A Disciples Congregation on East Boyer Street
On the corner of East Boyer Street and High Street, near the center of Wadsworth, Ohio, stands a white wooden church that has anchored this Medina County town for nearly two hundred years. First Christian Church of Wadsworth is a congregation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and it traces its roots to 1828, when the first worshipers met in homes, then in a log school house, and occasionally in a barn when the gathering grew too large for either. The present building, on the same lot the congregation purchased in 1842 for fifty dollars, still incorporates the original 1840s meeting house. Visitors who climb into the attic can see the saplings that once supported the roof of that first sanctuary.
The congregation has grown around its original building through additions on either side of the sanctuary, giving the worship space the shape of a cross. A later brick Education Building was constructed for an active Sunday school and later connected directly into the main church. Today the building holds Sunday worship, faith formation classes for all ages, and a staff-led ministry program that reaches well beyond the walls on East Boyer. The church calls itself Building Lives of Compassion and describes its mission in three words: faith, compassion, and community.
Sunday Worship, Blended and Open
Worship at First Christian gathers at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings in a blended style that pairs contemporary music with traditional elements of Disciples worship. The service is offered both in person and online, with the live stream broadcast on YouTube and Facebook. Communion is celebrated every Sunday, and, in keeping with Disciples practice, the Table is open to all who wish to come forward. The service is livestreamed, so people who do not want to appear on camera can ask a Deacon to direct them to seating that stays off-screen.
Immediately following worship, at 10:45 a.m. from September through May, the congregation moves into Faith Formation classes for every age. Children's Sunday School gathers in Room 103 for the elementary years, while a sixth-grade Pastor's Class meets in Room 102 to walk students through six weeks of study leading up to a Baptism or public Confession of Faith on Baptism Sunday. Adult classes meet at the same hour and take different shapes.
Childcare is provided year-round in Room 100 of the Education Wing for children from birth through age five, during both the worship service and the formation hour. The sound of children in worship is welcomed here; the congregation says it loves the joyful noise of its youngest members.
Faith Formation for Adults
Adult Christian education is built around three longstanding Sunday-morning classes, each with its own personality.
- Pathways approaches scripture as a life-oriented practice, asking participants to live out their faith through the various stages of life in a relaxed setting where the only requirement is one's presence.
- Gateway gathers around coffee each week for a lively discussion of topics relevant to the Christian life.
- Scripture Seekers works through Lifeway's Adult Bible Studies for Life curriculum, with three rotating leaders and a call-in option for Sundays when members cannot be in person.
Beyond the Sunday-morning slate, the church supports a First Men's ministry known as First Men, a Women's ministry with Bible studies, book studies, retreats, and a Women's Tea, and a J.O.Y. Group (Just Older Youth) for seniors. The Men's Forum gathers on Monday evenings for six to ten weeks in the fall and winter to study a book, video, or topic chosen by the First Men Steering Committee, while the men of FCC Wadsworth and FCC Medina come together each year for a one-day Men's Gathering Retreat.
Children's Ministry From Nursery Through Fifth Grade
Children's ministry at First Christian treats every child as a treasure from God. Beyond Sunday morning classes, the program includes several recurring touchpoints through the year.
God's Kids Club meets once a month for a large-group time and an outreach service; the children put together gifts and letters for the church's homebound members, and the elders deliver those gifts personally, weaving the children and the homebound into one ministry. Once a month during Sunday school, K through fifth graders gather in the Children's Church Sanctuary in Room 205 for a large-group gathering that includes singing, dancing, and storytelling with computer-aided visuals. On the second Sunday of each month, Junior Youth Fellowship brings K through fifth graders together for lunch followed by team-building activities designed to help them support one another in faith. Junior summer camps, Otter and Ribbit at Camp Christian in Marysville, Ohio, give children in grades two through five their first taste of regional Disciples summer camp.
Vacation Bible School is offered in the summer, and the church uses Vacation Bible School Registration online.
Teens: Chi Rho, CYF, and the Urban Plunge
Teen ministry begins in sixth grade and runs through high school graduation. The youth of First Christian are part of the wider Christian Church in Ohio youth program, Chi Rho for middle schoolers (grades 6 to 8) and CYF for high schoolers (grades 9 to 12), with regional summer conferences and a national gathering in the summer.
Locally, the year revolves around several signature events. During the Urban Plunge (UP), teens and adult volunteers spend a week partnering with community organizations including Marian's Closet and the Akron Canton Food Bank on service projects, then return to the church for Bible study, worship, fellowship, and games. Each December the youth present The Search for the Christ Child, a living journey through Bethlehem on the first Sunday of December that draws hundreds of guests each year for hot chocolate at the Camelback Inn and an evening of shepherds, magi, and a stable at the end. In the spring, the youth take over the Sunday worship hour for Youth Sunday, leading readings, music, and personal messages organized around an annual theme. The annual Retreat takes the group off-site for a weekend of small groups, a vesper service, and worship built around one shared focus.
A Music Ministry Built Around Three Groups
Music is described as one of the most well-loved ministries at First Christian, and three groups provide the backbone of the program.
The Chancel Choir sings anthems and service music on Sunday mornings and at special services through the program year, with rehearsals on Wednesday evenings from 5:30 to 6:45 in the Sanctuary. Membership is open to anyone middle school age and older at any point in the season. During the summer, soloists and small ensembles drawn from the congregation and the other music groups provide special music.
The Contemporary Worship Team brings a different sound to the same service, blending keyboard, acoustic, electric, and bass guitar, percussion, and vocalists into arrangements that follow current worship trends while keeping God at the center of the music. Rehearsals are held on Sunday mornings before worship, and the team welcomes new musicians of varying skill levels at any time.
The Bells of First Christian, the church's handbell choir, provides music quarterly during worship from September through May and rehearses on Monday evenings from 5:30 to 6:00 in the Sanctuary. The group welcomes new ringers and offers its members a particular chance to work as a team.
Outreach: One of the Most Charitable Disciples Congregations
Outreach is the most distinctive feature of First Christian Church of Wadsworth. The congregation gives ten percent of all contributions to outreach organizations that align with its mission, and it identifies itself as consistently one of the most charitable congregations in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
A food pantry stands on the church's front lawn, available to the community daily. Weekly, a Red Bag Drive collects groceries and supplies for the Wadsworth Salvation Army food pantry. Monthly, the church holds clothing drives in support of Marian's Closet, and each month it also responds to a state-level need, which in recent years has included The Haven of Rest Ministries in Akron and Cleveland Christian Home. Through its yearly Compassion Offering and partnerships such as Helping Haitians in Need, the church extends that generosity across state lines and overseas. Helping Haitians in Need is a major international focus; the church is a principal supporter of the Puit Chacha Cistern project, which provides housing and education for Haitian children and potable water for more than two thousand people in the community of Puit Chacha.
During the month of February the church collects for Week of Compassion, the relief, refugee, and development mission fund of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada.
Children and teens participate in this same outreach focus. Sunday school classes and Vacation Bible School include service projects, and the youth have packed disaster relief buckets, served at the Akron Regional Food Bank, and taken part in an MLK Day of Service.
Camp Christian and the Wider Disciples Family
First Christian belongs to a wider network of Disciples summer camps through Camp Christian in Marysville, Ohio, a serene setting used by Disciples across Ohio. Each summer many from FCC Wadsworth spend a week there. The camp offers programs for every age: Otter and Ribbit Junior Camp for second through fifth graders, Chi Rho for middle schoolers, CYF for high schoolers, an Adult Conference open to all ages, an Advance Ministry Summer Conference designed for young adults ages nineteen to twenty-nine who are exploring leadership in the church, and Grandparent's Camp, begun in 2006, which pairs a kindergartner, first-grader, or second-grader with an adult for crafts, games, singing, and dancing in a Christian setting.
At the regional level, First Christian is part of the Christian Church in Ohio, and its pastor and members serve on regional boards and participate in regional ministries alongside neighboring congregations such as FCC Medina.
What Disciples Believe
First Christian describes itself as part of a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world, a movement founded in the early 1800s by Christians who hoped to move beyond denominational division. As part of the one body of Christ, the congregation welcomes all to the Lord's Table as God has welcomed them and affirms that all people are God's children. The church affirms that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God and that he offers saving grace to all.
A summary statement in the sanctuary puts it simply: In essentials, unity. In nonessentials, liberty. In all things, love.
In practice that means a handful of commitments. Freedom of belief: each person is free to follow their conscience, guided by Scripture, the Holy Spirit, study, and prayer, and the church extends that same freedom to others. The Bible: every member has both the freedom and the responsibility to study God's Word, with the Holy Spirit at work in the community of faith to help interpret it. Baptism: the church practices baptism by immersion as an outward sign of God's grace, while honoring other baptism traditions. Communion: the Lord's Supper is celebrated weekly in worship, and the Table is open to all. Ministry of all believers: God calls both ordained ministers and lay members to lead in worship, to serve, and to grow spiritually into their gifts, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation.
Pastor Sarah West and the Staff
The senior pastor is Sarah West, who came to First Christian in 2018 after ministries in upstate New York including ten years at the First Presbyterian Church of Waterloo. Raised in St. Louis by a father who was an engineer and a mother who pastored a Disciples congregation, West graduated from Bethany College and the University of Chicago Divinity School and School of Social Service Administration. Her husband, Clark, is an Episcopal priest, and they have three children. West describes her leadership as committed to a congregation that is radically welcoming, joyously generous, and committed to building a more compassionate world.
Alongside the pastor, the staff includes Keyshia Beverly as Director of Child and Family Ministries, a veteran of the U.S. Army with a Master's Degree in Divinity, and Ted Peplowski as Director of Music Ministries, a professional musician whose calling to worship leadership grew from a personal faith journey.
Becoming a Member
Joining First Christian can happen in a single Sunday morning. Visitors who feel led to make the church their own are invited to come forward during the song or hymn of invitation near the end of worship, where one of the ministers will receive their confession of faith or their reaffirmation and transfer of membership. New members are asked whether they believe Jesus is the Son of the Living God and whether they accept him as Lord and Savior, and their answer, I do, is enough. Those who prefer can meet privately with a minister or email the church office to arrange another time.
Planning a First Visit
Visitors find First Christian near the geographic center of Wadsworth, about fifteen minutes west of Akron and forty minutes south of Cleveland. The address is 116 East Boyer Street, with the parking lot on Boyer Street and additional entrances on Lyman Street. Handicap-accessible parking is curb-side, facing west. Additional overflow parking is permitted in the business lots west of the church on the south side of Boyer Street, and a parking map is available at the Welcome Center in the Gathering Area.
Sunday begins with worship at 9:30 a.m., followed by Faith Formation classes for all ages at 10:45 a.m. The office is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. For first-time families, childcare is provided in Room 100 of the Education Wing during the service and the formation hour, and children are welcome in worship as well.
For those who cannot attend in person, services are livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook and rebroadcast on WCTV (Channel 17) on Tuesdays at 11:00 a.m., 4:30 p.m., and 9:00 p.m., and on Wednesdays at 8:00 a.m. Recordings are also available on the church's YouTube channel and on demand from WCTV.