Grace North Church Celebrates 125 Years In Berkeley

Berkeley, CA, USA, 09/07/2017 /SubmitPressRelease123/

Grace North Church Celebrates 125 Years in Berkeley

Berkeley, California, September 1, 2017 — Grace North Church celebrates its 125th birthday on September 17, 2017.

In 1892, a handful of parishioners gathered in a living room to form North Congregational Church. The congregation has been an integral part of our north Berkeley heritage ever since.

North Congregational built its historic “Berkeley Bungalo Church” in 1913. Designed by James Plachek, it is a landmark building and widely admired as an architectural marvel. The building stands at 1601 Walnut Street.

A pillar of the Berkeley community for most of the 20th century, North Congregational struggled through the tumultuous 1960s, separating from the United Church of Christ and joining with the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches.

In the 1990s, amid dwindling numbers, the congregation merged with a breakaway Episcopal school, The Grace Institute for Religious Learning. Under the leadership of the Rev. Richard Mapplebeckplamer, the congregation changed its name to Grace North Church to honor the names and heritages of both groups.

In 2012, under the leadership of current pastor Rev. John Mabry, the congregation rejoined the United Church of Christ, providing a home base for many seminarians at the Graduate Theological Union. They are now dually aligned with the UCC and the NACCC.

Grace North Church maintains a lively presence in the Gourmet Ghetto neighborhood. Celebrating its unique blend of Anglican-style worship and Congregational polity, the congregation offers a progressive message and folk music led by a five-member band. Their teaching emphasizes Christian mysticism and interfaith dialogue. Grace North Church is LGBT-friendly and is registered as an “Open and Affirming” congregation.

Weekly worship is at 5pm on Sundays. They also host a monthly interfaith labyrinth walk on the last Friday of every month (January through October) from 6-7pm, where their band accompanies a contemplative labyrinth walk with interfaith chants.

The 125th Anniversary celebration takes place September 17, 2017 at 5pm. There will be a celebratory worship service with communion, followed by a champagne reception. The congregation promises there will be cake.

Contact: Rev. John Mabry | apocryphile@me.com | 510-290-4349

Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar Street, Berkeley, CA 94709

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