In the village of Liverpool, New York, a brick sanctuary on Oswego Street has anchored Methodist worship for two centuries. Liverpool First United Methodist Church traces its roots to 1820, when eleven people formed a "Methodist Society" in Liverpool and began meeting in homes. Today the congregation continues to gather at 604 Oswego Street for Sunday worship, midweek music, women's Bible study, youth fellowship, and an array of hands-on outreach that reaches from its own Fellowship Hall to the West Side of Syracuse and a working farm in LaFayette.
Worship on Sunday Morning
The church's principal weekly service is held on Sunday at 11:00 am at 604 Oswego Street, Liverpool, NY 13088. Worship centers on prayer, preaching, and giving, with music that the church describes as a blend of long-held traditions and newer expressions of praise. Sermons are built on the point of each biblical text the preachers work through, and the congregation has come to expect expository preaching rooted in Scripture. Children's moments are woven into the service, and Children's Church is offered after a portion of the gathering for younger kids.
Visitors are asked to enter the building at 10:45 through the back parking lot entrance on the north side of the building. Greeters meet people at the door and help them find their way to the Sanctuary, Fellowship Hall, restrooms, and the children's areas.
What First-Time Visitors Should Know
The staff and greeters make a point of welcoming newcomers, and the parking layout is designed with them in mind. Reserved guest parking is available near the front door, and additional spaces sit behind and to the side of the church. Ushers distribute large-print bulletins, hearing assistance devices, and Braille hymnals, and the atmosphere aims to be relaxed rather than stiff.
Dress runs the range of business formal to business casual, though the church is more concerned with a visitor's presence than with their wardrobe. A family that arrives with infants can use the Infant and Nursing Mother's Room when needed. During the service, families are encouraged to remain together and worship side by side, with materials available to help children follow along.
What the Church Believes
Liverpool First United Methodist Church holds the historic Christian affirmations of the United Methodist Church, drawing its statement of beliefs from the UMC Book of Discipline. The congregation confesses belief in the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; in salvation through Jesus Christ; in the activity of the Holy Spirit in the individual believer and in the community of believers; in the kingdom of God as a present reality that will be perfectly fulfilled in a future time; in the authority of Scripture; and in the oneness of the Church in Christ Jesus.
On top of those core affirmations, the church embraces three Wesleyan emphases. Prevenient grace is the divine love that surrounds and moves people toward repentance and faith. Justifying grace is God's pardoning love extended through Jesus Christ. Sanctifying grace is the work of the Holy Spirit that nurtures believers in the knowledge and love of God and in love for their neighbors. Salvation is understood to bear fruit in good works through witnessing, mission, and service in the world.
The congregation lives within the larger United Methodist connection, the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States, with an interlocking structure of conferences and a mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Two Centuries on Oswego Street
The building itself tells the long story. After meeting in homes and then in a shared Union building in Johnson Park, the Methodists built a new church on Oswego Street in 1856, the front brick portion of the present sanctuary. A renovation in 1872 and 1873 added meeting rooms, a library, and a kitchen and dining room, and brought eight stained-glass windows into the sanctuary and narthex, each crowned with a religious symbol: the Burning Bush, Descending Dove, Chalice, Ark of the Covenant, Lamb of God, Crown, Open Bible, and the Cross.
An Educational Wing was added in 1952 and enlarged ten years later into the Fellowship Hall. The sanctuary was widened at the same time, and two more stained-glass windows joined the older set, carrying the Hand of God and Sheaves of Wheat. A member gave the Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ in 1958. In 1995 the church marked its 175th anniversary, and renovations completed in 2003, followed by a kitchen renovation in 2008, expanded space for worship, fellowship, and fundraising gatherings.
From 1877 into the early twentieth century, the church's pastors also ministered to the congregation at Cold Spring, also known as White's Chapel, at the intersection of Route 370 and Doyle Road. Women's societies took shape alongside the congregation. The Ladies' Aid Society organized in 1853, the Woman's Home Missionary Society in 1892, and the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society in the early 1930s. The church celebrated its centennial in 1920 and, marking the 200th anniversary of that first Methodist Society, the year 2020 was set aside as a time of celebration.
The Pastoral Team
Rev. Jeff Hodge serves the congregation as pastor. Ordained a Deacon in Full Connection in 2010, he completed a Master of Christian Education at Methodist Theological School in 2008 and an M.Div. at the same seminary, and is on track toward ordination as an Elder. He also serves as pastor of Pennellville United Methodist Church and associate pastor of the Baldwinsville church, and previously served as Conference Secretary of the Upper New York Annual Conference from June 2010 until June 2021. His ministry is shaped by grassroots community development and a passion for connecting with people's stories.
Rev. Susan Ranous brings more than twenty-five years as a Certified Public Accountant into her ordained ministry as a Deacon. She graduated from Methodist Theological School in Ohio with a Certificate in Deacon Studies, and her ministry focuses on church finance, stewardship, and clergy tax and administration. She also serves as the Director of Christian Stewardship for the Upper New York Conference, where she writes a weekly blog, leads workshops, and develops the curriculum for a Stewardship Academy.
Bill Young serves as Minister of Music, drawing on years of experience in music performance and direction to enrich the congregation's participation in worship. The music ministry extends beyond Sunday morning into a Bell Choir and a Praise and Worship Chorale, both meeting during the week.
Children and Youth
Children are woven into the life of the church from the earliest ages. The Jesus and Me! ministry produces Sunday school videos and a regular series of family-friendly resources, including the long-running Everyone's Moment series with Sara Bailey and special Holy Week and Easter readings from Pastor Ray Gilman. A Children's Moment is included in Sunday worship, and Children's Church is offered after the first part of the service for kids through sixth grade.
The Youth Fellowship gathers on Sunday afternoons from 4:30 to 6:00 pm for music, friendship, conversation, and time to listen for God. The aim of the program is to help teens find their joy and satisfaction in Jesus Christ and to grow in faith and purity. Confirmation classes form in the spring, giving young adults space to work through what they believe. Through the year, Vacation Bible School is offered in late July for preschoolers through sixth grade, and the church provides scholarships for members who want to attend United Methodist summer camps, as well as college scholarships for graduating high school seniors through the Sophie Graze Scholarship fund.
Safety is built into the children's programs. A Safe Sanctuaries policy is in place for all children from infancy through sixth grade, and parents are given an ID tag for picking up their child at the end of Sunday School.
Adult and Senior Ministries
The Men's Ministry encourages the growth of spiritual leaders through worship, biblical teaching, fellowship, and evangelism, with periodic men's breakfasts and other gatherings. The Women's Ministry gathers women for Bible study, fellowship, and service, anchored by a Women's Bible Study that meets on Wednesdays from 11:00 am to noon and by Olive Branch, a monthly fellowship that meets on the fourth Monday at 5:30 pm for fellowship, dinner at 6:00 pm, and a varied program. Other women's fellowship opportunities include painting parties and retreats.
Senior Ministries, for adults 55 and older, organizes a steady calendar of recreation and fellowship. Recent activities have included a monthly Movie Day in the downstairs media room, a motor-coach trip to the Saratoga Corinth and Hudson Railway, and group outings. Needle and Threaders, a Tuesday morning quilting group open to crafters of all abilities, makes lap-sized patchwork quilts for members and friends who are injured or ill.
Missions and Outreach
Missions at Liverpool First United Methodist Church are lived out close to home and well beyond. The congregation routinely prepares and serves a hot meal for up to 150 people through Brown Memorial United Methodist Church on the West Side of Syracuse, partnering with other organizations in the city to build God's kingdom through that hospitality.
A few miles south, members volunteer at Matthew 25 Farm, a small volunteer-driven nonprofit in LaFayette and Tully that grows and distributes fresh vegetables to food pantries and goodwill organizations throughout Central New York. The church has also pitched in on building projects at the farm alongside the planting, weeding, and harvest work.
Other ongoing efforts include support for the Syracuse Rescue Mission, food preparation for the Samaritan Center, food collection for the St. Joseph's Food Pantry and the Eastern Farm Workers Association, a CROP Hunger Walk soup effort, an annual fall potato drop, supply drives for local schools, and cooperation with ministries such as Beautiful Mess Music Ministry. Election Night brings a community spaghetti supper open to all.
Serving Inside the Church
Worship at 11:00 am depends on a rotation of volunteers. Greeters are the first smile visitors meet at the door. Ushers welcome newcomers, distribute programs, help people find seats, and offer large-print bulletins, hearing assistance, and Braille hymnals. Hospitality servers offer refreshments before the service. Children's Ministry volunteers teach classes, welcome families, serve as hall shepherds, and lead during Vacation Bible School in July.
Behind the scenes, volunteers support the church office with data entry, envelope preparation, and phone coverage. A Prayer Partner email chain lifts up needs across the congregation. Congregational Caregivers visit homebound members and friends for Christian conversation and prayer. The Needle and Threaders group meets Tuesday mornings at 10:00 am.
A Life of Prayer
The church takes prayer seriously as a practice and offers a page of resources to help people develop their own conversation with God. The collection includes written prayers for the morning, for the evening, and a prayer of thanksgiving, plus a set of breathing, stilling, scripture, labyrinth, and examen-based methods drawn from the broader Christian tradition. The aim is not to settle on a single technique but to find the ways of praying that open a deeper life with God.
Staying Connected
Sermons are posted regularly and stretch back many years, with recent series moving through parables and the story of Joseph. The most recent sermons have been delivered by Pastor Jeff Hodge and Pastor Susan Ranous, with topics ranging from parables of the seed and the weeds to reflections titled Enough, Where Do Our Keys Get Us?, and Forgiveness in Unexpected Places.
Giving is offered online through a secure giving link and by mail to the church office. The congregation quotes 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 as the guide for cheerful, willing, and generous giving. Anyone who would like to learn more, volunteer, or plan a first visit is welcome to call the church office at 315-457-5180 or write to churchoffice@liverpoolfirstumc.org. The church can also be found on Facebook and YouTube, where services and a sermon archive are available.