First United Methodist celebrates 90 years

Young Chang

City residents refer to the First United Methodist Church of Costa

Mesa as “the church with the bells.”

Since the 1950s, they’ve rung a short tune every 15 minutes and a longer pattern every hour. The sounds have echoed through the

intersection of Newport Boulevard and 19th Street and brought a mood of

spirituality to an otherwise commercial juncture known mostly for

Triangle Square.

But one bell outside the church hearkens back way earlier than to the

‘50s. It sits in an arch along the driveway that introduces visitors to

the sanctuary. This bell is an original from Easter Sunday of 1912, when

the church first started.

Next month, exactly 90 years to the Sunday of when the Methodist

church officially planted roots in Costa Mesa the Rev. Mike Bankhead and

his 172 congregants will celebrate their anniversary with an Easter

service, a catered lunch and visits by former pastors.

The April 7 festivities will celebrate a long-held spiritual presence

in the city as well as the original mission of helping Costa Mesa

residents get closer to God. That goal still stands today.

“Our specific mission is to be a community church,” said Bankhead, who

arrived at First United eight months ago. “We’re not in a suburban area

and we’re not a neighborhood church. So we’re looking for ways we can

help the community.”

Exactly 90 years ago, the spiritual base was smaller. When eight

members called themselves the Harper Methodist Episcopal Church in 1912,

the meeting place was a small schoolhouse on Orange Avenue and 17th

Street. The unincorporated city was known as Harper and it was way less

populated than it is today.

The first pastor was the Rev. Roy Mealy. The church moved into its

first real structure in 1915 at the corner of Center Street and Newport

Boulevard. Harper’s first land developer, Stephen Townsend, donated the

property.

In 1928, the congregation moved into its current building on 19th

Street. The Rev. Lyman Bayard, the church’s 11th senior pastor, headed

the congregation at the time and contributed heavily to how the new

structure was designed.

A written history provided by First United tells us he was a musical

person and was responsible for bringing in a new Moeller pipe organ.

Music continued to play a significant role in the church through the

formation of choirs. Chis Brown, son of the late Rev. Grow Brown (the

church’s seventh leader), even got to know his future wife Helen in the

chorus.

A member of First United since 1922, the longtime Costa Mesa resident

said he has remained with the parish because it has served his spiritual

needs.

“And it’s a very friendly church,” the 88-year-old said.

Community outreach programs today include a shower program for

homeless people three days a week, a food program for needy families and

regular bag-lunch giveaways.

One of the church’s goals is to attract younger worshipers, as only 3%

of the congregation is made up of youth, Bankhead said.

“To keep the church alive and going,” he said.