A Congregation of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church

In May of 1852 a group of Methodists from Washington, D.C. approached the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, about the possibility of erecting a representational church for the denomination in the nation's capital. TheGeneral Conference approved the idea and soon an agent was appointed to handle construction and a national fund-raising effort. On October 23, 1854, thecornerstone for the new church was laid at the corner of 4 1/2 and C Streets NW. But the construction would not get beyond the foundation before a poor economy and the Civil War would stop the work. In 1866 construction resumed and the church was dedicated on February 28, 1869, with the first members joining on Easter Sunday, March 28, 1869. In November of 1871 a 240-foot spire and 11 bell chime set, were dedicated and the building was complete.

The members of Metropolitan met regularly for worship on Sunday mornings and evenings as well as for prayer meeting during the week. The Sunday School department had classes for both adults and children as well as beginning in 1881 a class for Chinese immigrants. The women of the church formed several organizations to help further the ministry of the church including the Ladies Aid Society, and the Women's Foreign and Home Missionary Societies. All of this went on despite the fact until 1884 Metropolitan was struggling to pay off more than $40,000 in debt from the building construction. By 1894 when the church celebrated 25 years in ministry, Metropolitan had 549 members and average attendance in Sunday School of 280 and approximately one quarter of its $9,600 budget going to missions, charities and other ministries of the church.

At the turn of the century President William McKinley regularly attended services at Metropolitan, just as Ulysses S. Grant had done some 25-year earlier. The city of Washington was growing in the early decades of this century and as it grew neighborhoods changed. The church found itself in an area with a declining residential population and its traditional core membership of middle and upper class whites moving further into the northwest sections of the city. Then in late 1920's the Federal Government laid out plans for a new center of Federal and local offices and Metropolitan sat very near the center of this plan. With much reluctance but little choice the church was sold to the government and closed its doors on December 31, 1930.

In 1931 the present church was under construction so the congregation had to make do with temporary quarters at The American University and what is now The Navy Chapel. The University Heights Methodist Episcopal Church joined with Metropolitan in 1931, this small congregation had begun in the neighborhood in mid 1920's. On February 7, 1932, the new church was dedicated and the congregation set out doing in ministry at their new home. The membership had declined to less than 400, but began to grow at a steady rate. By 1938 the church had built a parsonage and was beginning plans to build an Education Building. But with the arrival of World War II those plans were put on hold.

After the war Metropolitan began to get crowded, the congregation was growing, the Sunday School was growing, the Men's Club formed, the women formed The Wesleyan Service Guild and the Women's Society of Christian Service, there was activity for youths and any number of other ministries. On January 27, 1951, the Education Building was ready for use and members quickly set to work in the new space, a church library grew, a community play group started, the choirs had rehearsal space, new Sunday school classes began. But all too soon the sanctuary was too small to accommodate the congregation, so in 1957 work began on expanding the sanctuary of the church. For several months the congregation meet for worship in the gym at The American University until February 22, 1959 when the congregation joined in worship in the enlarged sanctuary for the first time.

The 1960's and 1970's brought with them a new set of challenges and Metropolitan responded with new ministries. Youth programs expanded, ministries to the inner city were begun, increased or expanded, programs for seniors began, and forums and programs wrestled with the place of the church in a changing world.