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Pleasant Grove Presbyterian Church is closing
By LINDA M. LINONIS
YOUNGSTOWN
The congregation of Pleasant Grove Presbyterian Church has experienced many changes over the years – in ministers, music directors, building renovations, members and affiliation from United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America to Presbyterian Church (USA).
In 1995, Foster Memorial Presbyterian Church, 566 W. Indianola Ave., consolidated with Pleasant Grove Presbyterian. On Nov. 22, 2015, the Pleasant Grove Presbyterian congregation voted to transfer membership to Canfield Presbyterian Church,
The final service is set for 3 p.m. Sunday with a reception to follow.
Recently, four members gathered to discuss the church. They were Sara DeAscentis and her mother, Nancy Kilpatrick, who have been members since 1995 and came to Pleasant Grove from when Foster Memorial Presbyterian closed; Gene Potesta, member of session who was confirmed at the church in 1945; and Suzanne Steck, 77-year member and parish visitor.
DeAscentis and Potesta noted church leadership and members discussed the situation, and it led to the congregation’s vote. “It’s been coming a few years,” Potesta said of the decision to close. “Money and aging congregation are the main things,” DeAscentis said.
The two said the church was solvent and could have continued a while longer but that would not have been good stewardship. The church has 175 members “on the books” and about 114 will go to Canfield Presbyterian.
Potesta said Valley Christian Schools had been leasing space and has bought the building. “We were happy when Valley showed interest in the building,” Potesta said.
The congregation is establishing a Pleasant Grove Scholarship Fund at Valley Christian that will be fully funded in five years. Its legacy will continue. Members also plan on Valley Christian as one of its missions. Last year, eight young people were sponsored at Camp Fitch and this year, four will be.
DeAscentis said the situation is “very emotional.” She and her mother have been through a church closing. “But in life and in the church, there is change,” DeAscentis said. “It takes courage for the first step. It’s a process.”
Steck has served as parish visitor for 20 years. She has faithfully visited shut-ins and those in nursing homes. “My grandmother led Bible classes; my mother, Loyal Daughters Class; my stepmother, Friendship Class; and I, nursery class,” she said. Her mother and stepmother were the first women elders at the church in the 1960s.
In a way, Steck is being repaid of her years of care and concern to members, who now are giving that to her. Her husband, Bob, a 50-year member of Pleasant Grove, is ill and undergoing dialysis. “The support is unbelievable,” she said.
Potesta said the “high point” for the church was after World War II. “We expanded and had some 1,200 members and added an educational wing in the 1950s,” he recalled.
He continued that a driving force at the church was the pastor, the Rev. Don P. Montgomery, who served from 1927 to 1966, retiring after 39 years of service. “He did everything at the church,” Potesta said of the long-time pastor.
The group said Pleasant Grove was known for its youth program on Wednesday nights. “Children from the church and neighborhood attended,” DeAscentis said. “And vacation Bible school was very popular and was a big draw.”
Activities that attracted community residents included men’s dinners, corn roasts and bazaars. “We had a dinner for everything,” DeAscentis said.
At one time, Pleasant Grove had 500 children attending Sunday school classes. “At the end, there was one child left ... my grandson, Keegan Kilpatrick,” said Kilpatrick, who also taught him.
Kilpatrick was involved in the Heart to Heart event in February and mother-child banquets. She recalled honoring the oldest women and youngest children at events she planned for 20 years.
Those kinds of events helped build relationships among members, she said. Both Ascentis and Kilpatrick described the congregation as a close-knit family ... an extended family.
For 67 years, the church conducted candlelight Christmas vespers services that drew large crowds from the church and community. The church had an active music ministry under Margie Burnett, who became music director in 1994 and continued the legacy of previous musicians.
Changes already taking place at the building have had a positive effect, the group said. “It’s a transformation ... not empty rooms but ones being used again,” DeAscentis said.
Members plan to take the baptismal font, that came from Foster Memorial, and a communion table to Canfield. The destiny of the pipe organ has not been decided.
The Rev. Larry Bowald, Canfield Presbyterian pastor, said he and the congregation are focusing on being welcoming and hospitable. “Members have volunteered to be sponsors to Pleasant Grove members to answer questions they may have,” he said. The pastor said Pleasant Grove is bringing its worship banners, a meaningful addition.
“We see this as a blessing and positive event,” the pastor said of the new members. “We want to involve them in the life of this church.”
Michael Pecchia, president of Valley Christian Schools, said VCS has “run out of room” at its main campus at 4401 Southern Blvd.
“Pleasant Grove has great space and location for us,” he said. There are about 625 students in kindergarten through 12th grades at the main campus, who are being bussed for music, art, computer, library and band sessions at the Pleasant Grove building. VCS also operates three preschools.
Pecchia said the former church would be VCS Pleasant Grove Campus to remember the legacy of the congregation.
“It will remain a place where children learn about God and ministry continues,” he said.