Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
May 04, 2013

MASON CITY — Grace United Methodist Church at 200 14th St. N.W. is celebrating its centennial the weekend of May 11-12.

Everyone is invited to a celebration kick-off from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 11, at the church. The celebration will include free hot dogs, children’s games, face painting and a bounce house.

On Sunday, May 12, the church will commemorate its beginnings with a special church service.

The service will begin at 10:30 a.m. across the street from the church, which is where the first-ever service was held in a tent 100 years ago this weekend.

The service will move inside the church at 10:45 a.m.

Those who attend the service are invited to wear either vintage or modern dress.

A potluck will follow the service.

Throughout the year past pastors are being invited back to preach on Sundays.

The church, which has gone through a number of name changes over the years, originally was founded as Grace Church of the Evangelical Association.

In 1913 the Evangelical Association made plans to build a church in the growing working-class neighborhood in northern Mason City.

Two lots were purchased at the corner of 14th Street and North Adams Avenue for $2,000.

The first church service was held on May 12, 1913, in a large tent across the street to the east of the building site. Thirty people were in attendance with 28 in Sunday school.

Services were held in the tent until it was destroyed by wind in September 1913. Then church was held in the parsonage until November, when it became possible to hold services in the new church basement.

The cornerstone was laid Aug 17, 1913, and the church was completed Dec 23, 1913 at a total cost of $12,069. The parsonage was completed Sept. 15th at a cost of $2,913.85.

The congregation was incorporated and organized the second week of February 1914 with 34 members.

The church became Grace Evangelical Church in 1922.

By 1923, Sunday school had grown to an attendance of 216 and church membership to 201.

The mergers of the Evangelical and United Brethren Churches in 1951 led to Grace Evangelical United Brethren Church.

Grace church continued to grow, and on May 6, 1962, ground was broken for a new Sunday School addition to accommodate the growing number of youth.

It was completed Jan 6, 1963, when the church had 323 members.

Today it is known as Grace United Methodist after the merger of Methodist and EUB churches in the late 1960s.

In the early 1980s the need for a new church was recognized. The old structure was torn down and the parsonage moved to a new site at 415 16th St. N.W. Ground was broken on May 24, 1981, and the building was completed in time for Christmas services.

Grae UMC currently has nearly 300 members.

Transcriptions by Sharon R. Becker, November of 2013; updated December of 2014