On the right side of N. Main Street as it runs north past the courthouse roundabout in Graham, First United Methodist Church sits at 303 N. Main. From its fellowship hall on the east end to its sanctuary on the west, the building holds a full Sunday of two worship services, Sunday school for all ages between them, and a weeknight calendar of small groups, choirs, mission projects, and youth gatherings. The congregation's stated vision is "a loving and diverse community meeting the real needs of our neighbors through Spirit-filled worship, intergenerational discipleship, and caring service," and the rhythm of the building reflects that vision in practice.
Two Services, Two Atmospheres
FUMC Graham offers two services most Sunday mornings, and both are open to all. At 9 a.m., "The Well" contemporary service meets in the fellowship hall, also called Stafford Hall. The name comes from the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, and the service borrows the same casual, come-as-you-are tone: a coffee bar at the door, contemporary Christian songs led by the Praise Team with drums, guitar, bass, keyboard, and a team of vocalists, and projected lyrics so everyone can follow along. People of all ages are welcome, and bulletins are printed to help track the order of worship. The Well is also livestreamed each Sunday.
At 11 a.m., the traditional service gathers in the sanctuary on the west side of the building. The room is anchored by the pipe organ, faceted stained-glass windows, and the hymnal, with prayers, choral anthems, and shared creeds. Doug Rayle, the director of music, plays and conducts; the Chancel Choir sings weekly and the Praise Ringers handbell choir contributes monthly from September through May. Special preludes, postludes, and offertory music fill out the hour. On the fifth Sunday of any month, the two services combine into a single combined worship at 10 a.m. in Stafford Hall, followed by brunch and shared music between the Praise Team and the choir.
Both services include a children's message early in the hour so that younger worshipers can head to the nursery if needed. On the first Sunday of each month, both congregations share in Communion. The church offers gluten-free bread and grape juice only, with servers using hand sanitizer just before distributing the elements. Communion is shared by intinction, with individual cups also available for anyone abstaining from the common cup. Baptisms are scheduled with the pastor and typically use the font in the sanctuary with sprinkling, following a liturgy that welcomes the baptized into the FUMC Graham family.
Between Services: Discipleship Hour
The hour between the two worship services, from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., is set aside as Discipleship Hour, the church's weekly Sunday school time for all ages. Children's classes meet on the second floor: birth through age 3 in Room 121, four-year-olds through second grade in Room 120, and third through fifth grade in Room 209. Each class uses a scripture-grounded curriculum, and the children's ministry team hands out take-home resources each week to help spark faith conversations at home.
Youth in middle and high school meet as two separate groups during the same hour. The younger youth class gathers in Room 208 under Marilyn Perkey's leadership, and the older youth class meets in Room 206 with Susan Brink. Both classes combine instruction, conversation, and small-group time to help students wrestle with how scripture meets their daily lives.
Adult classes fill the rest of the building. Room 104, also called the Parlor, is a mission-minded group of singles and married couples that gathers around interactive Bible study and a monthly covered-dish breakfast on the second Sunday. Room 102, the Chapel, hosts married couples and singles of various ages for round-table Bible study and shared fellowship. Room 132 is a close and supportive group of mature couples and singles who use the Adult Bible Series and stay involved in the church's outreach projects. Room 114 hosts the Reflections class, which meets after the 9 a.m. service to discuss the sermon and apply it to the days ahead. Chris Fulkerson, the Director of Discipleship, is the main point of contact for adult Sunday School.
Children, Nursery, and Family Faith
Children's ministry at FUMC Graham is shaped around the same intergenerational values that drive the rest of the church. The children's ministry team, led by Chris Fulkerson, plans a community-focused project each month. Recent projects have included baking and delivering cookies to local firefighters, building dry soup kits for the church's Little Free Pantry, and a fall workday to clean out the storage shed on campus. The Christmas mission involves delivering poinsettias to elder members of the congregation.
Every Sunday during both worship services and Discipleship Hour, the nursery in Room 121 is staffed with two childcare workers to keep proper ratios and to make sure no child is alone with a single caregiver. The nursery welcomes children from birth through age 5 and allows snacks, drinks, and diaper bags. McKinley Lax serves as the lead nursery caregiver, and high school students from the church also volunteer as assistants. Parents sign children in and out, and the nursery uses parents' mobile numbers to reach them if needed during the service. The whole children's ministry operates under a written Safe Sanctuaries Policy, with background checks and training for every volunteer working with children and youth.
For older children who stay in worship, red drawstring "Kid Kits" hang on coat racks in the back of both worship spaces. Each kit holds a children's bulletin, coloring pages, and crayons. Kid Kits are also available during the family Christmas Eve service.
Two major family events anchor the year. In the fall, a free community-wide Fall Festival lights up the parking lot with bounce houses, yard games, cotton candy, popcorn, hot dogs, trunk-or-treat, face painting, and a balloon artist. A free community Easter event features the Easter story, games, food, music, and an egg hunt by age group, moved indoors if weather requires. A week of Vacation Bible School in the summer includes high-energy songs, a Bible story, games, and snacks each day, closing with a family fun night of bounce houses, a waterslide, and cold snacks, and the following Sunday's worship shares the songs and lessons learned.
The family Christmas Eve service, held at 4 p.m. at Dinner Bell Farm in recent years, is led musically by the Praise Team and closes with a candlelit "Silent Night" (with glow sticks in children's hands for safety), followed by Christmas cookies and warm drinks around the fire circle.
Sunday Evenings for Youth
Middle and high schoolers have their own space on Sunday evenings. The youth ministry meets from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Room 206 and is open to all rising sixth graders through twelfth graders. The evening includes a light supper provided by members of the congregation, games, and Bible-based lessons geared to the age group. Sign-ups to provide a snack supper are coordinated online, and youth are woven into the church's broader life as volunteers, singers, and ministry leaders.
Music in Three Ensembles
Music undergirds both services. Doug Rayle serves as Director of Music and leads the Chancel Choir, which rehearses Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. in Room 103 (7 p.m. in summer). The Chancel Choir sings weekly at the traditional service and presents anthems drawn from many musical styles. During Advent and Easter, the choir joins other area choirs for cantatas or special performances that benefit local food kitchen ministries. Adults and youth are both welcomed.
The Praise Ringers handbell choir rehearses Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. in the sanctuary from September through May. The choir rings monthly in worship and plays for special Advent and Lent programs. Bells and chimes are used, and adults and youth are welcome.
The Well Praise Team rehearses Thursdays at 7 p.m. in Stafford Hall and performs weekly at The Well contemporary service. Led by Luc Stadler, the Well Worship Leader, the team includes a rotating group of musicians playing drums, guitar, bass, keyboard, strings, and brass, along with a team of vocalists. Singers and instrumentalists of all kinds are welcome to join.
Small Groups, Bible Study, and Prayer
FUMC Graham offers a wide web of small groups and classes. The LIFE Group program is the flagship. LIFE Groups are small formation groups of about 1.5 to 2 hours that include social time with snacks, a study, and prayer. Most meet weekly, usually in members' homes, sometimes at the church or on Zoom, and each group is led by a trained facilitator. LIFE groups organize around four movements: reaching UP through prayer, worship, and study; reaching IN through mutual care and encouragement; reaching OUT in mission and invitational witness; and reaching FORWARD by empowering others. Three intergenerational LIFE groups are listed publicly:
- Intergenerational Women, Tuesdays 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Mebane, led by Doris Sugg.
- Intergenerational Men, Wednesdays 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Graham, led by Eric Allshouse.
- Intergenerational Couples/Singles, Wednesdays 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Zoom, led by Chris and Kim Fulkerson.
A Friday Morning Bible Study gathers at 9 a.m. in Room 104 (the library) from September through June for prayer, fellowship, and Bible study using books by current Christian authors. The curriculum rotates around studies members select together.
Prayer also has its own weekly rhythms. A Prayer Breakfast meets Thursdays at 8 a.m. at Mex-Am Restaurant, 210 N. Main St. in Graham, where a dedicated group gathers to lift up prayer requests of need or celebration over breakfast. Twelve prayer teams, each with at least six members, pray for one of twelve prayer subjects each week, with prayer coordinators organizing schedules and requests. Anyone interested in joining a prayer team can contact Chris Fulkerson.
Interest Groups and Fellowship
Beyond Bible study and LIFE Groups, the church hosts several interest-driven fellowships. Dinner Dates is organized twice a year, in January for February through May and in August for September through December; groups of no more than eight people choose their own meeting times and locations around local restaurants. Financial Peace University is offered as a short-term study to walk members and neighbors through a Bible-based plan for money. United Women in Faith (formerly United Methodist Women) operates through three local Circles: Unity Circle meets the first Monday at 2 p.m. in Room 132, Faith Circle meets the first Monday at 10 a.m. in Room 132, and Friendship Circle meets the first Monday at 7 p.m. alternating between Zoom and in-person. The Circles form the backbone of missions for women and children in the church. Young In Heart is the church's fellowship for those 50 and over, planning trips to the mountains, museum visits, and other outings.
The church library sits in Room 104 and holds 2,645 books, 146 Small Group Sets, and 127 DVDs, covering toddlers through adults in fiction, nonfiction, and Bible study. A self-circulation system lets anyone with a library barcode check out books at any time, and the collection can be searched online through the church's web OPAC. The library team runs several programs each year to encourage young readers in both the play school and the church's children, and library volunteers also serve regularly at South Graham Elementary School.
Missions Beyond the Building
Missions and outreach are a third leg of church life at FUMC Graham, organized under the heading "Hearts of Service." In the fall of 2015 the church officially adopted South Graham Elementary School as part of the Congregations for Children (C4C) ministry of the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church, and volunteers from the church partner with the school through reading programs, supply drives, and library help. A Little Free Pantry, originally built by a church Girl Scout as her service project, sits on the front lawn and lets neighbors share or take needed food items at any time.
The Lamplighters are a small group of church handyfolk who take on home projects for neighbors in need of a little repair or maintenance, from raking leaves to building wheelchair ramps. A separate volunteer team visits elderly and infirm members at home to share the sacrament of Communion. A women's mission team sews and packs reusable hygiene kits for girls and women around the world. A crochet and knitting group produces prayer shawls for those in need of comfort.
FUMC Graham provides meeting space and light snacks to the Exchange Club of Alamance, which runs court-mandated classes for at-risk youth and their parents. The church has also been recognized as a Lighthouse Congregation within the North Carolina Conference, a designation that marks it as a particularly hospitable community for United Methodists whose own churches have closed or disaffiliated.
A Caregiver Support Group meets every fourth Tuesday from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. in the church parlor, supported by Alamance Eldercare to help those caring for aging loved ones navigate emotional and practical stress. FUMC Graham has also offered academic scholarships to members pursuing higher education since 1989, with applications opening in March and awards given each June on Graduation Sunday. The church points students toward the GBHEM scholarships of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry and the United Women in Faith scholarships of the North Carolina Conference.
FUMC Play School
Housed in the same building at 303 N. Main, FUMC Play School is a preschool ministry that serves close to 150 young students each year. Tracy Johnson serves as Director of Play School Ministry. The school's office hours are Monday through Friday mornings, 9 a.m. to noon, and the school phone is 336-227-9148. Children learn ABCs, basic vocabulary, music and song, and weekly chapel time, and the school regularly checks out library books from the church's library across the hall. Word of mouth has long been the school's main form of advertising, and applications for the coming school year open each spring.
Beliefs, Welcome, and Online Worship
At the heart of FUMC Graham is a stated mission "to make disciples of Jesus Christ through love and service." The church lists eight core values: being open to God's will, welcoming and accepting of all people, committed to forming disciples of all ages, intentional about celebrating and embracing diversity, biblically based in worship and teaching, under-girded by prayer, sacramental in celebrating baptisms and Communion, and passionately committed to hands-on mission that changes lives both near and far. Worship is open to all, Communion is open to anyone who wishes to receive it, and there is no expected dress code at either The Well or the traditional service.
For those who cannot make it in person, both services are livestreamed on Sunday mornings at 9 and 11, with weekly sermon videos posted to the church's YouTube channel. Online giving is available through a secure form, and donors can also give appreciated stock, make a Qualified Charitable Distribution from a traditional IRA, or include the church as a beneficiary in their estate plan; Pat Stuart, the Financial Secretary, can walk through the alternatives.
Office hours at the church are Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the main phone number is 336-226-4343. Visitors coming from Interstate 85/40 take exit 147 north to Graham (Hwy 87 N), enter the courthouse roundabout, and take the second exit onto N. Main Street. 303 N. Main sits on the right.