Old West Church, United Methodist - Boston, MA
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 42° 21.663 W 071° 03.852
19T E 330014 N 4691928
The Old West Church, formed from two Methodist Churches in 1961, bought the historic West End Church building to hold their services.
Waymark Code: WMCM6P
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 09/19/2011
Views: 7
In the West End neighborhood of Boston, is the Old West End Church, a brick structure dating back to 1806, which currently houses a Methodist congregation.
The Old West Church, United Methodist, has been in this church since 1961, when the combined congregation bought the church from the City of Boston. At that time, it was being used as a public library. The two previous congregations were the Copley Methodist Church and the First Methodist Church on on Beacon Hill. The lineage of these churches is convoluted, and it was difficult to follow the mergings specified on a page in the Boston University web site. However it seems that roots go back to either 1806 (Bromfield Street) or about 1796 (Methodist Alley).
The church was built in 1806 as a Congregational Church, then it became a library, when it was saved from its first threat of demolition in the 1890s. It was saved by this congregation when it was again threatened with demolition. The present congregation put a lot of effort into restoring the church for church use over many years.
The present congregation has several ministries, explained on their site as follows:
"During the last decade, Old West has participated actively in the founding and continuing operations of Safe Havens (formerly Boston Justice Ministries) Interfaith Partnership against domestic violence, which provides assistance to adults and children faced with domestic abuse. In 1996, we began an active ministry to children, a ministry that has all but disappeared from the mission of many churches during the last two decades. We have joined the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO) which works to secure affordable housing for the citizens of Greater Boston."
There is a Sunday service at 11:00 am on Sunday, and a Wednesday prayer service at noon.
The church is located on Cambridge Street - parking is scarce in this part of the city.
Other Sources:
Boston Univeristy (Methodist Churches in Boston Since 1792):
(
visit link)