Our History
Building a Community Since 1951
Memorial United Methodist Church was established in 1950 when the congregations of Community Methodist Protestant Church and Main Street Methodist Church merged.
The first worship service was celebrated on April 15, 1951 in our present sanctuary. Just as they did at that service, the beautiful stained glass windows still remind us of our faith heritage. The kneeling pads around the altar railings, hand-stitched by our members, depict Bible stories.
As we have grown over the years so have our facilities. With the addition of the Christian Enrichment Center and Jarrett Hall we have room for numerous youth activities, the 9:00 Contemporary service, plays, musicals and many, many other events.
We hear and answer the call of missions projects locally and worldwide-ASP, Agape, Cooperative Community Ministry, Interfaith Hospitality Network, Meals-on-Wheels and many more.
We proclaim the word of God through events such as the Finch Preaching Mission, the procession of the cross on Good Friday, Tenebrae, the Lovefeast, the Healing and Restoration services.
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Commonly Asked Questions
We have 2 main weekly worship services:
8:50 AM – CONTEMPORARY WORSHIP This service meets in Jarrett Hall, found in our Christian Enrichment Center.
11:00 AM – WORSHIP is our more traditional experience. This service meets in the Sanctuary, found in the main building.
In order to appeal to a broader audience, we offer worship services with different styles and formats:
CONTEMPORARY WORSHIP: Our 8:50 AM worship service is set in Jarrett Hall, which is a multi-purpose room found in our Christian Enrichment Center. We have an outstanding praise band led by Aaron Prillaman, our Director of Contemporary Worship. This is a casual service that appeals to participants of all ages.
TRADITIONAL WORSHIP: Our 11:00 AM worship service is set in our beautiful Sanctuary, filled with inspiring stained glass and intricate carved wooden fixtures. We have an incredible Chancel Choir, led by Norris Norwood, our Director of Music and Organist. We are fortunate to have an Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ as well.
Children are always welcome and encouraged to stay with their parents in the worship services as well as during Sunday School, however, we have some great opportunities for our younger worshippers as well!!!
AGES 0 – 5: Beginning at 8:30 AM each Sunday morning (until 12:30 PM) we have a fully staffed nursery on the first floor of our main building. Our nursery team will take great care of your little ones and would love to meet you as you drop them off and pick them up.
AGES 5 – 10: Each service has a children’s message as a part of its order, however, we are also sensitive to the fact that often kids may not be able to keep their attention for the whole service, so, kids (4 and up) are invited to their very own worship experience in our Chapel. After the “Children’s Message” children are invited to join Rev. Lynda Hepler for a worship experience suited just for kids!
SUNDAY SCHOOL: We also have Sunday School classes just for kids as well. On the third floor of our main building, we offer classes for 4th – 5th graders, 1st – 3rd graders and Pre K – Kindergarten (on the first floor near the nursery). We offer a Curriculum called “Godly Play”.
As you arrive at our church, you will find parallel parking around the perimeter of our campus. Also available are several handicap accessible parking spots in the parking lot between our buildings, and across Colonial Avenue, we have a large parking lot as well.
First of all, we hope that if you need assistance finding a location on our campus, you will ask one of our friendly members, who will be glad to help you find the area you are seeking.
We have two worship areas:
Our 8:50 AM CONTEMPORARY WORSHIP is in our Christian Enrichment Center (the rear building). Enter through the double doors that are found near the breezeway that connects the two buildings, then follow the signs to “Jarrett Hall”.
Our 11:00 AM TRADITIONAL WORSHIP SERVICE is found in our Sanctuary, which is located in the building closest to Randolph Street. The front doors that open onto our front lawn go directly into the Sanctuary.
Our Main Sanctuary and Chapel are filled with beautiful, inspiring stained glass windows and hand-carved wooden fixtures from the Thomasville Furniture Industries factories.
We also have some rather large areas in our Christian Enrichment Center, including a Fellowship Hall and a multi-purpose room known as Jarrett Hall. Our Fellowship Hall is designed for dining and has a fully stocked Commercial kitchen. Jarrett Hall is often used for basketball, worship, children’s dramas, youth functions, and large community meetings.
We hope that you will find a broad range of styles of clothing on any given Sunday morning for both services: from very casual (shorts and t-shirt) to more formal (a suit and tie) and everything in between. We feel that we want to give our best to God, however we also feel that our “best” is a condition of our heart, not necessarily the condition of our wardrobe. We hope that you will find acceptance and compassion here regardless of how you choose to dress for worship.
The table of Holy Communion is “Christ’s table”, not the table of The United Methodist Church or of the local congregation. The table is open to anyone who seeks to respond to Christ’s love and to lead a new life of peace and love, as the invitation to the table says.
Our Book of Worship says, “All who intend to lead a Christian life, together with their children, are invited to receive the bread and cup. We have no tradition of refusing any who present themselves desiring to receive” (page 29). This statement means that in practice there are few, if any, circumstances in which a United Methodist pastor would refuse to serve the elements of Holy Communion to a person who comes forward to receive.
Why Choose Us
Grow
Grow personally, deepen your faith, and build meaningful community.
Build
Strengthen your relationship with Christ and deepen your connection to our church community.
Serve
Serve our local community as well as communities beyond through service projects and outreach opportunities.