Summerfield United Methodist Church is located in the historic Juneautown (East Town)

neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

of downtown

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

. Part of the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...

(UMC), Summerfield has established several community missions and promotes social justice.

History

Summerfield's congregation formed in 1852. By 1857 the congregation had moved to Biddle Street (now Kilbourn Avenue) and Van Buren Street and was named Summerfield in honor of John Summerfield, an Irish Methodist preacher.
Summerfield: 160 Years
'. In 1854 members of the Summerfield congregation joined with the abolitionist

Sherman Booth Sherman Miller Booth (September 25, 1812 – August 10, 1904) was an abolitionist, editor and politician in Wisconsin, and was instrumental in forming the Liberty Party, the Free Soil Party and the Republican Party. He became known nationally a ...

and broke into a Milwaukee jail to free escaped slave Joshua Glover. From 1865 to 1868,

Samuel Fallows Samuel Fallows (December 13, 1835September 5, 1922) was an English American immigrant, minister, lecturer, and author. He was the 9th Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin and served as Presiding Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal C ...

was pastor. He had served as a colonel and brevetted

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. His wife, Lucy Bethia Huntington, helped to establish the Soldiers Aid Society and was a patron of Milwaukee's Old Soldier Home. Milwaukee Protestant Home was established at the church's location in 1884 and Methodist Manor in 1890. The current church building was constructed in 1904 on the corner of Cass Street and Juneau Avenue for First Community Church. The

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

church, with its bell tower, was built using sandstone and limestone. In 1869, the first Women's Foreign Missionary Society in Milwaukee and Wisconsin, and the second in the United States, was organized at Summerfield. This later evolved into the United Methodist Women. On October 6, 1919, Goodwill Industries of Wisconsin was founded in the basement of Summerfield. Summerfield merged with First Community Church in 1929 and the combined congregation then occupied the church. The church retains the original stained glass medallions from 1856 used in the Biddle Street location windows. These are among the oldest surviving works of stained glass in the state.Summerfield Methodist Church,
History: Stained Glass
'' Summerfield remains the oldest Methodist congregation in Wisconsin. On January 19, 2014 the congregation of Fe Hispanic Ministry UMC began sharing worship space at Summerfield, bringing services in Spanish to the church.

References

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External links

Summerfield United Methodist Church
of Milwaukee, Wisconsin Churches in Milwaukee United Methodist churches in Wisconsin