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A History of Growth
Our Story
The history of Grandview United Methodist Church can be summed up with one word, growth. The growth and development of the building from the ground up, the growth and development of families, generations, and community, and the growth of disciples and diversity.
Grandview's Beginning
Grandview UMC has been at the corner of
23rd and Phelps Ave. for 70 years.
The first service was July 25th, 1948
in a tent on the front lawn.
Services where then moved inside a
renovated Army Barracks later that Fall.
Ground breaking for the present building
was OCT 17th, 1948. The first service in the
new building was the First Sunday of OCT
1949 with its dedication on DEC 4th of that
year. Grandview Church is the outgrowth of
the merger in1946 between the Evangelical
Church and the United Brethren in Christ
Church. With this merger there were, on Akron’s
North Hill, two Evangelical United Brethren
churches within a few blocks of each other.
Thirty-nine men, women and children of the former
United Brethren Church, located at the corner of Dayton
Street and Tallmadge Avenue, voted to come to this site to start
a new mission in the midst of a large housing project known as Buena Vista Allotment.
As the congregation grew, it was decided that a new Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall were needed, which were dedicated in September 1967. With the merger of the E.U.B. Church and the Methodist Church in 1968 we became Grandview United Methodist Church.
Grandview's 15 Minutes of Fame
Grandview had the honor of being a location for the
film 25 Hill starring Corbin Bernson and Nathan
Gamble. The film is about a boy’s hope of
keeping the Soap Box Derby Race alive in
Akron, OH. The movie was released directly
to DVD in 2011. The DVD can still be
purchased from the 25 Hill website, just
click on store. The crew spent a lovely
April day filming at the church in 2010.
Many people from the community as well
as some church members were on hand to
serve as extras. The following YouTube video
was shot by one of the extras. It is a bit grainy
but it gives you nice behind the scenes look at
filming the movie as well as a tour of the church.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkEw9O7nVDM
Grandview Today
Today we are a multi-ethnic and multi-generational faith community featuring American and Nepali-speaking Bhutanese cultures. Our mission is to experience the Blessings of Grandview:
Grace-Growth-Gratitude. We invite you to experience them with us.
Does your future become part of our history?