congregational Church - was also the first in the U.S. to ordain a person of African descent in the late 1700s - and the first to ordain a woman, in 1853).
In 1992 the search committee came to a conclusion about the best qualified candidate and extended an invitation to David Bahr to preach a "call sermon," after which the congregation would vote. A two-thirds majority was required to extend a call, and the margin was exactly two-thirds. Most, but not all, of those persons who voted against his call left the church immediately. The Cleveland Plain Dealer carried the news that the church had called an openly gay man as its pastor. Visitors, gay and non-gay, started coming to the church and becoming members. The long-time members who remained were exceptionally loving and

welcoming. Over 180 people have become members since that time, and the number of active friends continues to grow.
An Open and Affirming Covenant was developed to make explicit the church's welcome of all people and which expressed its commitment to be intentional in growing as a multi-cultural, multi-racial congregation. A few years later our diversity further developed as we began providing interpretation for deaf and hearing impaired individuals. Deaf members are fully integrated, as members of the Governing Body and as participants in our small group ministries. Many hearing members have started to take sign language classes at the church.
In 2001 we began to consider an explicit statement of our commitment to justice and peace. From that we developed a Just Peace Covenant, similar to other UCC congregations.