History
Morrow Memorial United Methodist Church and its predecessors have ministered to the Maplewood-South Orange community for 200 years. The church’s roots extend back to 1810, when what is now Maplewood was known as Jefferson in honor of Thomas Jefferson, and we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of our beautiful stone edifice on Ridgewood Road in 2011. The church is named for Rev. John I. Morrow, our pastor from 1889 to 1892.
Morrow's ministries in education, music and service have been essential elements of our community throughout its history. Our "young people's society," the forerunner of today's youth groups that collect food and repair homes for the less fortunate, may have begun as early as 1890 and had 40 members by 1905, when the oldest existing documentation was created. Our women's service organizations, the ancestors of today's United Methodist Women chapter and Turnover Sale fundraiser, date to at least 1873. Morrow's first school opened in 1857, planting the seeds for today's Sunday school and for preschools and Vacation Bible School programs that are popular with both Morrow members and the rest of Maplewood's community. And the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who sold what was reportedly the world's largest and most profitable industrial company to J.P. Morgan in 1901 to create U.S. Steel, gave $750 toward the purchase of Morrow's new organ six years later. We think he could afford it.
The years since have brought change, as well as continuity, and Morrow's fortunes have reflected the triumphs and struggles of the broader world. Our membership grew to nearly 2,000 families in the 1930s, though like many mainstream churches our rolls have declined in the decades since. Our 1942 Moeller organ was said to be the last one made before manufacturing was devoted to the war effort to repel Hitler, and several of the sanctuary's stained-glass windows were donated in memory of members killed during World War II. Luminaries from Margaret Mead to Bill Bradley have spoken at Morrow.
Today's Morrow remains dedicated to the values upon which it was built. We believe God calls us to build a community devoted to spiritual formation, to serving and seeking justice for the least of our sisters and brothers, caring for the earth, expressing faith through worship that includes the arts and to welcome people of all colors, incomes, genders and sexual orientations.
