OUR HISTORY

Wilshire United Methodist Church, as we know it today, is the result of three mergers, re-structuring and addition of three ethnic ministries over the years.

The Hobart Methodist Church, founded in 1907, changed its name in 1919 to the Wilshire Methodist Episcopal Church.

In 1927, the Westlake Methodist Episcopal Church merged with the Wilshire Methodist Episcopal Church.  This merger occurred because the city widened Eighth Street where the Westlake Church was located and it ended up with the street going right through the middle of the church.  This merger entailed both churches selling their properties and moving together to a new and larger church building which would be acquired. This was achieved in 1931 when the Wilshire Boulevard Congregational Church decided to sell their edifice which had been erected in 1925.  This property was located at Wilshire and Plymouth, the present location of our church, known as the Wilshire United Methodist Church. The first worship service was held in this building on February 15, 1931, during the depression years.

The parking lot was extended in 1960/61 and that was made possible by tearing down the parsonage that was located on Lucerne Boulevard

The church Building has been designated as a historical monument by the Los Angeles City Council. It combines Italian and Gothic styles not previously represented in America. The facade was inspired by the Church of St. Francis at Brescia in northern Italy, and the tower found its genesis in the Torracio of Cremona, southeast of Milan.

The third, and final merger came in 1973 with the congregation of Trinity Methodist Church joined Wilshire UMC. Although there have actually been no more mergers, Wilshire United Methodist Church has acquired three other ministries: the Korean ministry which started in 1979; the Hispanic ministry which had its beginning in 1985 with a Sunday School class that developed into a ministry in 1988; and the Filipino ministry which grew out of the Founding Fellowship and started as their own ministry in 1989.

In July 2015, three Ministries of the Wilshire United Methodist Church were reconstituted into one Ministry and was named Multicultural English Ministry. The three Ministries were English/Hispanic Ministry, Journey of Faith Ministry and the Filipino Ministry.

Prepared by: Betty Dietrich,
Lynn Hoffman and Frances Keith