{"id":42,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-20 22:32:25","latitude":41.50588602614872257845490821637213230133056640625,"longitude":-81.6126106055683777640297194011509418487548828125,"title":"University Circle United Methodist Church","subtitle":""The Holy Oil Can"","fullsize":"https://mail.clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/719bfec59a32b609a714e237d06f8470.jpg","address":"1919 E 107th St, Cleveland, OH","zoom":17,"creator":["CSU Center for Public History and Digital Humanities"],"description":"University Circle United Methodist Church traces its history back to 1831, when the earliest Methodist gatherings in Cleveland were held at Doan's Corners. The church was christened Epworth-Euclid Methodist Church in 1919 with the merger between two historic congregations — Euclid Avenue Methodist Episcopal and Epworth Memorial Church. The latter congregation was the birthplace of the Epworth League, an international Christian youth movement.
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\r\nSoon after the merger, the congregation commissioned a church design from the noted architect Bertram Goodhue shortly before his death in 1924. The Cleveland-based Walker & Weeks firm saw the project to completion four years later. Goodhue's towering steeple, modeled after Mont Saint Michel in France, was dubbed the "Holy Oil Can" by students on the Western Reserve campus — a nickname still used today.
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\r\nIn 2009, the members of Epworth-Euclid United Methodist Church and First United Methodist Church of Cleveland voted to combine congregations to form University Circle United Methodist Church the following year. Unfortunately, however, the church's subsequent decline in membership led to its closing in 2026, leaving the "Holy Oil Can" empty just two years shy of its one-hundredth anniversary.
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\r\n","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"Permanently closed","lede":null,"website":null,"related_resources":["\"Epworth-Euclid United Methodist Church.\" Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.","O'Malley, Michael. \"Two Cleveland United Methodist Congregations Merging; Will Worship at University Circle Site.\" The Plain Dealer. December 9, 2009.","Prendergast, Ken. \"University Circle's 'Holy Oil Can' Is Up for Sale.\" NEOtrans. April 11, 2025. "],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://mail.clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/719bfec59a32b609a714e237d06f8470.jpg":{"id":11874,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"The "Holy Oil Can"","description":"Epworth-Euclid United Methodist was humorously dubbed "the holy oil can." This image shows the view that inspired the nickname. | Cleveland Memory Project, Cleveland State University Library Special Collections | ca. 1960 | Kathleen Shamp | Colourpicture Publishers, Inc.","thumbnail":"https://mail.clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/719bfec59a32b609a714e237d06f8470.jpg"},"https://mail.clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/749bf72483221b9643778ad287845414.jpg":{"id":11879,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Central Methodist Church","description":"One of the original congregations that became Epworth-Euclid United Methodist was Central Methodist Episcopal Church, located at Prospect Avenue and East 55th Street. | Cleveland State University Library Special Collections | ca. 1900","thumbnail":"https://mail.clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/749bf72483221b9643778ad287845414.jpg"},"https://mail.clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/a644f6b5497ea9de387e60a690a60220.jpg":{"id":11877,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Church Viewed from Fine Arts Garden","description":"In this midcentury view, the church rises beyond the Fine Arts Garden and Wade Lagoon. | Cleveland State University Library Special Collections | ca. 1950","thumbnail":"https://mail.clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/a644f6b5497ea9de387e60a690a60220.jpg"},"https://mail.clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/76e7cfcf6c7b849857e332b89ea030d9.jpg":{"id":11875,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Steeple Reconstruction","description":"Cleveland State University Library Special Collections | 1958","thumbnail":"https://mail.clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/76e7cfcf6c7b849857e332b89ea030d9.jpg"},"https://mail.clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/656cb5c373148ecc4eae3c1c2cabffb7.jpg":{"id":11878,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"View from Wade Lagoon","description":"Cleveland State University Library Special Collections | ca. 1960","thumbnail":"https://mail.clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/656cb5c373148ecc4eae3c1c2cabffb7.jpg"},"https://mail.clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/dcf93f425f1040514edebf0ce91e4390.jpg":{"id":11876,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Rose Window Above Altar in Sanctuary","description":"Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 | September 17, 2016 | Kevin Payravi","thumbnail":"https://mail.clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/dcf93f425f1040514edebf0ce91e4390.jpg"},"https://mail.clevelandhistorical.org/files/original/999051-epworth-design-by-bertram-goodhue_mixdown_d69dcf8737.mp3":{"id":430,"mime-type":"audio/mpeg","title":"An Architect's Vision","description":"John Wheeler of Epworth-Euclid United Methodist describes how Cleveland architect Bertram Goodhue formulated the design of the building | Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection"},"https://mail.clevelandhistorical.org/files/original/999051-epworth-the-epworth-league_mixdown_c99a44c6fc.mp3":{"id":431,"mime-type":"audio/mpeg","title":"The Epworth League","description":"John Wheeler of Epworth-Euclid United Methodist discusses the Epworth League, a pioneering christian youth group organization | Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection "},"https://mail.clevelandhistorical.org/files/original/999051-epworth-the-holy-oil-can_mixdown_c93dcdf431.mp3":{"id":432,"mime-type":"audio/mpeg","title":"The Holy Oil Can","description":"John Wheeler of Epworth-Euclid United Methodist discusses the building's humorous nickname | Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection"}}}