About Us

Connecting diverse people who share a common brokenness, with Jesus.

SAFETY

Our church is a safe place where people can “ask, seek, & knock” (Matthew 7:7-8) without fear of judgment.

AUTHENTICITY

Our church is absent of pretense where people can be their real selves before God and others.

DIVERSITY

Our church is a community that reflects our community and the kingdom of God.

TRANSFORMATION

Our church is a community where we expect to grow more and more into the likeness of Jesus.

RECONCILIATION

Our church is a community that takes seriously Jesus’ call to the ministry of reconciliation that only happens through justice, forgiveness, and ferocious love.

The original Pepper Pike location of Garfield Memorial Church sits on a historic traffic circle named “Lander Circle” just 2 miles east of I-271 on Chagrin Blvd. In 1929, what was then, “Orange Church” had dwindled to only 8 active members.

When the word came that Chagrin Blvd. was to be built bringing traffic to the East side of Cleveland, the County Commissioners were ready to deem the church “condemned.” The faithful few, however, negotiated with the Van Swergan Company to literally move the church building onto this new traffic circle and thus put themselves in the way of this new traffic!

Their faithfulness was rewarded and new life came! We continue this tradition by “widening the circle…” In 2013, our community of faith again widened in a historic way. Garfield Memorial Church moved into a second location in South Euclid, in the former South Euclid-Hillcrest Church at 1534 South Green Rd. Two rich heritages were merged and we are strategically on another busy traffic location in Cleveland. The tradition of “widening the circle” and preparing for and welcoming new people continues!

Garfield Memorial Church is one of the most multi-ethnic, economically diverse churches in the area. Here are a few articles about our church.

• From Outreach Magazine about how Garfield Memorial transitioned to "Living Color.”
• From the United Methodist Communications, "Celebrating Diversity."
• From Net Results, Pastor Chip wrote an article about our journey, "Rebuilding a Mainline Church."

WE BELIEVE that God is understood in three distinct persons. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are commonly used to refer to the threefold nature of God. Sometimes we use other terms, such as Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.

WE BELIEVE in one God, who created the world and all that is in it. We believe that God is sovereign; that is, God is the ruler of the universe. We believe that God is loving. We can experience God’s love and grace.

WE BELIEVE that Jesus was human and divine. He lived as a man and died when he was crucified. We believe that Jesus is divine. He is the Son of God. We believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and that the risen Christ lives today. We believe that Jesus is our Savior. In Christ we receive abundant life and forgiveness of sins. We believe that Jesus is our Lord and that we are called to pattern our lives after his.

WE BELIEVE that the Holy Spirit is God with us. We believe that the Holy Spirit comforts us when we are in need and convicts us when we stray from God. We believe that the Holy Spirit awakens us to God’s will and empowers us to live obediently.

WE BELIEVE that God created human beings in God’s image. We believe that humans can choose to accept or reject a relationship with God. We believe that all humans need to be in relationship with God in order to be fully human.

WE BELIEVE that the church is the body of Christ, an extension of Christ’s life and ministry in the world today. We believe that the mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We believe that the church is “the communion of saints,” a community made up of all past, present and future disciples of Christ. We believe that the church is called to worship God and to support those who participate in its life as they grow in faith.

WE BELIEVE that the Bible is God’s Word. We believe that the Bible is the primary authority for our faith and practice. We believe that Christians need to know and study the Old Testament and the New Testament (the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures).