A New Chapter on Pine Street
On a single Sunday in 2023, the people of Lexington First United Methodist Church opened the doors of a new building at 514 South Pine Street and walked into a new chapter. The structure may have changed, but the story that began nearly two centuries ago on the Illinois prairie continues in the same spirit. The congregation now gathers in a modern, accessible space with plenty of parking near the main entrance, while looking forward to the generations of Methodists in McLean County who will still pass through these doors.
Nearly Two Centuries on the Prairie
Lexington First traces its roots to the 1830s, when Methodist circuit riders traveled through what would become McLean County, preaching the gospel and gathering scattered households into Christian community. By 1845, the growing Methodist body had built its first church house, becoming one of the earliest organized congregations in the county. As Lexington itself grew, so did the church: a larger building rose on Cedar Street in 1855, and a brick sanctuary followed in 1881, serving generations of worshipers. Over the decades, classrooms, a pipe organ, fellowship areas, and other improvements were added, each one a marker of a new generation finding a spiritual home there. Through all of it, the rhythm of the people has stayed the same: gathering to worship God, growing in faith, caring for one another, and serving their town.
A Blended Sunday Morning
Worship is the heart of the week at Lexington First. On Sundays at 9:00 AM, the congregation comes together for a service that lasts about sixty minutes and weaves together Scripture, prayer, music, and a message rooted in the Bible. The style is deliberately blended, drawing on both traditional and modern elements so that every generation has a way to participate. Some members sing from a choir or bell choir hymnal; others join in from a growing worship team. Either way, the room is full of people learning to follow Jesus in everyday life.
Visitors are told simply to come as they are. There is no dress code; jeans and business casual sit side by side in the pews. Greeters meet newcomers at the door, answer questions, and help them find their way, and no one is ever asked to stand, introduce themselves, or speak during the service. A short Children's Time during the service invites younger worshipers forward to engage with the morning's message in a way that fits them. Nursery care is available throughout the morning for children ages four and under, staffed by a paid nursery caregiver so that the youngest children have consistent care each Sunday.
Kids, Students, and the Next Generation
The church's mission is to be a witness for Jesus to the next generation of Christ followers, and the next generation is at the center of life at Lexington First. Children are welcomed in worship as full members of the church family, and the congregation is known for its warm embrace of wiggling, whispering, and the joyful noise that comes with little ones in the room. After worship at 10:00 AM, Sunday School gathers for kids, and Junior High and High School students meet at the same hour for friendship, conversation, and growing together in faith. Throughout the year, students also step out into the community to put their faith into action through service projects.
Small Groups for Every Season
Following Jesus, the church teaches, is better with other people, and Lexington First builds much of its week around that conviction. Immediately after Sunday worship, three adult Sunday School groups meet at 10:00 AM: a Men's Group, a Women's Group, and a Mixed Adult Group open to anyone looking for community, conversation, and a place to grow. Each one centers on studying Scripture, building relationships, and encouraging one another in faith.
Young adults have their own table as well. A Young Adult Small Group meets every other Wednesday at 7:00 PM, drawing both longtime churchgoers and people just beginning to explore faith. The group is a place to build real friendships, study Scripture together, pray for one another, and learn what it looks like to follow Jesus in everyday life. For those who want to serve, the church offers places to help through its Tech Team, Choir, Bell Choir, Worship Team, Hospitality team, and a rotating schedule of local service projects and community service days.
Beliefs Rooted in Grace
Lexington First is a Biblically-based church family seeking to love God and love its neighbors, and its teaching centers on the grace of God as the engine of the Christian life. The congregation believes in one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who created all things and continues to sustain and redeem creation. It confesses that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human, whose life, death on the cross, and bodily resurrection have defeated sin and death and opened the way to new life, and that the Holy Spirit is at work within believers, giving gifts for service and continuing to transform them into the likeness of Jesus.
The Bible is held as the inspired Word of God and the primary authority for belief and life, read prayerfully within the community of the church and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Every person is taught to be created in the image of God, deeply loved, yet broken by sin and in need of the grace, forgiveness, and restoration that come through Jesus Christ. Salvation is God's gift of grace, received through faith and understood as the beginning of a restored life in which God's grace keeps transforming those who receive it. The church is the Body of Christ, a community called to worship, grow as disciples, and participate in God's mission, with every follower having a place and a part to play.
A Wesleyan Way of Life
As a United Methodist congregation, Lexington First belongs to a worldwide denomination rooted in the eighteenth-century renewal movement led by John and Charles Wesley. The Wesleyan tradition shapes everything from how the church talks about grace to how it orders its life together. At the center is a deep confidence in a God whose grace reaches toward people before they ever reach toward God: prevenient grace that seeks, justifying grace that saves, and sanctifying grace that continues the work of transformation throughout a believer's life. Methodism has always understood the Christian life as growing in holiness of heart and life, allowing God's grace to shape both who a person is and how they live.
Methodism is also connectional, and Lexington First is part of a network of churches and ministries in Illinois, across the country, and around the world, sharing resources, supporting mission and ministry, and developing leaders. That larger family shapes the congregation without replacing the very local calling it lives out week by week. The early Methodists cared for people experiencing poverty, visited prisoners, educated children, cared for the sick, opposed injustice, and shared the good news of Jesus wherever they could. Lexington First seeks to do the same: to be a church deeply rooted in Scripture, dependent on God's grace, open to the work of the Holy Spirit, committed to growing as disciples of Jesus, and actively loving and serving its neighbors.
Visiting Lexington First
Sunday morning at Lexington First begins at 9:00 AM at 514 South Pine Street in Lexington. The building is wheelchair accessible, with accessible parking near the main entrance and a team ready to help anyone who needs assistance on arrival. Plenty of parking is available, and the greeters are easy to find. Services last about an hour and include a Children's Time; nursery care for children ages four and under is provided throughout the morning.
Those who would like a preview before coming can watch recent messages anytime on the church's YouTube channel. Giving is available online, and anyone wanting to plan a visit can fill out a short form to be contacted by a member of the team. Whether someone has followed Jesus for years, is returning to church, or is simply curious about what it looks like to follow Jesus together, the invitation at Lexington First is the same: there is a place here, and the doors are open.