About Grace Community Church
-
Welcome...
The purpose of this church is to glorify the God of the Scriptures in promoting His worship, evangelizing sinners, and edifying saints. To this end we are committed to proclaiming God's perfect law and His glorious Gospel of Grace in Jesus Christ throughout the world, and to defending the "faith once delivered unto the saints". (Jude 3).
The building was erected on the corners of Fifth and Washington Streets in 1858. The style of the building is of Romanesque Revival style, with the use of brick almost entirely for ornamentation, except for a stone belt course. They used brick in the arches to give the effect of dentils for all the windows and arches over the doors and in panels in the front of the building. The sills are stone with stone brackets for support. The stained glass windows have designs of lilies in a stained glass sash. The Trinity Triangle and the Eternity Circle make up the upper part of the windows. The doors are not the original, but probably date from 1869, and include heavy hinges from the original church. The square tower rises three stories high, to add a small spire with finial.
The church had disasters by nature, and fire to deal with during the first few years. The first fire came one year after the church was built, in 1859. The fire destroyed much of the interior. The members put their love and money, along with skill, into rebuilding their church. Again, fire struck in 1867, gutting the entire interior. And again, the people worked along side one another to rebuild the church.
Three floods have entered the building, in 1889, 1921 and 1937. The worst was the 1937 flood, which was in the sanctuary, doing considerable damage. The love and pride of its people once again proved worthy of the cause, and the sanctuary was restored.
The only addition to the original structure was the addition of the Sunday School area in 1906. The Bigelow Methodist Church at that time was one of the oldest congregations in Portsmouth. The church had always had a strong influence in the community for moral standards. The last Methodist service was held in the building on the last Sunday in December, 1982.
The present Bigelow congregation began to meet on Sunday, January 1, 1984. Thirty-three people were present for the first service. The newly formed congregation took possession of the building on March 1, 1984, retaining the name "Bigelow" as an expression of respect for the man for whom the church was named, Russell Bigelow. He was a circuit rider and young minister with the Kentucky Conference of Methodist Churches serving the Wyandotte Indians in the Upper Sandusky area, which covered territory from Chillicothe, Ohio, down into the northern Kentucky border. Pastor Bigelow was a very powerful man and many souls were led to the Lord through his work.
The Bigelow Church building is now on the National Register of Historic Buildings. The church places a strong emphasis on Bible teaching and practical Christian living.
If you do not have a place of worship, please consider this an invitation to be with us on Sunday.
