Lake Merritt United Methodist Church

Lake Merritt United Methodist Church is an open and welcoming congregation and as such, we offer our facilities to groups and individuals in the community regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, spiritual path/religion, marital status, economic status or personal ability. In June, 1984, two churches with long histories in central Oakland, First United Methodist Church, and St. Stephens United Methodist Church, merged to create Lake Merritt United Methodist Church (LMUMC). Oakland’s original Methodist Church was founded by the Rev. C. E. Rich in 1863, just ten years after Oakland was incorporated. Established in a small building at 6th and Washington Streets, the church subsequently moved to 9th and Washington Streets, 14th and Clay Streets and finally to Broadway and 24th Street, and became “First Methodist Church”. The word “United” was added after the merger of the Methodist Church and the United Bretheren Church.