The Union Combined Parish is a multisite United Methodist congregation committed to love and liberation—historically Black, multicultural, and LGBTQ+ empowering.

Union's story begins in 1769 when a group of African American believers began meeting for study and worship in Beacon Hill. As the faith community grew, they requested their first pastor, Rev. Samuel Snowden—a former slave turned abolitionist—and founded the Mary Street Meeting House. 

Soon, the faith community outgrew the Meeting House and built a larger church that began a station along the Underground Railroad. The congregation followed the migration of Boston's Black population from Beacon Hill to Roxbury, and eventually to its current home on Columbus Ave. in Boston's South End taking the name "Union." 

In 1950, Union hosted the NAACP convention that voted to pursue Brown v. Board in 1966. By the 1970s, Union had led the development of Meth-Union Manor, a four-building affordable cooperative in the South End. During the 1980s and 1990s, Union fought against apartheid in South Africa, and for economic equality for all at home. In 2000, Union voted to become a safe space for LGBTQ+ persons.

In 2023, four United Methodist congregations—Union, Old West Church in the West End, Community UMC in Brighton, and Glendale UMC in Everett—merged to form the Union Combined Parish.

Throughout our over 200 year history, Union has had eight different names in five different locations in three different denominations yet always committed to love and liberation.