CLEVELAND — More than a hundred people wait in line each Tuesday at the First United Methodist Church community lunch in Akron.

“So what we try to do is feed people’s bodies, you know, not only their souls,” Joe Burkhardt said.


What You Need To Know

  • The First United Methodist Church of Akron is celebrating its last holiday season before moving across town, merging with Wedgewood Methodist Church.

  • The Akron church has deep roots in the city’s history, forming in the early 19th century.

  • The First UMC will host a final celebration of January 19, and a welcoming service will be held at Wedgewood on January 26th.

Reverend Joe Burkhardt began leading the First United Methodist Church of Akron a year and a half ago. He is now helping with the move across town, where the church will merge with the Wedgewood Methodist Church, where Burkhardt has served for 11 years.

This month, he said the community is celebrating their last lunch at the church’s decades-old home in University Park. The First UMC in Akron has been around for nearly as long as the city itself, surviving two fires since the church was established in the early 1800s.

“It is, I believe, heartbreaking, certainly is for the people that I’ve talked to about this,” he said. “For me personally, again, I haven’t been here super long, but this has become a big passion of mine, and serving the community always has been, no matter where I’ve been.”

This holiday season is particularly memorable for the community, said Susan Pritchard, a long-time congregant and volunteer at the First UMC.

“Oh, they’re sad because they’ve been coming for years. Some of them, they’re going to miss it. We’re all going to miss it.”

Pritchard said she’s witnessed the church build bonds over the years.

“We have some a lot of regulars. It’s their social hour sometimes. There’s also a Bible study at noon,” she said.

Besides the Tuesday Lunch, Burkhardt said the church also supports local arts groups.

“Apollo’s Choir is here, Gospel Meets Symphony, who’s related to the Akron Symphony Orchestra,” he said. “We’ve had a number of other organizations, not just United Methodist, but others, who come here for arts related things, often with the University of Akron.” 

Burkhardt said they’re focusing on keeping connection switch community partners.

“We’re not dying, we’re people of resurrection,” he said.

The new year brings uncertainty, Burkhardt said, but the church’s leaders are collaborating with local organizations with the hopes of preserving the building and maintaining unity.

“So what we’re trying to do is discern what happens with the people and what happens with the building, because church is not actually a building. A building is an instrument. It’s something that we used to do ministry, in and around our community. But the actual church is people.”