History :

The Canby United Methodist Church has a very rich heritage. Methodist missionaries were among the first to arrive on the scene in the new Oregon Territory. Jason Lee and his team arrived by clipper ship at the Hudson Bay Company at Fort Vancouver in 1834, and was received by John McLoughlin. A mission station was set up at what is now Willamette Mission State Park, just south of Woodburn on the Willamette River. After an arduous start, connections were made with settlers arriving in the Willamette Valley, and small 'class' groups began to form up and down the valley from Portland to Salem.

The location and date of the first such group in the Canby area is difficult to trace. But the Canby Methodist Episcopal Church in Canby is fairly well documented. It was the earliest organized church in town. It's beginning can be traced to 1869, following a succession of "camp meetings" held on Wesley Joslyn's 1851 donation land claim beside the Molalla River. A preaching circuit was set up in 1854 that included Rock Creek, Molalla, Marquam, Grassy Pond, Glad Tidings, Wilhoit, and Butteville. Sixteen years later the Rev. Andrew J. Joslyn, son of Wesley Joslyn, preached his first sermon at the Rock Creek Campgrounds on July 4, 1870. He fulfilled assignments throughout Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. He returned to Canby to live and preach. He gave his retirement sermon at Rock Creek 50 years after his first one. The Rev. Joslyn was quoted that in the early days he could not afford a horse so he walked from Salem to Rock Creek to Butteville - "but I was young then," he said.

In 1870 the town of Canby was platted. Most of the land came from a donation land claim of Philander and Anna Green Lee. Another portion of the land came from the Joslyn claim, where the camp meetings were still being held. Part of the land was platted into lots and bought by ministers and other Methodists from around the state. When the Methodists wanted to build a permanent church in 1883, the Rev. Samuel Matthews donated lots 1 and 2 of block 8 and the church was built in 1884. Rev. Matthews was the first minister.

From about 1882 until the first church was built, the Methodists held Sunday School and Services at the Milton and Cynthia Hosford Store. Mrs. Hosford taught Sunday School and was very active in the church. In her will the widow Hosford left her property to be sold as a benefit for the building fund.

By 1910 the congregation realized the need for a larger church. The 1884 church was sold to the Catholic Parish and moved from it's original site on NW 2nd and Elm to NW 3rd and Elm. This fine example of an American frontier chapel is still standing at that location.

Construction was started on the second church in 1912. The distinctive, Moroccan style building was completed and dedicated on March 16, 1913. The Rev. Andrew Jackson Joslyn was present at the dedication. Two stained glass windows were installed as memorials, one to the Rev. Joslyn for his family contribution to the church over the years; and the other in memory of Mrs. Hosford . This second church served the area for over 60 years, not only for worship, but also for Boy and Girl Scouts meetings, Senior Citizens, Health Care Clinics, as well many other activities and meetings of the community. It is still standing on the original site at NW 2nd and Elm.