First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge sits in the heart of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, not only geographically but also spiritually, on a gentle rise along Oak Ridge Turnpike a few minutes from the center of town. The congregation that worships there today began as a loose gathering of displaced Methodists who arrived in the new, secret government-owned town during World War II, and the church that grew from those wartime services now offers two very different Sunday morning experiences, a long-running recovery ministry, a licensed preschool, a senior day program, and a busy calendar of food, mission, and care ministries that reach into nearly every corner of Anderson County.
Two Sunday Mornings Under One Roof
On any given Sunday at First Church, two sanctuaries are open at the same time. The first service of the day, at 8:45 a.m., and the late service, at 11:00 a.m., gather in the main Sanctuary for traditional worship that follows the ancient pattern of the Church: prayer, praise, and learning through music, the reading of Scripture, a sermon, and the celebration of Holy Communion. Organ music and traditional hymns lead the singing, several Scripture readings frame the sermon, and the pastors and choir wear robes as a sign of reverence for the Word.
At 11:00 a.m., in the Multipurpose Room added in 1966, the contemporary service takes shape around a live band of guitars, drums, keyboard, and vocals. The atmosphere is casual, the lyrics roll on the screens, and people wander in with coffee in hand. The sermon in both services digs deep into Scripture and its relevance for daily life, and the same open table is set at Communion: anyone seeking to respond to God's gracious offer of love is invited to come forward, receive a piece of bread, dip it in the cup, and eat. A gluten-free option is always available, and the baskets beside the Communion stations support the church's Community Assistance Fund, which helps neighbors in crisis with utilities, gas, and basic needs.
Once a month, usually on the second Sunday of every other month, a Celtic Worship service takes over the Sanctuary at 5:00 p.m. The ecumenical gathering draws on the contemplative traditions of the Celtic church for a quieter, more meditative experience of prayer and song.
Children, Communion, and the Welcome Pad
First Kids Worship is offered for children in kindergarten through third grade during both 11:00 a.m. services throughout the school year, August through May. On the first Sunday of each month, which is Communion Sunday, children stay in worship with their families so they can experience the tradition with the rest of the congregation. Nursery care for children from six weeks through age five is offered during every service and during the Sunday School hour. Ushers, greeters, and a host at the Vienna Road Welcome Center are ready to point first-time families to the First Kids check-in and to the classrooms.
Visitors are not asked to stand up or be singled out. The pews hold attendance pads, and after the service a coffee-and-donut stop called the Donut Hole, in the Vienna Road Welcome Center, gives newcomers a low-key way to learn about Sunday School classes and to meet a few friendly faces.
A Church Born in a Secret City
First United Methodist Church began as a loose gathering of displaced Methodists who had relocated to the new, secret government-owned town of Oak Ridge in 1943 and 1944. Beginning in October of 1944 they were served by a young pastor named Robert Lundy, who led early Sunday meetings in the town's movie theater. The worshipers would transform the room into a worship space, then reset it before the Sunday matinee began. Most of the founding members were young people in their twenties and thirties, drawn to Oak Ridge by the mysterious wartime work that would later be known as the Manhattan Project. Some of those early worshipers stayed in Oak Ridge after the war and formed the backbone of First UMC for decades to come.
After the war ended, the U.S. government allotted space for each of the church communities to build. First UMC completed most of the present building in 1952, a date that still appears on the cornerstone beneath the Memorial Garden. The Multipurpose Room was added in 1966 to expand classroom and fellowship space. In 2008, Trinity United Methodist Church on the west side of Oak Ridge merged with First UMC, allowing the combined congregation to grow stronger. The Trinity Center was sold in 2019 to a Hispanic congregation that had been using the facility.
In 2022 the congregation devoted many months to personal testimony, dialogue, study, and prayer around a single question: whether to affiliate with the Reconciling Ministries Network, an organization working for the full inclusion of all people in the United Methodist Church. In November and December of 2022 the membership voted with a 90 percent approval to become a Reconciling Congregation, committing the church to a welcome that knows no boundaries of age, race, ethnicity, culture, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, economic condition, physical ability, or mental ability. That welcome is now written into the very first words of the church's mission statement.
A 49-Rank Pipe Organ, a Live Band, and a Choir That Tours
Music is one of the most visible gifts First Church shares with its city. The Nave organ in the Sanctuary, built in 1984 by the M.P. Möller Company of Hagerstown, Maryland, has four manuals, 49 ranks, and 2,795 pipes, and was given a major console renovation by the Milnar Organ Company of Eagleville, Tennessee, in 2007. A 1957-and-1972 M.P. Möller organ, expanded in 2006 and 2014, was installed in the chapel in 2025. A new digital control system lets organists save personalized stop combinations under their own names, a small luxury that makes the 41-year-old instrument feel brand new every Sunday.
Organist and Choirmaster Joshua Sumter has held the position since 2017, following a long line of resident organists that includes Barbara Thompson, who served from 1952 to 1973 and helped introduce pipe organ music to the new sanctuary. The Parish Adult Choir, about 35 singers strong, rehearses on Wednesday evenings and leads worship at the 11:00 a.m. traditional services. The choir has performed at the Holston Annual Conference, the Tennessee American Choral Directors Association Conference, the Washington National Cathedral, and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, and has commissioned anthems by David L. Brunner, Austin Lovelace, Alfred Fedak, and Alice Parker.
The Schola Cantorum, a small ensemble of six to twelve singers, takes its name from a choir of highly trained singers formed by Pope Gregory I in medieval Rome and sings more demanding repertoire, including Gregorian chant. The FUMC Carillons handbell choir rehearses on Wednesday evenings and rings three- to five-octave repertoire. An orchestra, open to youth and adults who play band or orchestra instruments, plays in traditional services a few times a year with only a handful of rehearsals. A Festival and Christmas Choir presents a major concert each season with a full orchestra, an option for singers from any church in the Oak Ridge area who love to sing but cannot commit to a weekly schedule.
For children, the music ministry begins early. Children's choirs for PreK through first grade and second through fourth grade meet on Tuesday afternoons at 4:00 p.m., learning music fundamentals through games and other engaging activities, and they sing on the first Sunday of each month during the choral year. At 11:00 a.m. the contemporary band takes over the Multipurpose Room. The First Church Contemporary Worship Team envisions Spirit-filled worship that draws hearts to Christ, unites the community in praise, and glorifies God with excellence and authenticity, and its team of paid musicians and volunteers leads the late service and contributes to services like Maundy Thursday.
First Steps Preschool and the Keystone Adult Day Program
Two of the most concrete ministries of First United Methodist Church happen Monday through Friday inside the same building as Sunday worship. First Steps Child Development Center is a year-round, state-licensed preschool serving children from six weeks old through age five. The program grew out of a nursery school that the church started in 1964, merged in 2001 into a single licensed preschool, and has held a three-star rating from the Tennessee Department of Human Services ever since. The classrooms run from Baby Steps for infants through Pre-K 3, the last of which is a kindergarten-readiness year. Monthly tuition rates vary by age and number of days, with a half-day program from 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and a full-day program from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuition schedules, a school calendar, a parent handbook, and information on car-seat safety and kindergarten readiness are available to families who want to learn more.
Just down the hall, the Keystone Adult Day Program offers a daily haven for older adults in the community. The program provides a structured day of activities, meals, and fellowship for participants who might otherwise spend their days alone, and gives caregivers the respite they need to continue working or caring for their own families.
First Recovery: A 12-Step Ministry at the Heart of the Church
One of the newest and most visible ministries of First Church is First Recovery, a Christ-centered 12-step program dedicated to supporting people struggling with substance misuse and addiction, along with their families. The program embodies the love of God by offering the practical help and hope that people in recovery need to rebuild their lives.
First Recovery meets five days a week. On Tuesday evenings at 5:00 p.m., a men's open share group gathers in the Youth Loft. On Wednesday at noon, a women's open share group meets in the same space. Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m., the weekly speaker meeting brings different perspectives from a range of recovery pathways and includes a time of reflection and prayer in the Fellowship Hall. Thursday evenings at 5:00 p.m., a separate group in Room 207 is set aside for family and friends of people caught in unhealthy compulsions. All of the meetings are open to anyone who would like to attend.
Beyond the meetings, First Recovery offers recovery coaching, peer support, referrals to treatment and sober living, anti-stigma training, advocacy, 12-step studies, and connection to community resources, and it works to coordinate recovery-friendly social events. The program has been recognized as a Certified Recovery Congregation in Tennessee, and the staff includes Certified Peer Recovery Specialists trained and recognized by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
Food Ministries: From Wednesday Dinners to a Box Truck to Deer Lodge
Food has always been at the center of the church's outreach. The community meal ministry prepares 180 hot meals every Wednesday, complete with a piece of fruit, home-baked cookies, and a granola bar for the next day's breakfast. The work is done by a team of about 40 volunteers, some of whom serve every week, others once a month, and the cost of the food is covered not by the church budget but by a grant from the Y-12 Federal Credit Union and other external grants.
Food for Kids has been going on for almost twenty years. Once a month, volunteers from First Church and other local congregations pack bags of healthy food for at-risk children in Oak Ridge public schools. The food, supplied by Second Harvest Food Bank, is delivered to the schools monthly during the school year. The Thursday Student Lunch ministry is a different rhythm: when Oak Ridge High School is in session, students with off-campus lunch are welcome to walk over to the church for a meal prepared by church volunteers, with a suggested donation of four dollars. The menu rotates through chicken nuggets and mac and cheese, ravioli and garlic toast, chicken pasta and rolls, and tacos and nachos, with food-truck favorites on rare fifth Thursdays.
Every Friday, a church team drives a box truck loaded with food down to the Morgan-Scott Project in Deer Lodge, Tennessee, after collecting from the Second Harvest Rescue Food Truck earlier in the week. The food reaches between 85 and 100 families each week in two Tennessee counties where poverty levels run higher than 20 percent. First Church has been a partner congregation of the Ecumenical Storehouse since 1984, and a church team picks up donations on the first weekend of each month to help stock the storehouse, which accepts, stores, and distributes household goods to families in need through a coalition of eleven area congregations.
The Shoppes: Christmas and Summer
For more than fifty years, First Church has provided Christmas toys, food, and personal hygiene products to families in need within the community. Referred by the Anderson County Resource Center, the Blossom Center, Clinton Middle School, First Recovery, the Free Medical Clinic, MIST-Ridgeview, Oak Ridge Family Resource, TORCH, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Anderson County, families are welcomed as guests of the congregation for a day of gift-giving, food, and fellowship. The Christmas Shoppe serves a minimum of 50 families and 200 individuals, providing gifts for children, items the children can choose for their parents, items the parents can choose for their children, food, hygiene items, socks, underwear, books, blankets, and wrapping paper. A new Summer Shoppe was launched in 2025 to help fill the gap left when Tennessee scaled back its summer food program. The Summer Shoppe focuses on middle-school-age children who are more likely to be home alone while parents are working, and provides a month of food, hygiene items, and outdoor toys for each family served.
Children, Youth, and a Long Confirmation Journey
Children's and Family Ministries begin long before a child can read. The nursery, called Little Embers for the youngest children and Little Sparks for ages three to five, is staffed by background-checked, Safe Sanctuaries-trained caregivers, and is open from 8:30 a.m. until noon every Sunday. During the Sunday School hour at 10:00 a.m., God's Fireworks gathers kindergartners through third graders in Room 206, and Fiery Disciples gathers fourth through sixth graders in Room 204. The instruction is grounded in the United Methodist tradition, with a strong emphasis on the grace and love of God in Christ Jesus for every child.
Confirmation at First Church now begins in seventh grade, a change from the traditional sixth-grade year, partly because of the pandemic and partly because the church believes slightly older students can engage the theological topics more deeply. The year includes weekly class sessions during the Sunday School hour, time with an adult mentor, a weekend retreat, two one-day retreats, worship opportunities with other congregations, and a faith buddy for each confirmand. The year culminates in a church-wide dinner and a Confirmation Worship Service.
First Youth, for seventh through twelfth graders, meets on Sunday afternoons from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. in the Youth Loft above the Fellowship Hall, with a Sunday School class at 10:00 a.m. in the same space. The goal is for students to leave youth group with biblical literacy and a strong prayer life, and questions are always welcome. Next Gen Ministries Director Billy Price, a long-time member of the staff, oversees both the children's and youth ministries.
Adults: From the Branches Class to the Out and About Pickleball Group
Adult formation at First Church takes many shapes. Six Sunday School classes meet at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings, each with its own personality. The Aldersgate Class, meeting for more than 45 years in Room 203, is geared toward older adults and studies the Bible in light of social concerns through group discussion, teacher lectures, and outside speakers. The Branches Class in Room 205 is an inclusive, progressive, and interactive forum, often volunteer-led, for adults roughly 50 and upward. The Fellowship Class in the Fellowship Hall is fellowship-driven and has met since the 1950s. The Open Door Class in Room 113 is multi-generational but tends toward young families, exploring how biblical teachings interweave with social issues, family dynamics, and personal spiritual growth. The New Beginnings Class in Room 207 welcomes adults, couples, unmarried people, parents, and empty nesters, and emphasizes the study of the Bible through the lens of spiritual formation. The Koinonia Class in Room 115 is geared toward older adults, with weekly fellowship opportunities.
A second Koinonia Bible Study Class meets on Wednesdays from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. in Room 207, and a Centering Prayer group gathers each Tuesday at noon at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church on Tulane Avenue. Full Spectrum, the young-adult small group for people in their twenties and thirties, meets for discussion in the library on Sunday mornings at 10:00 a.m. and is in the process of launching Out and About social circles, including a Monday night pickleball meetup at the Oak Ridge High School tennis courts and Thursday evening social circles to be announced. The Senior Adult Luncheon meets on the third Wednesday of each month from September through May, drawing up to 90 guests for spiritual formation, fellowship, and programs from across the greater Oak Ridge area. Willing Workers, a group of volunteers, helps members who still live at home with yard work and small household chores.
Stephen Ministry and Other Forms of Pastoral Care
First United Methodist Church has maintained a vibrant Stephen Ministry program since 1990 and currently supports more than a dozen Stephen Ministers and Leaders. Stephen Ministry is a non-denominational program that trains and supports lay people to provide distinctively Christian, one-on-one care to those experiencing a significant life challenge: the loss of a loved one, separation or divorce, a job crisis, a major medical condition, a difficult life transition, a spiritual crisis, the birth or adoption of a child, or the feeling of being overwhelmed by life. Each Stephen Minister completes more than 50 hours of training, makes confidential, one-on-one, Christian-centered visitations, supplements pastoral visitations to hospitalized members, conducts in-home holy communion with homebound members and with residents of Canterfield, and distributes Journeying Through Grief booklets to people who have recently lost a loved one.
The church also offers a Grief Support group, typically offered three times a year, for anyone experiencing grief from the recent or not-so-recent death of a loved one. The meetings are relaxed and informal, last up to an hour and a half, and combine short talks and printed materials with open discussion. A separate grief support group for parents and grandparents who have lost children meets on the second Monday of each month from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.
Around Easter and Christmas each year, a Holiday Visitation team brings flowers to homebound members of the congregation, a small gesture that reminds people who can no longer make it to church that they remain vital members of the community. Stephen Ministers, Willing Workers, the Holiday Visitation team, and the pastors together form the network of Congregational Care that walks with people from baptism through end-of-life care.
Mission Beyond Oak Ridge
First Church has sent 76 humanitarian mission teams into the world. They have served in five countries: Nicaragua, Honduras, Haiti, Panama, and the United States. Teams have performed construction work, taught Bible School, taught sewing, held medical, health, and vision clinics, taught children about oral health, taught community gardening, built stoves, performed pastoral training, and engaged in disaster recovery, including reconstruction and the assembly of disaster relief kits. They have also performed facility and grounds maintenance at UMCOR facilities, and, perhaps most importantly, developed strong relationships while serving as the hands and feet of Christ in the world. Teams typically deploy in the spring and fall.
At home, the Social Concerns Committee oversees the congregation's efforts to address social justice issues in the church, denomination, community, state, nation, and world. The committee focuses on three primary issues. First, living into the church's Reconciling Ministries welcome statement by working to make First Church more welcoming to LGBTQIA+ people, offering educational opportunities, representing the church at Knoxville Pride, sending a liaison to PFLAG, and supporting safe havens for battered and abused LGBTQIA+ people. Second, overseeing a Beloved Community: Local Solutions to America's Divisions grant in partnership with the Oak Ridge/Anderson County NAACP and High Places Community Church, to bridge racial divisions in the community. Third, sponsoring Coffee, Dessert, and Difficult Conversations, church-wide events that encourage Christian dialogue on hard topics.
The church also maintains a long list of organizations it supports financially each year through its monthly special offerings, including Casa of the Tennessee Heartland, the Child Advocacy Center, the Blossom Center for Childhood Excellence, the Family Resource Center, Girls Inc., Wesley House Community Center, the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge, the Morgan-Scott Project, the Ecumenical Storehouse, Family Promise, Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County, TORCH, the YWCA of Anderson County, the Boys and Girls Club, several Honduras mission initiatives, Africa ELI-South Sudan, Hope for the Children of Sudan, and many more.
Giving, Endowments, and a Building That Never Sleeps
The church budget is split among six major categories: facilities, 30 percent; worship and music, 23 percent; mission and outreach, 15 percent; administration and office, 15 percent; Christian formation, 12 percent; and congregational care, 5 percent. Giving is welcomed online, by mail, by bank bill pay, through electronic funds transfer on the fifth of each month, by texting FUMCOR and a dollar amount to 73256, and through a wide range of named endowments, including the Missions Endowment, the Ministerial Scholarship Endowment, the Adult Music Program Endowment, the Withrow Youth Choir Endowment, the Youth Ministries Endowment, the William Mooney Pastoral Visitation Endowment, the Rebecca Taylor Scholarship Endowment, the Jacobson Scholarship Endowment, the Joan O'Steen Endowment for Veterans and Their Families, the Joan O'Steen Endowment for Women and Children in Domestic Violence, the Wilson Mission Endowment, and many more.
Each year the Scholarship Committee administers three named scholarships for Oak Ridge students: the Bruce and Phyllis Jacobson Scholarship, the Rebecca Taylor Scholarship, and the Jeannette P. Reynolds Memorial Scholarship. Applications are due by April 15 each year and awards are announced by June 30.
The First Church building itself is one of the most striking assets of the ministry. In addition to worship, the building houses small groups, studies, meetings, rehearsals, meals, the community meal distribution, the First Steps Child Development Center, and the Keystone Adult Day Program, and the sanctuary's organ, choir, and acoustics draw musicians from across the region. The building has retained its original beauty even as it has been updated for the rhythms of twenty-first-century ministry.
A Welcome That Names Every Boundary
At the heart of First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge is a single sentence, repeated in almost every page of the church's communications: At First Church, we embrace Jesus' message that God loves and accepts every person. Therefore, we welcome all to share in the life and ministry of this community of faith. Our welcome knows no boundaries of age, race, ethnicity, culture, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, economic condition, physical ability or mental ability. That sentence is not a marketing line but a covenant the congregation voted into its life in 2022, after a year of testimony, dialogue, study, and prayer. It is the welcome that meets every visitor in the pew, every family at the nursery check-in, every neighbor at the Wednesday community meal, and every person who walks through the doors of First Recovery on a Tuesday, a Wednesday, or a Thursday looking for hope.