Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church

Address: 1555 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138

Years Active: 1941–Present

Tradition: United Methodist Church

The Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church (“Harvard-Epworth” for short) has its origins in Boston’s first ever Methodist group, which was founded in the late eighteenth century; in 1941, two congregations, Harvard Street Methodist, and Epworth Methodist Episcopal, merged to form today’s Harvard-Epworth. According to their website, LGBTQ+ advocacy has become one of the congregation’s “signature social justice issues.” Harvard-Epworth is a member of the Reconciling Ministries Network, which advocates for LGBTQ+ inclusion and participation in Methodist churches. 

In 2019, in a newspaper advertisement, Harvard-Epworth, along with other local Methodist churches, voiced their support for LGBTQ+ involvement in the church in opposition to the United Methodist Church’s stance to the contrary. Along these lines, a full six years earlier, in 2013, Harvard-Epworth proclaimed its welcome to LGBTQ+ communities, announcing its “Marriage Equality Statement” that claims its “building is available for same-sex weddings.” Harvard-Epworth, on its website, holds that anti-LGBTQ+ stances from the United Methodist Church are “fundamentally inconsistent with the teachings of Jesus Christ.”

In addition to their pro-LGBTQ+ stance, Harvard-Epworth also runs programs for unhoused populations. And in the mid-twentieth century, under the leadership of Rev. Daniel Whitsett, Harvard-Epworth organized around principles of “racial justice and reconciliation,” even having a branch of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in its basement. 

Sources and Relevant Articles: 

https://harvardepworthchurch.org/history/

https://harvardepworthchurch.org/marriage-equality/