History

After World War 2, in the early 50’s, the East Side of Long Beach, California was growing fast. New single-family dwellings were springing up block after block, and with the building of new houses, thousands of new residents came. The Methodist leadership of California saw the need for a church.

In 1954 Bishop Gerald Kennedy assigned Dr. Ray Firth the task of organizing a new congregation in the Los Altos area. With the help of other Methodist congregations in Long Beach, he took a community survey. Using survey leads Dr. Firth arranged an initial organizational meeting at Lakewood Community Church. Some 25 persons showed up for the meeting and decisions were made to find a temporary meeting place for worship and recruit volunteers to run the church.

Through Dr. Firth’s leadership, this group of interested persons continued to grow. The initial group of Founding Members totaled 97. Those persons, who joined between November 1, 1954 and the following Easter, were termed Charter Members.

For the next 19 months the congregation used the Stanford Junior High School facilities. Two worship services were held in the auditorium, while the cafeteria was used for Sunday school. Meanwhile, many new members of this congregation volunteered a good bit of time and labor assisting in the construction of the first two buildings of Los Altos Methodist Church: the Chapel and an Education wing. Located at the corner of Willow and Woodruff Streets, the two structures were completed in May 1956 and were consecrated by Bishop Gerald Kennedy in September 1956. By this date the congregation boasted a membership of 277 persons and had 233 children in its church school.

The next unit, completed in 1957, was the Lounge building. Three years later in 1960 a second education wing and the administrative offices were built. By 1962, with the membership at almost 1,400, the church was bursting at the seams and plans were launched for building a new sanctuary. Completed in 1965, the new sanctuary was consecrated in May of that year.

Music has always been an important part of Los Altos United Methodist Church. Throughout the early years an electronic organ was used in the Chapel. In 1976 the church learned about the availability of an historic pipe organ. Wm. B. D. Simmons originally constructed the organ around 1846, in Boston, for the Howard Street Presbyterian Church in San Francisco. This hand-pumped tracker-action organ was sent by ship around Cape Horn and was the first American-built organ to be found west of the Mississippi River. LAUMC purchased the organ and hired Manuel Rosales and Associates to refurbish it. They restored the original keys, bellows, wind chests, and pipes and replaced the hand-pump with an electrical system. The organ was installed in the Sanctuary in 1977, and retains the same general appearance it had in 1852. In 1995, the organ was upgraded to its full configuration of pipes, and is now a registered historic landmark with the City of Long Beach and the Organ Historical Society of America.

HIGHLIGHTS IN THE LIFE OF LOS ALTOS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

  • Outreach Projects and Programs
  • United Methodist Committee on Relief projects throughout the world
  • Door of Faith Orphanage in Baja California
  • District and Conference programs
  • South Coast Ecumenical Council and its auxiliary agencies
  • Shalom Center and community oriented service programs in Long Beach
  • Sponsorship of a teacher in a Hong Kong college
  • Establishment the Los Altos United Methodist Preschool in 1967, now regarded as one of the finest in Long Beach
  • Excellent religious education program for persons of all ages, from preschool through senior adults
  • Youth participation in various work-camp experiences, which have taken them to New Mexico, Hawaii, Arizona, and Central-California
  • Excellent music program including children’s choirs and adult choir. The Sanctuary Choir provides special seasonal programs. In 1995 they completed their second European Concert Tour. Our four Hand bell Choirs include beginning and advanced bells for adults, a youth bell choir and an elementary age bell choir.