The Commons on Merton provides quality, mission-enhancing work environments to nonprofits, programs and ministries serving the Memphis area. Owned and managed by the Center for Transforming Communities, The Commons on Merton is a nationally-recognized model for Communities of Shalom. This building - known to many as the old Everett Memorial United Methodist Church - is truly a center of and for community transformation.

 

History

First Methodist Church of Binghampton held its first services in a storefront on Broad Avenue in 1907. The following year, the congregation purchased some property several blocks to the south and constructed its first church building, a small concrete chapel at the corner of Merton Street and Oxford Avenue. In the early 1930s, despite the Great Depression, the Everett family donated several adjacent lots to the congregation and the First Methodist Church of Binghampton began fundraising to construct a new, larger church building. The congregation changed its name to Everett Memorial United Methodist Church in honor of the Everetts' generous bequest, and completed their new church in 1935. 

 

Binghampton continued to grow throughout the 1940s and 1950s and the church expanded to meet the community's needs. In 1957, the church and community gathered together to celebrate the opening of the church's new Sunday School annex - an addition that more than doubled the size of the building. The church became a very active center of praise, learning, and community.

 

However, as the City of Memphis sprawled to the east, many of the congregants at Everett Memorial left Binghampton for the newer suburbs. In the early 2000s, the leadership of the church made the courageous decision to give their church building new life by donating it to Center for Transforming Communities, then known as CONECT, inc. On September 27, 2007, representatives of Everett Memorial United Methodist Church, CONECT, and the Binghampton neighborhood gathered at the corner of Merton Street and Oxford Avenue to rededicate the building as a site of hope, healing and transformation for Binghampton and the entire Memphis region. As more and more partners joined the building, a new identity took hold, and we renamed the building The Commons on Merton. 

 

Facilities

The Commons is located at 258 North Merton Street in the heart of the Binghampton neighborhood and contains over 18,000 square feet on three floors. There are three large multi-purose rooms - including the old church sanctuary - and 15 smaller rooms used for nonprofit or church offices and programming space. If your nonprofit organization is interested becoming a partner at The Commons, please follow this link to learn more about available spaces. 

 

Partners

The Commons is home to numerous and diverse nonprofit organizations, churches, and ministries serving the Memphis area. Each organization or church or ministry is an active collaborator with the other partners at The Commons. To learn more, follow this link to our most up-to-date partner directory.