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Methodist Episcopal Church

Introduction

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The Methodist Episcopal Church, now called the Christian Science Reading Room, is a historic church built in 1905. It is an excellent example of Mission Revival architecture featuring a two-story bell tower with mission-style roof, arched doorways, curvilinear front wall hiding a pitched roof, and a Gothic window. The old church has remained an important landmark in Yuma and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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The former Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1905 and has been home to the local Christian Science congregation since 1948.

The former Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1905 and has been home to the local Christian Science congregation since 1948.

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Methodist Episcopal Church was home to a congregation founded in 1892 by Rev. J.A. Crouch, who arrived in Arizona in 1888. The congregation still exists today. The church was built on the same site where the first Protestant church in Yuma was erected. The Methodists occupied the church until 1937 when they moved to a new location. For a time after that, the church served as mortuary. The Christian Scientists, who held their first informal services in Yuma in 1910, acquired it in 1948 and have remained ever since. Declining membership forced them to change the name from First Church of Christian Science to Christian Science Reading Room (church services need to be held throughout the year for a building in Yuma to designated as a church).

Sources

Gilkey, Nancy. "Christian Science Society has long Yuma history." June 25, 2010. https://www.yumasun.com/christian-science-society-has-long-yuma-history/article_effbb95b-22fe-5092-ae0d-0cd7b9222077.html.

Yuma County Historical Society. "Methodist Episcopal Church." Arizona State Historic Property Inventory. December 7, 1982. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/9f058a36-4704-4fa3-a00d-3c28516637f2.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Former_Methodist_Episcopal_Church,_Yuma,_AZ.jpg

Additional Information