Grace Episcopal Church

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The first meeting of persons interested in establishing a Lutheran Church under the United Lutheran Church in America was held January 3, 1959. The Organization Day Service was held September 25, 1960. An exceptionally sucessful capital funds campaign beginning in 1963 let to the building of a church ediface in 1966. In 1971 a financial crisis of the Missions Board of the U.L.C. forced Holy Spirit to sell its building. Services were, from that time on held at the Interfaith Center, as now.

Pastor William A. clasen was organizing Pastor and the first full-time Pastor, until early 1964; William A. Coleman served until early 1966. Pastor James Bresnahan served from the fall of 1966 until the fall of 1980. The pastorate became part-time at the time of crisis in 1971; Pastor Beshahan served as half-time Pastor while also serving in a social agency in Binghamton until 1980.

Pastor Donald Wilcox came to Cortland as part-time Pastor of the Church and as the Executive Director of the Cortland County Council of Churches in 1985.

In early 2004 Holy Spirit started conversations with Grace Episcopal Church aboput joining in common mission. These conversations were made possible through the new agreement between the ELCA and the national Episcopal Church, Called to Common Mission. On Christmas Eve, 2005, Holy Spirit held its last service as a separate congregation in the Interfaith Center, and with the coming of January began to worship and function as a congregation with Grace, under the joint leadership of Pastor Don Wilcox and the Right Rev. Sally Heiligman, Rector of Grace.