Category: Religion

TRINITY CATHEDRAL and its parent Trinity Parish constitute not only the present-day seat of the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio but also one of Cleveland's original religious organizations. Trinity Parish was organized at the house of Phineas Shepherd in BROOKLYN on 9 Nov.

TUCKER, BEVERLEY DANDRIDGE (4 Feb. 1882-4 July 1969), sixth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio (1938-52), was born in Warsaw, Va. to Anna Maria (Washington) and Beverley Dandridge, an Episcopal clergyman. He received a B.A. from the University of Virginia (1902); graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary (1905); and earned a B.A. (1908) and M.A. (1912) at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.

The UNION GOSPEL PRESS BUILDING, located at Jefferson Avenue and West 7th Street in TREMONT, is actually a 175,000-square-foot complex composed of fifteen interconnected buildings and encompassing over two acres.

The UNITARIAN SOCIETY OF CLEVELAND was formed as a result of the decision by a majority of the members of the First Unitarian Church of Cleveland to move to SHAKER HTS. in 1951. The remaining 317 members voted to stay at E. 82nd St. and Euclid in the inner city. The new group was chartered within 2 months and bought the building from First Church.

UNITARIAN-UNIVERSALISM. The Unitarian and Universalist movements started in England and came to the Cleveland area separately early in the 19th century. Founded as protests against strict Calvinism, the unorthodox Protestant sects advocated freedom of thought and conscience. The American churches began in the East: Unitarianism in New England with the Transcendentalists, and Universalism in Pennsylvania with John Murray.

UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST. See CONGREGATIONALISTS.


The UNITING SYNOD, the first general synod of the United Church of Christ, was held in Cleveland on 25 June 1957. It was at this synod that 2 separate churches, the Evangelical and Reformed Church and Congregational Christian Church, representing some 2.1 million members in 8,311 churches nationwide, formally agreed to union as the United Church of Christ.

VOCATIONAL ADJUSTMENT DEPARTMENT. See JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE ASSN.


WARING ST. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. See SUPERIOR ST. TABERNACLE.


WARRENSVILLE CENTER SYNAGOGUE, the second-largest Orthodox Jewish congregation in Cleveland, was established in May 1959 from the merger of TETIEVER AHAVATH ACHIM ANSHE SFARD CONGREGATION, the KINSMAN JEWISH CENTER, and Congregation Nvoh Tzedick (a congregation established by Jewish Lithuanians in 1918).

WEEDEN, JOHN T. (2 Aug. 1901-17 Sept. 1988) a Baptist minister for 65 years, served 41 years at St. Timothy Baptist Church in Cleveland. He demonstrated for civil rights for AFRICAN AMERICANS locally and in Atlanta, GA, and Selma, AL, was community liaison for Rep. Louis Stokes (D-21), and managed the 1967 mayoral campaign for Carl Stokes (see MAYORAL ADMINISTRATION OF CARL B. STOKES).

WELFARE ASSN. FOR JEWISH CHILDREN. See JEWISH CHILDREN'S BUREAU.


WELSH, REV. ROBERT J., S.J. (June 6, 1936 - August 30, 2018) left his mark on multiple generations of students at ST. IGNATIUS HIGH SCHOOL, Cleveland’s Jesuit High School for young men.

WESLEY METHODIST CHURCH, on Cleveland's near west side at Bridge Ave. and W. 44th, was organized and incorporated on 11 May 1947, a merger of 2 historic Methodist congregations: FRANKLIN BOULEVARD METHODIST CHURCH and St. Paul's German Methodist Episcopal Church. St.

The WEST SHORE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH, an offshoot of the First Unitarian Church organized in 1867, is one of a pair of Unitarian churches on the city's extreme east and west sides. The West Shore Church began its independent existence with a series of lectures given by the minister of First Unitarian (then at Euclid and E. 82nd St.), Rev. Everett M. Baker, in 1945 at the Lakewood Community Ctr.

The WEST SIDE JEWISH CENTER was organized as B'nai Israel in 1910 by 10 Orthodox families, who rented a hall at 2525 Lorain Rd. for services. The center was the second Jewish congregation founded on the west side. The first was Oheb Zedek Hungarian Congregation, an Orthodox synagogue established about 1883 at the southwest corner of Lorain Ave. and Root (W. 47th) St.

WESTERN RESERVE PRESBYTERIAL ASSN. See PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN.


WEY, ALEXANDER JOSEPH (12 Dec. 1896-17 Nov. 1981) was an influential Catholic layman who devoted half a century to the service of the religious press. The son of John and Barbara Way of Cleveland, he attended St. Mary High School and in 1917 began working for the Catholic Bulletin, a weekly founded in 1911 by his brother, Linus G. Wey. At the request of Bp.

WHITE, MOSES (25 Feb. 1791-1 Sept. 1881), early settler and very active in Cleveland's early religious life though a layman, was born in Warwick, Mass., son of Jacob and Catherine (Penniman) White. He trained as a tailor, and with his wife, Mary (Andrews), came to Cleveland in 1816 and operated a tailor shop for several decades.