Religious History

Grace Christian (Assembly of Jesus Christ)

The combining of religious and temporal goals is not unique to a particular denomination. Religious people of all faiths desire education and they have to make a living. They insert themselves into both the religious and the work-a-day world. Presbyterians did it in the 1880s, to some extent, with education. The Grace Christian Church did it in the 1960s with bees.

Brigham Young named Utah and surrounding areas “Deseret” (the State or Territory of Deseret). The term, Deseret, comes from the Book of Mormon and signifies honey bee. “And they did carry with them Deseret, which, by interpretation, is a honey bee” (Book of Mormon, Ether 2:3). The beehive, a symbol of industry, has been adopted as the Utah State Emblem; the honey bee is the Utah State Insect; the State Astronomical Symbol is the Beehive Cluster located in the constellation Cancer the Crab (“Utah State Symbols”).

Industry must have been a watchword to wrest and domesticate Utah’s desert. Interesting it is that it was the bee business brought the founders of Grace Christian Church to Parowan.

In 1966, John Cowan owned a bee operation in Brawley, California, where he pastored a non-denominational, evangelical Christian church – The Assembly of Jesus Christ. It was then that John and his wife, Wilena, decided to relocate to Parowan.

Along with the Cowens came Bill and Norma (the Cowens’ daughter) Holiman, David (the Cowens’son) and Tami Cowen, and Art and Jewell Northington and their families. At first the families met for worship in their homes, but later rented the small building at 20 East 100 North. John soon purchased an old chicken coop at 133 East 300 South as a warehouse for his bee operation. In time the upper level was renovated into a place of worship. There the congregation worshiped and grew while the bee business grew on the ground level.

The Parowan Christian School was started and lasted two decades. This K-12 school participated in state and national competitions with other Christian schools and boasts many graduates.

With the Assembly of Jesus Christ came the Parowan Camp Meetings. These now abandoned events were held annually near the 4th of July. Camp meetings began in 1968, when a missionary visited the congregation and set up a tent across the street (south) from the church building. In the years to follow the Parowan Camp Meeting rallied evangelicals from all across the United States as well as Mexico and Canada. Finally, a church in Salt Lake City donated a tent that would hold the swelling numbers of camp meeting attendees – some 500 or 600 people. The city park and the Second Left Hand (in Parowan Canyon) were sites of gathering, preaching, praising and friendship.

It did not always go well, however. “One year a forceful wind came down the canyon and destroyed the tent so the camp meeting was moved to the Iron County Fair Building. It was held there for several years. The friendships that were formed, the encouragement received still revives fond memories among those who attended.” From a brief history provided by Grace Christian Church, the present name of the church that began as the Assembly of Jesus Christ, the record continues, “Many look back to those inspiring meetings under the tent, out in nature where you could see the hand of God and feel His presence as life changing.”

The Church was pastored by John Cowen from 1966 until 1987 when John “felt that he had completed the work he was called to do…” and his son, Dan, a graduate of International Bible College, San Antonio, Texas, became Pastor. During John’s ministry the Church grew and so did the need for property. A new church was built in 1977, in the present location of Grace Christian Church (845 West 200 South). During the Church’s ministry, the church building has been expanded and a nearby home acquired to accommodate the physical needs of the congregation.

Rob Bernhardi, Dan’s son-in-law and also a graduate of International Bible College,  became Assocate Pastor in 1994. He, with his wife, Jana, have worked to involve the congregation’s youth in the performing arts. Christmas plays and various programs have been performed at Parowan’s Aladdin Theater and at various church venues in Southern Utah. In its healthy and robust tenure as a part of Parowan’s religious landscape, the Church has hosted gospel artists and national and international missionaries.

The name of the Church was changed in 2005 from The Assembly of Jesus Christ to Grace Christian Church “which more correctly defines who we are as a church. Indeed, Grace Christian Church sees their history as “His-story – about Christ’s love for mankind. That is what we as a congregation hope will be seen in us – Christ’s love.”

At the time of this writing (2013), Grace Christian Church boasts an attendance of 100-125 parishioners a week.

There is an interesting substory to Grace Christian Church. That is, the bee operation they came to Parowan to begin continues as one of the longest continuously running commercial operations in Parowan. Known now as Cowen Manufacturing the reins have been passed from John Cowen to Dave who, in time, brought his sons, Joshua and Nathan, into the business. Though the bees are gone, the business is international in scope and ships honey manufacturing equipment to major markets in the United States and Canada, as well as Sweden, Israel, Argentina, France, Australia, Mexico and Chile (“Cowan Manufacturing”).

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

With all this, it is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that has the longest and, if counted by membership, the largest religious impact on Parowan since its settlement. The Parowan “Stake” consists of seven local “wards” or congregations – five in Parowan and one each in Paragonah and Summit. (The term “stake” is taken from Isaiah 54:2: “Enlarge the place of thy tent…lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes).”

Parowan has adopted the uniquely fitting and appropriate moniker of “Mother Town of Southern Utah.” Indeed, during the winter of 1850-51, “120 men all in the prime of youth and vigor, thirty women over fourteen years of age and eighteen children under fourteen” (Dalton, 16) gathered and came to the Valley of the Little Salt Lake, and they came to stay. With them they brought “101 wagons, 2 carriages, 100 horses, 12 mules, 368 oxen, 146 cows and 166 head of loose cattle” along with seeds, foodstuffs, tools, plows, guns, swords ammunition, a cannon, “14 dogs, 18 cats, 121 chickens” (Dalton 18). They arrived January 13, 1851. From Parowan, dozens of other communities have been founded.

Within three days, a local government was formed complete with justices, a sheriff, recorder, assessor and collector, roads supervisor, magistrates and constables. Local ecclesiastical units were formed on February 9th (Dalton 27-28, 35).

However, it would be folly to assume that the settlement of Parowan was by any means other than under ecclesiastical authority. Church President Brigham Young called missionaries to settle the valley. It had been previously scouted by Apostle Parley P. Pratt. The mission was led by Apostle George A. Smith (Bagley).

Concerned for their safety, the settlers, or “saints” as they are often referred to, allowed for protective measures by erecting a fort, then expanding it (for brief information about the forts see:https://www.parowan.org/index.php/heritage/comprehensive-history/1030-forts.html). They also began a two-pronged mission of survival: (1) Build religion, and (2) build community and industry. The 168 people who came would need to survive, provide for their safety, and prepare for others who would come.

In 1928 the West Ward, or the 1st/2nd Ward, building was ready for use. It stood on the Corner of100 West and Center Street. Much of the material for this building was taken from the old Opera House, which was torn down. The 1928 building went through several renovations to accommodate modern times and growing congregations. Classrooms, a baptismal font, and bishops offices were added in the 1970s. Refurbishing of the interior was accomplished in 1999. Finally, however, the building was razed in 2013 to make way for the new 1st/2nd/5th Ward building (anticipated dedication September 2013).

The first seminary building, a venue for religious education of high school-aged public school students, was built in 1937 and, after the debt was cleared, dedicated in 1940 by Apostle John A. Widtsoe (Parowan Times 1940-03-29). A contract for a new seminary building, very near the old one at about 200 North and Main Street, was awarded in 1970. This building was used as a seminary until the 1994, after which it was used by Parowan High School until it was razed in 2013. A two-classroom seminary at 295 North Main Street, has been in use since midway through the 1993-94 school year.

A Welfare Cannery, housed in the Bishop’s Storehouse, was funded by the East, West, and Paragonah Wards in 1942. Many long-time residents remember working in this cannery.

The Parowan Stake, originally having had a huge geographical footprint, has been shrinking geographically since its inception. This is because, as the church has grown, new stakes have been created to accommodate the needs of growing membership, thus splitting off from the parent stake. These sort of splits can be seen on several occasions, but examples include the 1948 division when the Parowan Stake that stretched from Kanarraville to Paragonah, and west to New Castle (“Parowan Stake, Utah LDS Wards and Branches”) was divided to include only Enoch, Summit, Parowan and Paragonah. A subsequent division, 1978, removed Enoch from the Stake. Parowan was divided into three wards December 31, 1950, four wards in 1980 (Benson), and five wards in 2012.

The Church currently conducts a worship service (Sacrament Meeting) in Brian Head. There is no formal unit of the Church organized in Brian Head, though a branch was organized in 1976 with Carlisle P. Gurr as the first Branch President. Gurr was followed by Parowan High School teacher and coach, W. Ralph Riggs.

Similar growth and the need for church buildings can be documented in Summit and Paragonah. The first church house in Summit was begun in 1911. Prior to this time, church services were held in a log school house and, later, in a concrete school/church. Money for a “real church” was raised, at least in part, by gathering and selling the eggs from the community that were laid on Sunday. This two-storey church housed a chapel and two clasrooms on the ground floor, and an open recreation room, complete with stage, on the upper level. The church appears to have been completed in or shortly after 1916. It served its purpose for over three decades and was razed in 1948 (History of Summit).

In 1949 a chapel was dedicated in Summit by LeGrande Richards, the Presiding Bishop of the Church, later to become an Apostle (Iron County Record, 1949-04-21, 1949-04-28). The Summit Ward building again underwent a major overhaul in the mid-1980s.

Iterations of buildings began in Paragonah by 1861. Prior to that, congregations met in homes or traveled to Parowan. The 1861 building was made of local adobe and whitewashed. It was referred to as “the Old White Church” and measured only 24 x 34 feet. Another building was begun in 1884, but was never completed because of financial difficulties and persecution over the practice of polygamy, so the Old White Church was remodeled in 1890.

In 1900 the Paragonah Tabernacle was erected, to which a Cultural Hall was later added. In time, 1974, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the current church. The Tabernacle was torn down and the new church was dedicated in 1976, by Elder Marion D. Hanks. Renovation again occurred in 1986, when the south wing was added (“A Memory Bank for Paragonah 17-38).

As the local Church grew in numbers and as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints grew faith and desire to serve, hundreds of missionaries were and are being sent all over the world. A complete list of missionaries sent from the Parowan Stake may not be achievable, but as comprehensive of a list as is possible is being built.

Others

There have been others who have worked to serve the religions needs of Parowan and her citizens, whether or not formal congregations have been established. The Catholics have, intermittently, held services in Parowan. Repeated attempts to gather information from the local Catholic church have gone unanswered. If information becomes available it will be added.

There is a Baptist storefront in town, the Parowan Baptist Church, though it is not, at this time, believed that a congregation is established or meets regularly. Again, if information becomes available it will be added to this history.

Conclusion

Nothing herein speaks of the “spirituality” of the churches or the people of Parowan. No history can do that. The membership of each church will say they attend because of the spirituality that they feel in that church. If religious success can be measured by religious growth, then certainly religion in Parowan has been a success.

Some residents, of course, attend no church, though they may claim membership within a church. In this respect, Parowan is no different than other communities.

Others will identify with a concept of spirituality rather than organized religion. The suggestion that, “I am a spiritual person, but not a religious one,” is not disputed herein. It cannot be. But neither can it be measured and documented and, therefore, rests outside the scope of this history.

Obviously, there are those to whom religion and/or spirituality are very important, and others to whom they mean little. Perhaps all readers of this history will find interest in the history, according to their own interests and desires.