On a quiet stretch of West Kingsley in Garland, Texas, a congregation that began meeting in 1951 has grown into a bilingual congregation known for its warm welcome, its preaching on the parables of Jesus, and its long memory. The motto displayed beneath the name on the building reads, "One with Christ | One with each other | One in Ministry to all the world," and the people of Axe Memorial United Methodist Church describe themselves in the simplest terms: "a people of faith seeking to share the love and joy of life in Christ." All are welcome. The church embraces diversity and reaches out to neighbors near and far, and it is celebrating a 75th anniversary of ministry to Garland, Rowlett, Richardson, Mesquite, Sachse, Dallas, Plano, Rockwall, and Wylie.
75 Years on West Kingsley
Axe Memorial's presence in Garland began on July 1, 1951. The congregation's own story is written simply: "Beginning on July 1, 1951, we have been a presence in the Garland community sharing a message of hope and shedding light on the redemptive power in the love of God." From those early years through to the present, the people have understood their call to be the presence of the love of God in the world - not simply in a sanctuary on Sunday, but in the community and the world outside the doors.
That vision shows up in how the congregation uses its building. Members describe a church that intentionally opens its facilities to countless non-church groups for meetings at little to no cost, that maintains space so that members of the community can hold weddings regardless of their background, that houses the local food pantry, and that pays the real estate and utilities that make all of this welcome possible. The work is funded through the gifts of members and friends who invest their prayers, presence, gifts, and service in the congregation's life.
The 75th anniversary has been woven into recent preaching and Bible study. A sermon in the Remember | Renew | Rise: The Story Continues series was titled "On Holy Ground," and a Bible study session asked the small group to imagine the kinds of courage required from earlier generations and to name people from the church's history whose faithfulness helped shape the present congregation. Anniversary Bible studies have asked members to consider what seed of faithfulness they would like to help plant for future generations and what one hope they have for Axe Memorial's next 25 years.
Sunday Mornings in Two Languages
Two distinct congregations share the same building on Sunday mornings, and the schedule is built so that families can worship in either English or Spanish and still share a common hour together.
At 9:30 a.m., the English Worship Service gathers in the Sanctuary. While the Spanish Adult Sunday School meets in another part of the building, English-speaking worshipers hear preaching, music, and prayer in the main worship space. At 10:30 a.m., the schedule flips. The Spanish Worship Service moves into the Fellowship Hall, while English Sunday School for all ages meets across the rest of the building. The arrangement makes it possible for English-speaking and Spanish-speaking families to attend together and overlap between services.
The Spanish-speaking ministry is an established part of Axe Memorial's life, with its own Sunday school class for adults and its own weekly worship in the Fellowship Hall. The English worship includes the church's music ministry and the sermon preached by the senior pastor. Together, the two services reflect the congregation's stated commitment to embrace diversity and to extend a helping hand to neighbors near and far.
Worship is livestreamed online, so members who are traveling, homebound, or otherwise unable to attend in person can join the 9:30 a.m. English service from wherever they are.
Midweek Study on Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Each week, the senior pastor leads a small-group Bible study that meets in two formats so that as many people as possible can take part. The Tuesday session runs from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Zoom, with a standing meeting link. The Wednesday session meets in person from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Conference Room of the McGee Building on the church campus.
The studies are written out in full and follow the lectionary-shaped preaching schedule. A recent series traced Matthew's gospel through parables of forgiveness, conflict, and the upside-down generosity of God, with session titles like "That's Not Fair," "How Many Times?," and "Conflict, Reconciliation, and Grace." Each session opens with a prayer, walks through a passage of scripture verse by verse, and then offers a long list of discussion questions designed to take participants from observation to personal reflection. A closing prayer and a weekly spiritual practice - sometimes called "Release the Ledger" or "A Grace Inventory" - are designed to be lived out during the week.
The studies are written so that someone who cannot attend either session can still work through the material on their own. The questions are unhurried, the tone is pastoral, and the same passages appear in the sermons preached the following Sunday, so the small group and the congregation end up in the same corner of the Bible.
A Word from the Pastor, Rev. Wally Butts
The senior pastor is Rev. Wally Butts, an ordained elder in the Horizon Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. He became Axe Memorial's Senior Pastor on July 1, 2025, after more than three decades of ministry in and around the Dallas area.
Pastor Wally's ministry has touched every age group. He has served as Youth Director at FUMC Heath; as Director of Program Ministries at Lakewood UMC Dallas; as Associate Pastor at Suncreek UMC Allen and FUMC Dallas; and as Senior Pastor at FUMC Celina, Cornerstone UMC Garland, FUMC Mesquite, and FUMC Lancaster. That breadth shapes his understanding of what a neighborhood congregation is for.
His stated passions center on racial reconciliation, intergenerational ministries, special needs ministries, and the diversity and inclusion of all of God's children in the life of the churches and communities he serves. He has served on the Journey Toward Racial Justice team for the North Texas Conference and is an active proponent and board member of the Dallas Bethlehem Center, an organization whose work connects with the congregation's own concern for children and families on the margins.
Wally's spouse, Melissa Logan, is a retired teacher who taught in Cedar Hill, McKinney, and Richland College. She and Wally are avid readers and enjoy spending time together in their garden, caring for their many pets, and visiting their favorite travel destination, Hilo, Hawaii. Wally also enjoys time with his adult son, William, and grandson, Leo, who, he says, always keeps him on his toes.
His pastoral letters often begin, "Peace be with you, Wally." His preaching moves through the gospel of Matthew in long, sustained series. The current preaching series, The Upside-Down Kingdom, walks through Matthew's parables and miracle stories one per week, treating each text as a window into the surprising generosity of God.
Music Ministry with Mike Link
In September 2026, Axe Memorial welcomed Michael "Mike" Link as its new Director of Music Ministries. Mike's first Sunday in the role was September 6, and his arrival was marked by an all-church potluck in the Fellowship Hall so the congregation could officially welcome him.
Mike brings more than 30 years of church music leadership experience, much of it serving Methodist congregations throughout Texas. Most recently, he served at First United Methodist Church Allen, following 17 years at Aldersgate UMC in Carrollton.
His training is unusually broad. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Western Illinois University, a Master of Music Education from VanderCook College of Music, Certification in Church Music from Perkins School of Theology, and a second master's degree in Educational Administration from Concordia University. Throughout his career he has taught choirs, bands, and orchestras, and he has also served as an adjunct instructor at the University of North Texas. He currently teaches Piano Lab at Austin Academy for Excellence in Garland ISD, and during the 2026-27 season he sings with the Dallas Arts District Chorale.
His presence strengthens the music of both Sunday services and is part of the church's broader investment in music as ministry.
UMYF: Youth Ministry in the Gym
Young people have a named ministry at Axe Memorial. The United Methodist Youth Fellowship (UMYF) meets every Sunday from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the church gym. The group is directed by John Knagg, who serves as the congregation's Youth Ministries Director.
The Sunday evening time slot is intentionally chosen so that youth can be part of morning worship with their families and then return in the evening for fellowship, study, and fun with their peers. The gym - rather than a classroom - signals that the gathering is meant to feel like a shared space, not a schoolroom.
Parents who want to learn more can contact the church office at (972) 278-2175.
Stephen Ministries: One-to-One Care
When the people of Axe Memorial talk about caring for one another, they often point to Stephen Ministries, a congregation-based caregiving ministry that trains lay members to walk alongside others through difficult seasons.
Stephen Ministers are congregation members trained by Stephen Leaders to offer high-quality, one-to-one Christian care to people going through tough times. A Stephen Minister usually provides care to one person at a time, meeting with that person once a week for about an hour. The motto of the ministry is taken from Galatians 6:2: "Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."
Care receivers are people - congregation members and others in the community - who are struggling through a difficult time in life: experiencing grief, divorce, job loss, chronic or terminal illness, hospitalization, loneliness or discouragement, the loss of a spouse, the departure of children from the home, unemployment, a recent move, spiritual crisis, the experience of being new parents, single parenting, the challenges of caring for grandchildren, or the aftermath of a natural or human-caused disaster.
The ministry is built around a few important protections. The relationship between a care receiver and a Stephen Minister is strictly confidential. Men are matched with men, and women with women. When a care receiver's needs exceed what a Stephen Minister can provide, the Stephen Ministry team makes a referral to an appropriate mental health professional or other community resource.
Those who would like to receive care, or who know of someone who might, are invited to contact the church office.
From Garland to Kenya: Mission Beyond the Doors
Axe Memorial's "One in Ministry to all the world" motto is lived out in two international partnerships.
The first is Kenya Partners, a mission organization that connects American congregations with ministries in Kenya. The second is Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church, the denomination's mission agency that coordinates work in more than 130 countries. Both organizations give members of Axe Memorial concrete ways to support international mission through prayer, giving, and short-term volunteer opportunities.
Closer to home, the church houses the local food pantry as part of its outreach to the Garland community. Members describe that ministry as one of the visible fruits of the church's presence: a church that takes care of the poor in the community by housing the food pantry on its campus.
For those who wish to support the congregation's ministry financially, gifts can be mailed to the church office in Garland or given online through an encrypted giving portal. Axe Memorial United Methodist Church is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization as a recognized congregation of The United Methodist Church.
What Axe Memorial Believes
The congregation's stated beliefs are summarized on its About page and are rooted in the historic teachings of The United Methodist Church.
Members describe the basis of their faith in a Wesleyan way: "The basis of our faith is scripture, informed by tradition, validated by experience, and verified by reason." The church is Trinitarian, holding to faith in the one living and true God, everlasting, without body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness - the maker and preserver of all things, both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there are three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The church teaches that penitent sinners are justified or accounted righteous before God only by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that this righteousness does not come through works or merit. Regeneration, the renewal of the believer in righteousness through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, is understood as a participation in the divine nature and an experience of newness of life, by which the believer becomes reconciled to God and is enabled to serve God with the will and the affections.
The church also teaches that it is possible to depart from grace and fall into sin, and that even then, by the grace of God, a person may be renewed in righteousness. Good works are described as the necessary fruits of faith that follow regeneration, but they do not have the virtue to remove sins or to avert divine judgment. Good works pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ spring from a true and living faith, and through and by them faith is made evident.
Those who would like to explore these beliefs further are invited to the weekly Bible study, the "Becoming a Disciple" section of the church's teaching, or a conversation with the pastor.
Becoming a Member and How to Give
Joining Axe Memorial is intentionally simple. Visitors who feel ready to join are invited to come forward when the pastor extends the invitation after the message. He will talk briefly with them then. Anyone who prefers can leave contact information on the sheet provided, and the pastor will follow up about joining the church.
The congregation's discipleship pathway - described under "Becoming a Disciple" - is built around the classic means of grace: prayer, Bible study, private and corporate worship, acts of service, and Christian conferencing. Members grow spiritually by practicing these habits, by sharing them with others, and by serving "the least" in the community, drawing on Jesus' words in Matthew 25:31-46 about caring for the hungry, the stranger, the sick, and the imprisoned.
Those who wish to support the church financially can mail a check or money order to the church office in Garland, Texas, or give online through the encrypted donation link on the church's giving page. Both one-time and recurring gifts are welcomed, and gifts may be made in memory or in honor of loved ones.
For more information about any of the ministries described above, the office can be reached at (972) 278-2175, and a prayer request form is available for anyone in the community who would like to be held in the church's prayers. The address is 1700 W. Kingsley in Garland, and all are welcome to come as they are.