Category: Religion

MENORAH PARK CENTER FOR THE AGING, a residential home and care center for the elderly, was established in 1906 as the Hebrew Orthodox Old Age Home, Bet Moshav Zekenim, because MONTEFIORE HOME did not satisfy the religious needs of Orthodox

METHODISTS. Although Methodists formed the third religious body in Cleveland, establishing their first church in 1827, they achieved neither the numbers nor the prominence that they have enjoyed elsewhere in the U.S.

MIHALIK, EMIL J. (6 Feb. 1920-27 Jan. 1984) was the founding bishop of the Byzantine-Ruthenian Rite Catholic Eparchy of PARMA.

MILES AVE. CHURCH OF CHRIST, at 7166 Dunham Rd., WALTON HILLS, originated in 1835 at a DISCIPLES OF CHRIST meeting at Col. John Wightman's farm on Harvard Ave. near Broadway in NEWBURGH. Preachers Alexander Campbell, William Hayden, A. B. Green, and M. S.

MONCOL, ANDREW JOHN (3 Dec. 1877-16 March 1974), pastor of St. Cyril Congregational Church (1922-39), wrote and published articles in local and national Czech newspapers. An active participant in ethnic affairs among CZECHS, he was supreme trustee of the Slovak National Society of America and Canada (1910-12).

MORAN, REV. FRANCIS T. (16 Feb. 1865-19 Oct. 1929), Roman Catholic priest and civic leader, was a nationally-known writer and lecturer. He served as pastor of ST. PATRICK'S PARISH (1901-28) and rector of ST. MARY SEMINARY (1928-29). Moran was born in Valparaiso, IN, to Katherine Kelleher and Peter Moran.

MORMONS. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) has experienced 2 distinct periods of its history in northeast Ohio: the "Kirtland Era" of the early 19th century and the post-WORLD WAR II era.

MOUNT HERMON BAPTIST CHURCH was one of a number of major AFRICAN AMERICAN churches originating from SHILOH BAPTIST CHURCH, the largest black Baptist church in Cleveland in the 19th century. Mt. Hermon was organized in 1926 following the merger of two small congregations, St. Paul and Mt. Carmel Baptist.

MT. ZION CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST, the first Congregational church organized by and for AFRICAN AMERICANS east of the Mississippi River, developed on 8 June 1864 out of a prayer group led by Edward Woodliff.

MURDOCK, MARION E. (9 Oct. 1848-28 Jan. 1943) served with

MURPHY, BISHOP MICHAEL (July 1, 1915-April 3, 2007) was a Roman Catholic priest who served as a seminary administrator, Auxiliary Bishop of Cleveland, and Bishop of Erie, Pennsylvania. Born in Cleveland, he was the only child of William and Mary Bridget (Patton) Murphy.

The NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN (NCJW), CLEVELAND SECTION was established in Cleveland in Nov. 1894 (1 year after the national organization). The local group did not officially affiliate with the national until Feb. 1896. The Cleveland Section was formed by the merger of 3 organizations, the Ladies Benevolent Society, the Ladies Sewing Society, and the Personal Services Society.

NAVIN, ROBERT B. (27 Apr. 1895-13 Feb. 1970), sociologist, dean, and president of ST. JOHN COLLEGE for 30 years, was born in Youngstown, Ohio, the son of John and Bridget (Kenney) Navin. He studied for the priesthood in Rochester, N.Y., was ordained in 1923, and received a doctorate in Sacred Theology in Rome.

NEARON, JOSEPH R. (4 Dec. 1928-7 June 1984) was a priest of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament. During his priestly years, he was both a professor of religious studies and a leader in the Catholic African-American community.

NORTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, organized in 1902, began as a Sunday school which held its first services in a store on St. Clair Ave. near E. 70th St. The first building was built the same year with the help of H. CLARK FORD and the Cleveland Congregational Union. It grew under the leadership of its first pastor, Rev. Charles H. Lemmon (1902-16).

NORTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, at E. 40th St. and Superior Ave. NE, began in 1859 as a Sunday school mission of FIRST PRESBYTERIAN (OLD STONE) CHURCH and is one of the oldest Presbyterian churches remaining in Cleveland. First located on the north side of St. Clair St. near Lyman (E.

NORTH UNION SHAKER COMMUNITY organized in Cleveland in the summer of 1822. Better known as Shakers, members of the sect called themselves "Believers," a shortened version of "the United Society of Believers in the Second Appearing of Christ." Suffering persecution in England, a small band led by their founder, "Mother" Ann Lee, came to America in 1774.

NOWAK, ABRAHAM (28 Aug. 1890-22 Jan. 1977) was a leader in the JEWISH community and served as rabbi of two conservative Cleveland congregations.

The OHAB ZEDEK CONGREGATION OF NEWBURGH, an Orthodox synagogue, was established in 1884. The congregation acquired a section of the Lansing Rd. Cemetery, Lansing Ave. and E. 57th St., 24 April 1895. From 1894-1906, Ohab Zedek rented quarters at 7700 Broadway and for the next 3 years at the Opera Block Hall, corner of Broadway and Harvard avenues. In Aug. 1909 the congregation purchased the Homestead Ave.

OHEB ZEDEK (Taylor Rd. Synagogue), the largest Orthodox congregation in Cleveland, was founded in 1904 and incorporated 5 other small to medium-sized Orthodox congregations in the early 1950s. Over 40 Hungarian Jews, many of whom had left Congregation B'NAI JESHURUN in a dispute over mixed seating, formed Oheb Zedek. In 1905 the congregation purchased property at E.

ORPHANAGES.  Since the mid-nineteenth century, Cleveland orphanages have cared for children, adapting to children’s changing needs and to large-scale economic and political developments.

OUR LADY OF FATIMA CENTER, See:  FATIMA FAMILY CENTER


See also CATHOLICS, ROMAN.


OUR LADY OF FATIMA PARISH was established by Bishop EDWARD F. HOBAN on November 27, 1949 to serve the diverse assortment of Eastern Europeans as well as migrants from Appalachia who lived in the HOUGH neighborhood of Cleveland. Father Raymond T. Smith, the parish's first pastor, held the first Mass in the auditorium of Thomas A.

OUR LADY OF MERCY CHURCH, 2425 W. 11th St., began as an offshoot of ST. WENDELIN PARISH. The SLOVAKS living in TREMONT objected to traveling through the industrial valley to St. Wendelin and wanted to establish their own parish. Though Bp.

OUR LADY OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT PARISH, established on April 11, 1922, was the first AFRICAN-AMERICAN parish in the Diocese of Cleveland.