First United Methodist Church

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Worship in the church reflects true worship from the heart.

In 1854 Reverend Adam Bland, a circuit rider, was the first Protestant to visit Santa Barbara. The predominantly Spanish Catholic residents were alarmed at this heretic preaching in a small adobe and drove a herd of squealing pigs around the building in order to drown out Bland's words.

Thirteen years later, in September 1867, another circuit rider, Reverend Ralph Dunlap, was appointed to our area, and his successor, Revered Peter Cool, organized the first Methodist Church with 14 charter members and five probationers. In 1869 the first Methodist church was built of brick and word. Membership increased over the next 20 years so that in 1889 a second Methodist Church was built. It was the largest Church in Santa Barbara at that time.

In 1917 this second church was damaged by fire, and was rebuilt, only to be later severely damaged in the 1925 earthquake. Methodists, along with members of other denominations, worshipped outdoors in Alameda Park for many months. The Reverend Samuel Hughes made a cross-country trip on behalf of the United Protestant Appeal, a joint effort by Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Congregationalist, to rebuild the city's churches. He raised $47,000 as the Methodists' share.

Finally, in December 1927, our present church was dedicated. Designed in the Spanish-Renaissance style of post-earthquake Santa Barbara, it was built by the contractor Charles Urton, a long-time church member. Urton was responsible for the sturdy concrete construction which has survived subsequent earthquakes and has not required seismic retrofitting.

The depression of the 1930's brought another challenge to church members. Help from other churches and the Jewish community averted the sale of the church and the mortgage was burned in the 1940's. Overcoming these disasters. First United Methodist Church has survived and flourished, from saddlebags and adobe to the present.

Ministers of First United Methodist Church and dates of appointment:

1867 Ralph. Dunlap
1868 Peter Cool
1871 Robert Bentley
1874 Stephen Bowers
1875 A. H. Tevis
1878 Charles Shelling
1879 E. D. Bovard
1880 J. A. VanAnda
1881 T. S. Urenn
1883 W. A. Knighten
1886 S. W. Brown
1887 I. F. Robinson
1888 F. W. Caswell
1890 S. W. Brown
1891 E. M. Larkin
1892 I. C. Miller
1895 C. A. Westenberg
1899 B. C. Cory
1901 S. J. Carroll
1903 A. Inwood
1905 R. L. Bruce
1908 P. P. Carroll
1910 H. W. White
1914 C. B. Dalton
1917 W. M. Jeffers
1918 A. I. Hughes
1922 J. W. Neeley
1923 Samuel Hughes
1928 L. A. Ferns
1931 D. S. Ford
1932 Ralph W. Lee
1937 I. W. Ashley
1943 R. K. Swenerton
1949 Will M. Hildebrand
1956 Frank C. Matthews
1965 Ralph B. Johnson
1971 Donald R. Locher
1977 Robert B. Weirbach
1984 George D. Walters
1989 Lloyd S. Saatjian
2004 Hillary A. Chrisley

Genuine worship flows from a heart that trusts God to uphold the universe.