Published: December 15, 2005 09:29 am      

100 Years

North Tonawanda, NY — A North Tonawanda church is gearing up for a year of celebration — the kind that only comes around once a century.

Grace Lutheran Church, at the corner of Payne Avenue and Robinson Street, will celebrate its 100th anniversary Jan. 26. The milestone will be marked by the 250-member congregation with various events throughout the year.

“It’s a time to look back and see where we’ve been and where we come from,” said Pastor Janet Griffiths, who took the helm at the church seven years ago after serving in the San Francisco Bay area. “But it’s also a time to be looking into the future, to say who we are now and who we’re going to be.”

The church was started in 1906 after its congregation split from Redeemer Lutheran Church over the issue of masons. Redeemer Lutheran belongs to the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, a sect that prohibits its members from belonging to fraternal organizations. Members who wanted to continue to be masons broke off and formed Grace Lutheran, which is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The new congregation first met in a church building on Oliver Street and moved to its current location in 1924.

Membership in the local denomination dropped in the mid-1900s as North Tonawanda’s industrial heritage began to shift.

“The paper mills shut down, which supplied industry and jobs,” said Werner Weinreich, who served as the church’s pastor for almost 30 years, until his retirement in 1997.

Membership had shrunk by the time he retired, but the 100th anniversary, he said, “speaks to me of the continued life and ministry of the congregation, and that our work has borne fruit.”

Weinreich is one of several featured guests who will speak at the church during 2006. He will give a presentation on the church’s history during a luncheon Jan. 22.

The church is known locally for the chowder sale it runs when the City Market is open. Two-thirds of the proceeds from the sale are given to local and national charities, while one-third is kept for the church.

Locally, the church gives to the United Way, Salvation Army and Buffalo City Mission. Some of the national and international causes have included the Heifer Project, Habitat for Humanity and the Red Cross.

“It’s the idea of not keeping it all to ourselves,” Griffiths said.

In the winter months, when traffic is down at the market, the church donates the leftover soup — a combination of soup, veggies, shredded beef and chicken — to the Inter-Church Food Pantry on Ridge Road.

“That’s worked out for our people because it’s colder, and a nice warm, meal is always good,” said Bonnie Giammusso, coordinator of the pantry, which provides supplemental food for low-income families in the Tonawandas.

Brian Pratt, a member of the church who oversees the chowder sale, said the church is planning a special Taste of Chowder event in October to honor the famed soup, which would feature chowders sold throughout the area by various organizations.

The event is one of many the congregation and its community will take part in next year.

“We’ll be celebrating all year,” Griffiths said.

Contact Stacey Shepard at 693-1000, Ext. 114.