James F. Earley was responsible for the sculptural work on Grace Reformed Church. A fourth or fifth generation stone carver, James F. Earley, was born in Birmingham, England in 1856 and studied sculpture at the Royal Academy in London.
The conference room, rectangular in plan, extends a full two stories in height with a balcony level consisting of the Sunday School class rooms. A central, wooden speaker's platform is located at the west end of the room with movable seating in front. A semicircular balcony level, located above the platform, is accessed by wooden stairs at either side of the speaker's podium. A narrow walkway is located between the balcony railing and the irregular shaped classrooms divided off behind. The classrooms, placed in the poche, formed by the intersection of the semicircle and the rectangle, are partitioned by rolling slat doors. The design of this classroom and conference area is referred to as "Akron-style", since the first Sunday School of this type, designed in the late 1860s by Lewis Miller, was built in Akron, Ohio.
Very little is known about Ritcher. He was born in Philadelphia in 1873 and died in 1925. He was a member of the firm Ritcher and Eiler, specialists in school design. He was a member of the Historical Society in Lebanon, Pennsylvania in 1911 and is listed as the Architect with Beard Construction Company.
In 1877, the congregation that would become Grace Reformed Church was established for English-speaking Reformed Church believers. Grace Reformed Church was initially supported as a mission church by the Maryland Classis, the governing body of the Reformed Church in the region.
In 1880, the Maryland Classis purchased the current site of Grace Reformed Church at 1405 15th Street and in 1881, a chapel was constructed. Designed in the Queen Anne style, the chapel was built at a cost of $4,100 at the rear of the lot on 15th Street, reserving the front portion of the lot for a church. In 1892, the Parish House was built. The name listed on the permit to build as Architect was W.H.H. Knight, known to have been a member of the congregation.
Between 1892 and his death in 1906, James F. Earley was responsible for much sculpture found on private residences, commercial and religious structures in Washington, D.C. Some of his particular pieces include the marble pulpit at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, the altar and statues at the Franciscan Monastery in Brookland (which won him a medal by Pope Leo XIII), and the marble relief on the Evening Star Building. Outside of Washington, James F. Earley was especially known for his work on the U.S. Government Building at the St. Louis Exposition of 1904. Other works of James F. Earley include ornamental detail on the U. S. Custom House in Baltimore; a fountain at the U.S. Custom House at the Lewis and Clark Centennial in Portland, Oregon; a garland on the U. S. Post Office in Cumberland, Maryland, and Eagles for lamps at the U. S. Post Office in Salem, Oregon (The Washington Architectural Club Catalog 1901, 1903 and 1906). James Farrington Earley's last known work was a memorial at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
In 1899, it was felt that the Reformed Church denomination needed a new church located in Washington, D.C., to be a national symbol of the denomination and to strengthen its outreach in the nation's capital. The Board of Home Missions in the Maryland Classis challenged the entire Reformed Church in the United States to raise money to build "a suitable church on that fine lot." Money and support began to be collected from members of Reformed congregations throughout the United States. The decision of President Theodore Roosevelt to worship at the church added to the significance of the building's role in representing the denomination in the nation's capital. These sentiments were summed up by the Reformed Church Messenger, the denomination's newspaper, on the occasion of the dedication of the church in 1903:
Designs for Grace Reformed Church in Washington, D.C., were begun in 1901, after an agreement was reached and signed between Architects Paul J. Pelz and A. A. Ritcher and the Building Committee of Maryland Classis.
Located on 15th Street, N.W. in Washington, D.C., Grace Reformed Church comprises three buildings: the Church or Sanctuary; the Sunday School; and the Parish House. The Church, designed by Paul J. Pelz and A. A. Ritcher, was constructed between 1902–1903. The Sunday School, also designed by Pelz, was constructed from 1911–1912. The Parish House, preceding both religious structures, was erected in 1892 by W. H. H. Knight, a member of the congregation. The three structures are situated so that the Parish House and Church front 15th Street, N.W. while the Sunday School, abutting the Church to the east, faces onto an alley which was originally intended as O Street, N.W.
Earley's sculpture for Grace Reformed Church included much of the stone ornamentation on the exterior of the building, including the carved tympanums above the central door and two side doors; the figure supporting the banner of Frederick, the Elector of the Palatinate; the shields located at either side of the central door, and the heads of the Knight and Burgher serving as label-stops. Paul Pelz praised Earley's work and was pleased at learning "that you [the Chairman of the Building Committee] are pleased with my endeavor to make your church the most artistic in the city" (Letter from Paul Pelz to Mr. Slagle, February 9, 1903). The sculptural work on the church was entirely completed, at a discount rate of $1,000.00, by early April, 1903.
Designed in the Late Gothic Revival style, Grace Reformed Church is rectangular in plan with vertical emphasis given by its soaring towers and spires. The church sits upon a granite base and measures 52 feet wide and 71 feet high. It is constructed of Cleveland greystone with much sculptural ornamentation decorating the facade. The facade of the church is three bays wide and fronts 15th Street, while the side (south elevation), consisting of two end gables connected by five bays, extends along the alley.
Then, in 1957 the Evangelical and Reformed Church merged with the majority of the Congregational Christian Churches (CC) to form the United Church of Christ (UCC). Today, Grace Reformed Church (Washington DC) is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower attended a special Sunday morning worship Service at Grace Reformed Church in October 1958 that commemorated the 100th birthday anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt.
The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places, along with its Sunday School and Parish House, in 1991.
Specifications detailing the contractor's responsibilities and the building materials to be used were drawn up and signed by Pelz in April 1902, while a contract between the church and the builders, Richardson and Burgess of Washington, D.C., was signed in May 1902. The D.C. Building Permit (D.C. Permit #2052, 06/07/1902) was filed in June 1902. President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone on July 1 of the same year.
The entrance to the church occurs on center at the 15th Street elevation. A small, wood-paneled entry vestibule opens onto the central aisle of the church with the raised altar at the east end adjacent to a raised choir stand slightly to its north. The doors on either side of the central entrance similarly open onto an extension of the wooden entry vestibule, leading church goers up the stairs to the balcony level, or onto the main floor. A wide, contoured balcony, supported by cast iron columns, extends the entire width of the church across the west end. Two groups of pews are located to either side of a central aisle at the balcony level.
