Who We Are

The people of Grace Church value connection. We know one another's names and the concerns of each life.

What kind of people come to Grace Church?

• long timers who were baptized and grew up the church
• college students looking for a church home away from home
• single people who have found a church family
• visitors like you

We have developed a shared vision for our work and ministry.

Our Larger Connection
We are part of the United Methodist Church.  At the heart of the Methodist tradition is working in connection with other churches, we do that through the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference .

Our History
Grace United Methodist Church in Walla Walla celebrated it's 100th anniversary in 2008.  The history of Grace Church is a story of people coming together, uniting to be one body.  Today's Grace Church was formed by the fusion of three different Walla Walla churches.

 The original "Little White Church" on Pleasant Street was built in 1908.  After the tent which had been erected  in 1905 to serve as a Sunday school blew away. It was clear that a permanent building was needed for the neighborhood. Eastside or Wilbur church, had been established in 1887 but it had been discontinued in 1893, with proceeds used for an addition to First Church; which was later renamed Pioneer.  The Eastside Sunday school grew so rapidly that the original small frame building was soon raised to make room for a bigger building with a basement placed under it.  The first pastor of Grace Church reported in 1909, 20 members and 68 in Sunday school.  By 1929 there were 162 members and the church had a parsonage which was erected in 1921.

Marvin Memorial Church was established in the 1870's.  It was named in honor of Bishop Enoch Marvin.  In 1940 the church reported 183 members and 99 in Sunday school.  Marvin Memorial came out of the Northwest Conference of the Southern Methodist Episcopal Church; which was formed by the merger of the Montana and Columbia conferences in 1918, at a session held at Milton, Oregon across the Stateline from Walla Walla.  Marvin Memorial was one of 6 congregations added by the 1939 Methodist merger.

In 1955 the Marvin Memorial congregation joined with that of Grace to form United Methodist  Church.  In the early sixties a new church sanctuary and education building were constructed in the Grace neighborhood to serve the combined congregations.

In 1969 the Evangelical United Brethren Church combined with the world wide Methodists to become the United Methodists.  When the Walla Walla E.U.B. congregation joined with United Church rather than becoming the "United United Methodist Church" the congregation decided to return to the name Grace.  The church today is therefore Grace United Methodist Church.