A Faithful Witness on Church Street Since 1840
First United Methodist Church of Lenoir sits on a single block of uptown Lenoir, North Carolina, bounded by Church Street, Ashe Avenue, and the surrounding side streets. The brick sanctuary, the education wing, the Christian Life Center, and a tucked-away columbarium garden share one campus at 309 Church Street NW, and the same congregation has been meeting on or near that corner for more than 180 years. Members call the church simply First Church, and its presence on the town square is part of the fabric of Caldwell County.
The congregation gathers around the words "Glorify God as we mold, nurture, and serve as disciples of Jesus Christ." Sunday worship is traditional and centered in the historic Sanctuary, with choirs, handbells, and a full music program woven through the service. Around that weekly anchor, the church runs a preschool, a scouting program that has produced Eagle Scouts, a senior fellowship, an after-school arts program for children, and a community meal called Room at the Table. First Church belongs to the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church and considers itself an open and friendly community of Christians who put their faith into action by serving neighbors in Lenoir and beyond.
Sunday Morning at First Church
Sunday is the heart of the week at First Church. Christian formation for all ages starts at 9:15 a.m. with Sunday School for adults and Godly Play for elementary-age children, meeting on the third floor and youth wing of the Education Building. Nursery care is available for infants through age five during both the Sunday School hour and the worship service.
At 10:30 a.m. the congregation gathers in the Sanctuary for a single combined worship service. The service is traditional, filled with hymns, choral anthems, and a sermon rooted in Scripture. Music is led by Director of Music Ministries Jonathan Beal and organist Rebecca (Becky) Poteat. The Sanctuary is a beautiful space full of stained-glass light, hard woods, soft cushions, and the sound of organ and choir, and the room is at its best when it is full of the people of God.
The service is livestreamed on YouTube for those who cannot attend in person. Visitors who drive in for the first time are directed to park in the upper lot and follow the covered breezeway down the ramp to the double doors; the accessible entrance is near the church offices. A brief Prayer Group meets in the Parlor at 11:45 a.m. after the service for anyone who wants to stay and pray.
A Building with a Long Memory
First Church has a detailed written history that the congregation is proud of, and the building itself tells much of the story. The congregation traces its beginnings to 1840, when James C. Harper deeded Fairfield Chapel, a log structure on Beall Street with an attached cemetery, to the trustees of the Lenoir Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. That cemetery is still there.
By 1845 the congregation had outgrown the chapel and decided to build. William Davenport gave a lot at the corner of Church Street and what is now Kirkwood Street, and the first service was held in the new building on December 12, 1846, under pastors Thomas W. Postell and Joseph Puett. The original sanctuary had two entry doors, one for men and one for women, with the sexes seated on opposite sides. A remodel in 1896 to 1898 added new pews, improved lighting, and a heating plant.
The present Sunday sanctuary was begun on May 16, 1917, when the first brick was laid by Mrs. Rosannah (Uriah) Moore Cloyd, then 89 years old, blind, and the only surviving member who had been present at the 1846 service. The cornerstone was laid in September of that year with a time capsule placed behind it. The total cost, fully furnished, was $32,000. The first service in the new sanctuary was held on Easter Sunday, March 31, 1918, with Rev. D. M. Litaker as minister. The bell that once rang out on Sunday mornings to call people to worship still resides in the dome above the nave; after a 1970 fire it has never rung again.
Subsequent decades added the parsonage next door (1920), the education building and chapel (1949), the Fellowship Hall addition (1959 to 1961), and the Christian Life Center (2003). The 1968 merger that formed The United Methodist Church from the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren made this congregation First United Methodist Church of Lenoir. In 2018, on April 15, the church marked the centennial of the 1918 sanctuary. The history room at the church keeps copies of One Hundred Fifty Years of Methodism on Church Street in Town of Lenoir, by Genoise H. Davidson, for anyone who wants to dig deeper.
Music and the Arts
Music is woven into the identity of First Church. Director of Music Ministries Jonathan Beal, who grew up in Lenoir, graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in music education in 1993, and received the Maxine Swalin Award for Outstanding Music Educator of North Carolina in 2011, leads the program. He also directs the band at Heritage Christian School in Hudson and teaches at the Harper School for the Performing Arts.
The Chancel Choir is the backbone of the music ministry. It is a dedicated, fun group that loves God and loves to sing, performing both contemporary and traditional music and occasionally jazzing things up. The choir rehearses on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary and sings at the Sunday worship service.
The Chancel Handbell Choir plays five octaves of bells with ten ringers and is a very talented group that also knows how to have fun. A Praise Band practices Tuesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. and supports worship in the Christian Life Center. Wesley Winds, an instrumental ensemble, rehearses on Wednesday evenings as well.
Two music programs focus on younger musicians. CAST (Creating and Singing Together) is an after-school arts program for children that meets Wednesdays from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the Christian Life Center, with activities in music, theatre, dance, crafts, and playground time. Each semester closes with a showcase in worship. Groovin' is a music program for after-school kids that gathers on Wednesdays at 3:00 p.m. Both programs are directed by Tara Blake, the church's Director of Children's Ministry, Youth and Media.
Children, Youth, and the Preschool
First Church takes its work with children seriously. The Nursery, for children from birth through age five, offers free play, snack time, a Bible lesson, and a craft in a Safe Sanctuary compliant environment staffed by trained employees and volunteers. Sunday School offerings include the Wesley Friendship Class, the June Greene Class, and the Adult Fellowship Class, all meeting at 10:00 a.m. on the third floor of the Education Building. The Adult Fellowship Class, with members ranging in age from 65 to 96, uses the Adult Bible Studies series and shares coffee, snacks, and occasional Bojangles' breakfasts. Godly Play is offered for elementary children during the school year in the youth wing on level two.
First Church Youth, also called FCY, is the church's ministry for students in grades 6 through 12. Led by Pastor Dan Money and Tara Blake, FCY meets every other Sunday evening from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Staples Center, with the entrance to the right of the doors going into the CLC. Recent activities have included a picnic at Price's Park, an outing to Bo's Family Entertainment, the Speedpark at Concord Mills, snow tubing, Pi Day lock-ins, firewood splitting for local families, and a weekend at Lake Junaluska. Vacation Bible School is held in July, with four days of music, Bible lessons, crafts, videos, and play for children in the community.
Robbins Preschool is a weekday early-childhood program for children ages three through five, operating Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to noon, September through May, following the Caldwell County School calendar. The preschool shares the lower level of the Christian Life Center with the church's gym, and it takes advantage of both an enclosed playground and an indoor gymnasium. Three large rooms are set aside for playtime and art, a group time room, and an Eric Carle-inspired "Very Hungry Caterpillar" Snack Room. Children are not divided by age but are grouped together to learn from one another and develop at their own pace. Director Erika Murphy, a graduate of Charleston Southern University, oversees the program as lead teacher and serves as an advocate for children in foster care. Enrichments have included Tumblemania, yoga, French, science classes, and music, and the preschool shares a daily photo journal on its Facebook page for parents and family.
Scouting and the Scout Hall
First Church is home to one of the most visible scouting programs in the area. Boy Scout Troop 254 meets every Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. in the Scout Hall under the Sanctuary. The troop has a long tradition of outdoor adventure, with activities that include backpacking, hiking, summer camp at Camp Bud Schiele, a homemade horse project, a giant sling shot, first aid competitions, and Eagle Scout advancements. Cub Scout Pack 254 meets every Monday night at 6:30 p.m. in the same Scout Hall, with activities ranging from Polar Plunge fundraisers for Special Olympics to knot tying, repelling, camping, and outdoor cooking. The scouting program has produced many Eagle Scouts over the years and is part of how First Church serves families who do not attend the church themselves.
Local and Global Missions
Putting faith into action in the community is central to the congregation's identity. Local outreach includes Room at the Table, a community meal held on the fourth Saturday of each month from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Christian Life Center. The Backpack Program meets monthly during the school year to pack about sixty weekend food packages for Caldwell County students. The Christmas in July program collects donations to purchase gifts for local families in need during the holidays. The Firewood Ministry provides firewood and heat for Caldwell County residents. The church paid for a home for a needy family in Caldwell County through Habitat for Humanity in 2022 and helped build it in 2023. Food is gathered regularly for CCC&TI students who lack funds for meals and for Yokefellow, a local food ministry, and the church donated two microwaves to the college so students can prepare the food collected.
Global missions have taken the congregation further afield. Members support Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child each year, filling gift-filled shoeboxes for children around the world. In the winter of 2021, donations funded wells built through Living Water International in Guatemala. Mission trips have included building a totem park in Klawock, Alaska, in the summer of 2017, building an outdoor pergola in Sturgeon Falls, Ontario, in the summer of 2013, and working with Habitat for Humanity to build a home in Guatemala in the summer of 2010.
Young at Heart and the Wider Community
Young at Heart is the church's fellowship for older adults, also called Caring Hearts, gathering for food, conversation, and shared ministry. Fabric Friends, a quilting group, meets weekly to create pieces that support the church's outreach. On Mondays the church hosts a Bible study at 2:00 p.m. focused on the history and beliefs of Methodism, with sessions alternating between Methodism Bible Study and Methodism 101. On Thursdays a Luke Bible Study meets at 10:00 a.m. Faith Lift, a monthly gathering, meets in the Christian Life Center at 5:00 p.m. on the first Wednesday. The Lenoir Rotary Club uses the Christian Life Center for its weekly Friday lunch at noon.
Walking the Building
The campus is laid out so that almost every part of a visitor's Sunday morning can happen without going outdoors. The Education Building, also called the Office Building, can be entered from Church Street under a porte cochere, with a ramp leading down to the door. Inside, the offices are along a hallway decorated with a painting of Christ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, photos of members, and photos of pastors through the years. An old clock that once hung in the narthex between the doors ticks loudly from a wall in the office, an heirloom the staff has chosen to leave unwound. The building holds the church library, the choir room, the Staples Center (home of the youth group), children's music and Sunday School classrooms, and a basement youth hangout.
The Sanctuary, with its stained glass, hard wood, and organ, hosts the Sunday service as well as weddings, funerals, and Easter Sunrise Service. The Christian Life Center (CLC) is the fellowship hall, gymnasium, and worship center where many of the church's social events take place, including Room at the Table, the early-service worship area, youth group, the nursery, open gym on Sunday evenings, Robbins Preschool on weekdays, Praise Band practice, CAST, and Faith Lift. Behind the Sanctuary, the Columbarium is a secluded garden and the final resting place for many members, and it is also where some of the church's most reflective events take place.
What the Church Believes
First Church is grounded in historic Christian teaching, summarized in the Apostles' Creed. The congregation affirms God as Trinity, three persons in one, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and uses the language of the historic creeds to speak about a God who is transcendent and immanent, omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. Members believe that human beings are created in the image of God and that each person can choose to accept or reject a relationship with God.
Salvation is understood as a gift that cannot be earned. The congregation teaches, "We're saved by grace alone through faith alone." That grace, an unmerited, unconditional, and unending love, takes the initiative in God's offer of wholeness, and the human response is to entrust oneself to it. The teaching reflects the Methodist heritage that descends from John Wesley and the Protestant Reformers.
The church's mission statement is "Glorify God as we mold, nurture, and serve as disciples of Jesus Christ." That mission is lived out in traditional Sunday worship, in the many choirs and ensembles that fill the Sanctuary, in the preschool and scouting programs that use the Christian Life Center, and in the regular stream of food, firewood, water, and shelter that members share with neighbors in Caldwell County and beyond.
Giving and Staying Connected
Members and friends support the work of First Church through online giving using the Tithe.ly platform, through the Tithe.ly mobile app, and through cash and check offerings collected during Sunday worship. The online form allows donors to direct gifts to specific funds such as memorials or the building fund, and recurring giving is available.
Visitors and members can keep up with the congregation through the church's newsletter, its online articles (with categories such as From the Pastor, Announcements, and Community), its Facebook page, and its YouTube channel, where Sunday worship is livestreamed and archived. The church office is open during regular weekday hours and can be reached at (828) 754-4922 or ourchurch@fumc-lenoir.com.