Old Stone’s congregation traces its roots to 15 residents who, in 1820, gathered in a log structure on the Square to establish the First Presbyterian Society.

The Old Stone Church on Public Square in Cleveland, Ohio will mark its 190th anniversary on Sept. 12 with a 10 a.m. worship service, followed by an outdoor festival of music and food on the Square.

Old Stone pastor, the Rev. Mark Giuliano, a musician and songwriter, describes the party as “dignified revelry.”

“It means we can cut loose and go a little crazy,” said Giuliano, who is just the 12th senior pastor in Old Stone’s history.

Old Stone’s congregation traces its roots to 15 residents who, in 1820, gathered in a log structure on the Square to establish the First Presbyterian Society.

In 1834, it dedicated its first church, a structure of rough-hammered sandstone. But by 1853, the congregation, outgrowing the church, razed the building and replaced it with another stone edifice.

Generations of Old Stone congregations have included a “Who’s Who” of Cleveland, including philanthropist Flora Stone Mather, Abraham Lincoln’s secretary John Hay and a host of industrialists and businessmen who transformed a village into a major metropolis.

Old Stone members are credited with organizing the first public school, various settlement houses, the first orphans’ home and the first women’s shelter.

Read More (and see a picture) here: http://www.cleveland.com/religion/index.ssf/2010/09/old_stone_church_to_mark_190th.html