Vision Statement:
College Ave is a church whose membership is dedicated to experiencing the Word of God, to receiving, learning, teaching, and sharing that Word in fellowship with Christ. We hope to open our hearts, minds, and doors in order to respond to the Word of God and the love of Christ in a way that reaches out in renewal, rebirth, in healing to all.

Statement of Reconciliation:
College Avenue United Methodist Church, as a people of God claiming Jesus Christ as our savior, affirms that its primary mission is to be faithful in our ministry with the people in our church and community. We want to live our faith in all relationships. We want to exemplify in our public ministry our faith in God's grace and our understanding of faith as a reaching out to all people, including gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons. We would love as we are loved--unconditionally. We wish to be an open community, welcoming and affirming everyone, just as Christ is welcoming and affirming of everyone.

We believe all persons are created in the image of God, and all are offered God's love and grace. We desire to make explicit and public our past and present practices. Therefore, we affirm the full participation of all--regardless of sexual orientation, race, or gender--who confess Jesus Christ as savior, in all aspects of church life. These include baptism, confirmation, membership, funeral rites, and positions of leadership. We believe the Disciplinary prohibition against ordination of gay Christians is inconsistent with the offer of God's grace to all.

We believe a welcoming congregation to be inclusive and expressive of the concerns of all, regardless of sexual orientation, at every level of congregational life--in worship, in program, in ministries, in social occasions--welcoming not only the presence but celebrating the unique gifts of each life. We join with the Reconciling Congregation Program within the United Methodist Church to "Open the Doors" to all persons. We hope with God's grace to be instruments of reconciliation to all persons who, because of prejudice, homophobia, or ignorance find themselves in exile from the family of God.

Our Heritage:
The First Quarterly Conference, convened in May 1872, gave birth to the church that was to become College Avenue United Methodist Church. The Rev. William F. Lacount was the first pastor and nine people became members of the new church. Services were first held at the corner of Elm Street (now College Avenue) and Highland Avenue. A chapel was later constructed at the corner of Holland and Irving Street, at the cost of $1200.

In 1879, with a membership of ninety, a lot on Park Avenue was purchased for $12,000 and a new church was erected. As membership increased larger facilities were needed, so the corner lot at College Avenue and Chapel Street was purchased in 1922, at the sum of $370,000. Under the leadership of Rev. Dr. George E. Heath and the Rev. Lynn J. Radcliff, the cornerstone of our present building was dedicated on Sunday, May 24, 1925.

The education unit of the church was named in memory of a great American poet and long-time member of the church, Sam Walter Foss. One of Foss' best known poems was "The House by the Side of the Road." This title is engraved over the Chapel Street entrance.

Our church has received many memorial gifts through the years, which has made the church well equipped for our various needs. The gifts include the Kingston Gymnasium, the Evelyn Estelle Gibson Carillonic Chimes, the Lacount Memorial Tower, the Lacount Chapel, the Ray Organ in Lacount Chapel, and Murdock Hall (located beneath the sanctuary).

On July 30, 1979, a merger was formed, uniting the Broadway United Methodist Church and the First United Methodist Church of Somerville with College Avenue United Methodist Church. Commitment, sacrifice, and devotion on the part of all our members helps fulfill the mission of our church to reach out to each other and to our community.