Norma R. Stearns

Receives Faith & Community Life Award

February 20, 2002

October 24, 2004

Franklin Circle Christian Church
Original Faith & Community Life Award Introduction

On February 20,  2002 the 160th Anniversary Celebration Planning Committee has chosen to inaugurate the “Franklin Circle Christian Church Faith & Community Life Award” in order to help bridge the past, present, and future of this dynamic and community-minded congregation.

The history of this church clearly records the lives of many faithful souls who not only claimed their faith, but chose to take it and make it a very real and active part of their life beyond these walls. Few other churches can claim to have in its membership and leadership six college or university presidents, a famous hymn writer, a mayor, and a future United States President!

In addition, this congregation has an amazing history of serving the community around it. The building you are in is the FCCC Community Building, built in 1916. It has been used for innumerable Sunday School classes, after school programs for neighborhood children, community forums, senior citizen dinners, scout troop meetings, a Chinese Sunday School, basketball leagues, hot meal programs for persons who are hungry or homeless, and a myriad of congregational dinners, meetings, and service projects.

As a testimony to those faithful members who have witnessed to their faith by engaging in acts of justice, benevolence, hospitality, nurture, service, and praise within these walls and, most especially, beyond them, Franklin Circle Christian Church will present this award to persons deserving of its honor. The award will not necessarily be annual, but will be presented on various occasions as the congregation has need of it.

This is not meant to be an award that will simply honor the dead nor give positive strokes to the living. It is intended to inspire others who are here today and those who will come after us to “go and do likewise.” The recipients of the Faith & Community Life Award are persons, while not perfect, are those after whom the rest of us may model our lives so that faith and service can always support each other as we seek to fulfill Christ’s mandate to “love our neighbor as ourselves.” It is the intentions of the Committee that the award be given to those members of Franklin Circle Christian Church who are alive or who have only recently been deceased.

This was a difficult decision, as there are many persons in this congregation who have built lives of service and community involvement upon the solid foundation of their faith in God. But there are only a few whose lifelong service and profound community involvement cause them to be particularly inspiring. Several persons were nominated for this first award, and after much prayer and deliberation, the 160th Anniversary Committee has chosen to give the first ever Franklin Circle Christian Church Faith & Community Life Award to two persons: Martha Harkness and Ted Brogan.

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Three Honored By Church As Models Of Service

On Sunday, October 24, 2004 Franklin Circle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), 1688 Fulton Rd., Cleveland presented its Faith & Community Life Award to three individuals whose lives of service and faithfulness are so rich and full that they have become models of selfless service to others. The award was give at a ceremony following the worship service to Dr. Webb Chamberlain (posthumously), Claude Pitman, and Ada Smith. An engraved plaque has been placed in the sanctuary as a testimony to these faithful members who have witnessed to their faith by engaging in acts of justice, benevolence, hospitality, nurture, and service within the church walls and, most especially, beyond them.

The “Franklin Circle Christian Church Faith & Community Life Award” was inaugurated at the 160th Anniversary Celebration in February of 2002 in order to help bridge the past, present, and future of this dynamic and community-minded congregation. The history of this church clearly records the lives of many faithful souls who not only claimed their faith, but chose to take it and make it a very real and active part of their life beyond these walls. Few other churches can claim to have in its membership and leadership six college or university presidents, a famous hymn writer, a mayor, and a future United States President (James A. Garfield).

Claude Pitman (87) was honored because of his tireless work over the years with both the Boy Scouts of America and the Masons, of which he has been a member for over 60 years. Ada Smith (81) has volunteered at the St. Augustine Manor health care center for over thirteen years and has put in over 8,500 hours of volunteer service there. Dr. Webb Chamberlain (deceased) practiced medicine for more than 40 years in Cleveland, specializing in pediatric eye muscle disorders and surgery. He served on the boards of numerous community organizations and institutions, including the Cleveland Christian Children's Home, Hiram College, was past president of the Cleveland YMCA, the Cleveland Sight Center, and the Cleveland Medical Library Association. (fuller biographical information enclosed)

The congregation has an amazing history of service to the community around it. The facilities have been host to: after school programs for neighborhood children, community forums, senior citizen dinners, scout troop meetings, a Chinese Sunday School, basketball leagues, hot meal programs for persons who are hungry or homeless, a teen alcohol and drug rehabilitation program, summer children’s meal programs, and a myriad of congregational dinners, meetings, innumerable Sunday School classes, and service projects.

Claude Pitman
If we were giving an award for the amount of time, energy, sweat, and love a person could bestow on his church, then certainly Claude Pitman would be supremely eligible. Claude has served this church in many capacities, including on the Board of Trustees, Board of Elders, Diaconate, Upkeep Team, and at least one Pastoral Search Committee. He started the After School Program and even served as custodian. But, this award is not for what people do in the church, but how they take their faith and live it beyond the walls.

We asked Claude’s kids to give us an idea of how their dad serves the broader community. Patty wrote, “Our Dad is not a really complicated man. When a troop for Boy Scouts needed a leader he stepped right into the shoes and the hat that they needed. Not to long ago that very troop had a reunion with all the boys, now men, that were in our Dad's troop. There was a gentlemen there that came up to our Dad and told him that he was his role model to become the man he is today. At the end of the evening they presented our Dad with a picture of all the boys and him signed by them.”

“Our Dad has been a Mason for as long as any one of us can remember but if I had to put a number to it, it would have to be over 60 years. His accomplishments are many, but to name a few he has held almost every office in the lodge and was just awarded Mason of the Year. Our Dad has started Health Fairs, Bone Marrow and Blood Drives and every year he gets other lodges to sponsor the West Denison East Dave Pitman League for the special needs kids and adults softball league which gives them shirts and hats every year for every player and coaches.”

“Last but by no means least I would have to say, and I know that my brothers and our families will agree, is that the biggest accomplishments that our man of the hour has done is our family. With Mom's help Dad has shown us that if you believe and love one another there is nothing you can not achieve. Our Family would like to thank you for recognizing our Dad with this special award!”

Ada Smith
Ada Smith was born into this church on November 12, 1923. She still has her cradle roll certificate from this church and she will show it to you proudly. Maintaining the tradition of her father and her mother, she was baptized at Franklin Circle Christian Church at an evening service in October of 1943.

Ada has, in recent years, renewed her involvement in the life of this congregation –– and how she has! Within the church you are sure to find Ada giving hugs and kind words, sending cards and notes for special occasions (or just because she thought of you!), taking photographs of church events, and every now and then washing dishes in the kitchen.

But Ada's dedication to and participation in the life of this congregation is not why she is being given this award. She is receiving the Faith & Community Life Award because she takes the faith that lives in her heart and lives it in the world. For the past 13 years she has been a volunteer at St. Augustine Manor on Detroit Rd and has given, as best the staff there can calculate, over 8500 hours of service offering her special brand of care to the residents and staff of the Manor.

What does she do for the folks at St. Augustine's? Why, the very same thing she does at church: She offers hugs and kind words and is known for taking photographs –– even of those residents who are mostly confined to their room. Having taken literally hundreds of photographs, she is known as the "picture lady," and quite frequently at memorial services the pictures that are shared of residents are the ones Ada has taken.

It is no wonder that she has been given the Retired Senior Volunteer Program award not once, but twice. She has also been honored separately by St. Augustine's.


Dr. Webb Chamberlain (posthumously)
Webb Chamberlain was baptized in this congregation on April 3,1921 at the age of ten. Webb served this congregation faithfully in many capacities before his death in February of 2003, serving on the Board of Elders, the Board of Trustees, and on the Official Church Board.

Dr. Chamberlain graduated from Wesleyen University and the medical school at Case Western Reserve University. He completed his residency in New York City and received his Doctor of Medical Science degree from Columbia University.

Dr. Chamberlain practiced medicine for more than 40 years in Cleveland, specializing in pediatric eye muscle disorders and surgery. He was chief of the eye section at Lutheran Medical Center and associate ophthalmologist at University Hospitals and at what is now called Metro Hospital. He was a former governor in the American College of Surgeons and past vice president in the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Oto laryngology. We was an editor of the American Orthoptic Journal, among other journals.

Webb served as a major in the Army Medical Corps during World War II.
Was on the Boards of numerous community organizations and institutions, including the Cleveland Christian Children's Home, Hiram College, was past president of the Cleveland YMCA, the Cleveland Sight Center, and the Cleveland Medical Library Association.
 

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