Ionia Church of Christ

In Merritt’s Hall on January 24, 1859, the Reverend Isaac Errett and forty-three members signed the original charter of the Ionia Church of Christ (First Christian Church). The first church of this denomination had been founded in nearby Muir in 1856. In 1861 James A. Garfield, later the twentieth President of the United States, was a guest speaker at a revival meeting held by the church. The site of the present church was purchased in 1864. The basement was completed in 1867. Services were held there until the church was completed in 1873. Patterned after Romanesque models in the east, the church displays the influence of Philadelphian architect Samuel Sloan. The E. H. Stafford Company of Ionia designed and built the wooden pews. In 1889 the church was enlarged. Its stained glass windows were installed in 1917.