Plymouth Magazine-Fall26-DIGITAL - Flipbook - Page 14
The Plymouth Church Story
A Church in Service
The late 1800s were years of considerable
community outreach for Plymouth. The
Sunbeam Rescue Mission at 2nd Avenue
and Walnut Street (now the site of the
federal building) was organized in 1893
and was the first multi-purpose social
agency in Des Moines. The mission’s
purpose was “to rescue the perishing,
to permanently elevate those in need
by giving them encouragement and an
opportunity to help themselves.”
The mission was the product of a
Plymouth Sunday School class taught by
Mrs. A.Y. Rawson. Frank L. and Grace
Cramer, pillars of Plymouth Church,
operated the mission non-stop for 13
years, only closing in 1906 when Mrs.
Cramer became too ill to continue.
Many Plymouth members contributed
time and money to support the mission.
The agency provided shelter for
unhoused men, unwed mothers and
babies, and “reclamation of prostitutes.”
It offered job training, religious services,
room and board, a sewing school, and
a free medical clinic. It functioned
as a business enterprise as well, with
a restaurant, laundry, and a kindling
factory supplying firewood.
Members of Plymouth also founded the
downtown Roadside Settlement, which
was supported by Plymouth financially
and with volunteer labor well into
the 1960s. The settlement operated a
preschool and clothing center, and offered
a Mother’s Club, a support group for
mothers with children in the preschool.
Programs expanded inside the church
with the formation of the Women’s
Association, Christian Endeavor Society,
and Plymouth Rock Missionary Society.
Adult Sunday School classes nurtured
faith development, friendships, and
community service. The Frisbie Club,
now called Frisbie Fellowship, grew
from one of those Sunday school classes.
Sunbeam Rescue Mission volunteers ride the Gospel Wagon through the city to spread a message of Christian charity.
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The women’s club was named in
honor of the Frisbies, and focused on
projects that supported hospitals and
social agencies serving the indigent,
particularly mothers and children.
In 1876, the “Ladies of Plymouth
Church” published “’76 a Cookbook”
in honor of the country’s centennial.
It was one of the first church cookbooks
published in the country. Nine early
editions were published, and it was a
fund-raising success. In 1976, a final
edition was published in honor of
the bicentennial.
Frisbie resigned his pastorate in 1899
but remained active in church operations
and was made pastor emeritus, a position
he held until his death in 1917. Martha
Frisbie continued to be involved at
Plymouth until her death and was one of
the honorees who set the cornerstone of
our present church in December 1926.
