Hilltop

Located at 621 East Warrington Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15210-1564 in the Allentown section of Pittsburgh.

Hilltop Church is the fruit of several congregations that have been united over the past 150 years.  The principal congregations that were created over last past of the 19th century and the early part of 20th century are John Wesley Methodist Church, Arlington Avenue EUB Church, and Becks Run United Methodist Church.  Hilltop resulted from the merger of John Wesley and Arlington Avenue in 1970.  Becks Run merged into Hilltop in 1991. 

The following presents a brief history of the congregations:

Hilltop History:   Methodist Episcopal – Pittsburgh Conference. Organized March 25, 1873 as the Allentown Methodist Episcopal Church. The original property was on Excelsior Street. The new location was dedicated on September 1,1891. This church has had the following names: South Street in 1877; Washington Avenue in 1892; Trinity in 1924; John Wesley in 1935 when the First German merged with Trinity; name changed to Hilltop in 1970 following the merger with Arlington Avenue Evangelical United Brethren Church.

Arlington Avenue History:   Evangelical – Pittsburgh Conference. An outgrowth of Zion Evangelical Church, services were held in the home of Winhelm Henizel, beginning in 1885. A building was erected on Arlington Avenue and dedicated January 20, 1889. There were 43 charter members. Arlington Avenue church closed and merged with John Wesley (former Methodist) Church in 1970 to form the Hilltop United Methodist Church. Worship services were held at 631 Warrington Avenue.

Becks Run History:  Methodist Episcopal – Pittsburgh Conference. During the early 1900’s a Sunday School met at Redman Mills with church services later being held in the homes of the residents of the area. In 1913 the Beck’s Run Methodist Church was built with Methodist Church Union sponsorship giving it the name Beck’s Run Mission. In 1916 the church burned. In 1917 a basement was built and the sanctuary was completed in 1927. From 1964 to 1981 the pastor had been the director of Bethany House Ministry in nearby St. Clair Village. For many years the church had Mission Status, but in later years is had Quarterly Conference Status, has paid apportionments and has been sending a delegate to Annual Conference. Its membership in 1968 was 115. In 1991 it merged with Hilltop Church to form one appointment.

Hilltop Church holds worship services at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday morning.  It is the site of the Allentown Senior Center that is open five days each week, and serves the senior citizens of the community.  Other community groups meet in the church facility including a Hispanic congregation that holds worship services, Bible studies and prayer meetings for Spanish speaking residents of the Pittsburgh area.