Carter Memorial UMC has a long legacy of inspiring worship, faith formation and mission to the world.
"Welcome to Carter United Methodist Church! We believe that God loves and accepts you just the way you are. With this great gift of love and acceptance, we believe we are called to love and accept one another. To help understand us better and our mission to seek, share, and serve, we hope you will take a few minutes to explore our church's history and faith traditions. See you in church!"
Our Roots in History
Historical publications note that the first Methodist services in Needham go as far back as 1792 and were mostly attended by English knitters who brought the Methodist movement to Needham. On April 26, 1867 the Methodist Episcopal Church was charted and 1887 the first sanctuary was built. Records state that "Methodists were men and women of faith, vision, sacrifice and courage."
In the 1950's as the church grew the membership converting the old church into church office. It was at this time that the First Methodist Church of Needham was renamed Carter Memorial UMC in honor of William Carter and the Carter family.
Growth continued and the education/administration wing was added in the late 1960's which also included an elevator and other safety updates. In 2013 Carter had another significant renovation which included improvements to handicapped accessibility, classrooms, a renovated kitchen, narthex, and fellowship hall.
In 2015 Carter Memorial assumed the ownership of Christ Church United Methodist in Wellesley which is now our Wellesley campus.
Our Roots in Faith
Carter Memorial is part of the United Methodist denomination. We seek to be generous in spirit, broadminded, devoted to God and Holy living. We pursue personal holiness through spiritual disciplines and social holiness by addressing key issues of our time so that our world will look more like the Kingdom of God.
We believe the goal of the Christian life is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself. We live this through discernment using scripture, reason, experience and tradition as our guide.
We value passionate worship, relevant preaching, small groups to hold Christians accountable to one another, and serving those who are in need.
We hold the belief that everyone is of "sacred value" and loved unconditionally by God.
