Pearl Memorial United Methodist Church was a member of the Nebraska Conference 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 evangelic ...
that was operated from the 1890s into the 2000s. The former congregation's church is located at 2319 Ogden Street in the
Miller Park
American Family Field is a retractable roof stadium used primarily for baseball. It is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, just southwest of the intersection of Interstate 94 and Brewers Boulevard. It is the home of Major League Baseball's Milwauk ...
neighborhood of
north
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north ...
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...
. The church primarily served the Miller Park community.
History
In the 1890s a group worshiping in the "upper room of a drug store" at the corner of 24th and Ames Avenue was organized as a Methodist Episcopal congregation. The first pastor of Pearl was Rev. G. A. Luce. Their first regular church building was constructed in 1905 at N. 24th and Larimore Streets. In 1907, the congregation received a gift of land near the commercial intersection of 24th and Fort Streets, upon which they built the first Methodist church in the community in 1905. When Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church moved from its location in the Near North Side neighborhood, Pearl became the only United Methodist church in North Omaha.
Pearl Memorial was long been a home to athletic activities for local children and youth. From the 1910s through the 1950s the church hosted
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
and
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
teams that played in church leagues across the city. From the 1970s through the 1990s the church hosted a variety of sports for youth in the local community, as well.
Today the Church offers a variety to residents in the surrounding neighborhood, including a
food pantry
A food bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distribute food direct ...
families.
The church was involved in a controversial Internal Revenue Service investigation regarding a donation made to an advocacy organization called "Omaha Together One Community". The controversy included threats of losing its 501(c)(3) status.http://interfaithpolitics.com/Welcome___/Articles/English_Articles/IRS_Probes/IRS_in_Omaha/irs_in_omaha.htm
"IRS Agent: Churches in OTOC May Imperil Tax-Exempt Status"], Menace of the Interfaith Movement and its Religious Political Action Agenda. Retrieved 8/28/07. Pearl Memorial is no longer listed as a 501(c)(3) organization, however since its change from Pearl United Methodist Church to Living Hope United Methodist Church its 501 (c)(3) is in place.
The congregation disbanded in the early 2000s.
Building
Originally located at 2519 Ames Avenue, Pearl moved to its current facility in 1914. In the late 1920s the church opened an educational and social wing adjacent to the sanctuary, and finished the basement of the church with a grand basketball court. In the 1980s the church renovated a kitchen in the basement to become a commercial-style cooking area, designed to provide training to local job-seekers.
See also
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History of Omaha
The history of Omaha, Nebraska, began before the settlement of the city, with speculators from neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa staking land across the Missouri River illegally as early as the 1840s. When it was legal to claim land in Indian Co ...