Our History

Methodists:

The McMinnville United Methodist Church was founded in about 1854 by early settlers on the area.
In about 1869 or 1870 the Methodists had gained enough in numbers to build their own structure on the block that we still occupy at Second and Evans Streets.
The congregation continued to grow and over the years the buildings were replaced until the current church on the corner of Second and Ford was completed in 1941.
In fall of 1998, a ministry plan identified serving the whole community as a major emphasis.
As a result, the congregation decided to remain downtown and construct another multipurpose building instead of moving out to its Parkview property.

Lutherans:

In 2001 Trinity Lutheran Church sold the suburban church building it had occupied since the late 1950’s because their congregation had outgrown it.
The congregation had an option on property on the edge of town and planned to build a new facility there.
Over the next five years that piece of property and six others failed to work out as a new home for the congregation.

Formation of the Cooperative:

Both churches participated in a spring break trip called Mexico Mission.
In 2004, the question was asked whether there were other things we could do better together than we could do apart.
In summer 2005, we began sharing worship.
In 2006, after a long process, both congregations voted to become McMinnville Cooperative Ministries.
In 2008, we took a final step into a fully cooperative relationship by voting to share ownership of the downtown property.
In 2009, we adopted a welcoming statement that specifically includes all GLBT persons; Trinity Lutheran Church also voted unanimously to become a Reconciling in Christ (RIC) congregation.

Want to know more? You can download a full-length copy of the story of how we came to be here.

A ministry of McMinnville United Methodist Church and
Trinity Lutheran Church.