A Church on Robinhood Road Since 1845
Mount Tabor United Methodist Church sits on Robinhood Road in Winston-Salem and has been part of the local landscape since 1845. The congregation numbers about 2,100 members and operates a wide campus of ministries that reach well beyond Sunday morning, including a weekday preschool, an afterschool program, two distinct worship services, and roughly a dozen community partnerships across Forsyth County. Mount Tabor's mission is to "GATHER joyfully, GROW spiritually, and GO faithfully to share God's Word in love and action."
Mount Tabor is a United Methodist community of faith that is "very much a 21st century church," offering both livestreamed services and in-person gatherings, online giving, and a growing slate of support and growth groups. Staff and lay leadership guide the work across every age group, from infants through older adults.
Two Services on Sunday Morning
Mount Tabor offers two Sunday services designed for different worship styles, both held in person and livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook.
The Modern Worship service gathers at 8:55 a.m. in the Alspaugh Worship Center. It is built around prayer and the Word of God, woven through music, images, and the sermon. Christine Baltazar-Maldonado directs the Modern Music Ministries that lead the gathering.
The Traditional service meets at 11 a.m. in the Sanctuary. The sanctuary is light-filled and centered on a Cassavant pipe organ and grand piano. Worship draws on the ancient creeds and holy scripture, congregational hymns spanning from Martin Luther to Duke Ellington, and the work of volunteer choral and handbell ensembles, liturgical movement, instrumentalists, and visual artists. Lay persons assist with serving Holy Communion on the first Sunday of each month. Clay Whittington directs the Traditional Music Ministries, and Jessica Beitel serves as organist.
Mount Tabor is a "come as you are" kind of place, and whatever someone is comfortable wearing is fine.
TaborKIDS: Children's Ministry from Infants through Fifth Grade
TaborKIDS is Mount Tabor's children's ministry, serving infants through fifth grade and housed in a two-story Children's Building to the left of the Sanctuary. Children move through four phases as they grow: TaborTOTS for infants through age 2, TaborKIDS Junior for ages 3 through kindergarten, Club 252 for first through third grades, and TaborTWEENS for fourth and fifth grades.
Programming runs from 9 a.m. to noon each Sunday. At 9 a.m. children gather for TaborKIDS Worship with a TaborTOTS nursery available for the youngest. At 10 a.m. they split into Grow Groups (the Sunday School hour) and TaborTOTS nursery. The 11 a.m. hour repeats the morning worship and nursery. Check-in opens fifteen minutes before programming starts, and children are always welcome in the sanctuary services as well.
The ministry's rhythm of four practices shapes the week: GATHER to worship Jesus, GROW to learn more about him, PRAY by talking with God, and SERVE and SHARE with others. The TaborKIDS program maintains an Amazon book wishlist and uses Facebook and Instagram under the handle @taborkidsmtumc. Marcey Davis directs Children and Family Ministries and Colleen Carr serves as associate director. Ellen Creasman coordinates the nursery.
Fusion: Youth Ministry Built on Radical Inclusion
Middle and high school students meet under the name Fusion, a ministry rooted in the words of St. Francis of Assisi: "To preach the Gospel at all times and if necessary, use words." Director of Student Ministries Will Busch shapes a program centered on relational ministry, open discussion, intentional small and large group time, and service beyond the church walls.
Fusion's approach is summed up in five commitments. The ministry practices radical inclusion, welcoming everyone because all are made in God's image. It emphasizes open discussion, recognizing that every person has a gift to share. It builds community through meals, games, celebrations, and prayer in large group settings, then breaks into small groups to study Scripture and share life. It sends students out to serve, picking up their cross and loving their neighbors. The youth use Facebook and Instagram at @mttaborumcfusion and welcome new students throughout the year.
Adults: Growth Groups, Sunday Classes, and Wednesday Evenings
Mount Tabor's adult ministry rests on three structures: Sunday morning classes, ongoing growth groups, and seasonal studies led by the Committee on Spiritual Growth. The aim is simple: that every member experiences spiritual formation and transformation by deepening a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Sunday Morning Classes run throughout the year for adults who want a regular teaching hour between the two services. The Growth Groups meet on weeknights and in homes and include Band of Brothers (men's fellowship and Bible study on Tuesdays at noon at Foothills on 4th Street), a Friday Evening Study Group open to men and women of all ages during church-wide studies, LIFE (a small group meeting every other Thursday at a home off Reynolda Road), the Men's Small Group (Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in Room 306 and on Zoom), Mom's Fellowship (first Thursday at 9 a.m. in the Parlor), and the Tuesday Night Small Group (first and third Tuesdays at a member's home).
Wednesday Evenings have become a weekly rhythm of their own. At 5:30 p.m. the Tabor Table fellowship meal opens to all in the Family Life Center. From 6:30 to 7:15 p.m. the congregation gathers in the Fellowship Hall for a discussion of the week's sermon, led by Pastor David, Pastor Michelle, and Kim Harvey. A Zoom link is available for those joining from home, and childcare can be requested.
Tabor Women and the Circles
Mount Tabor Circles are small groups of women organized under the Tabor Women umbrella. They meet in members' homes, in the Fellowship Hall, and at local restaurants, and they support missions including the Andy Burton Memorial Golf Tournament, Bethesda Center for the Homeless, North Hills Academy, the Greater Triad Diaper Bank, the Food for Thought Pantry for local schools, the Winston-Salem Street School, and the annual Angel Tree.
Several circles offer regular entry points. Circle 2 meets on the third Thursday of each month at 6 p.m. and focuses on women in their thirties and forties. Circle 7 meets on the fourth Monday at 11 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall for women sixty and older, with a speaker each month and a summer social. Circle 4 gathers on the third or fourth Tuesday or Thursday at 7 p.m. and welcomes women in their late thirties through early fifties. Circle 8 meets the second Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. for dinner before gathering at a member's home. Circle 5 meets the third Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. and ministers to women and children through local and national missions. Circle 9 gathers on the second Thursday at 7 p.m. for women in their fifties.
The Women's Bible Study meets Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall during the school year and monthly in the summer for four to eight week book and Bible studies with video and discussion.
United Methodist Men and the Band of Brothers
The United Methodist Men's Fellowship at Mount Tabor gathers on the first Sunday of each month at 7:30 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall for a full breakfast and program. Its purpose is to declare the centrality of Christ in the lives of men and in all their relationships, encouraging daily Bible study and prayer, Christian witness in daily work, and definite Christian service.
Band of Brothers (B.O.B.) meets Tuesdays at noon for fellowship, book and Bible study, and prayer. The same group has partnered with Forsyth Prison Ministry for Donuts and Devotions four times a year at the Forsyth Correctional Center, supplementing Sunday night worship, weekday Bible studies, and tutoring and mentoring there.
Support Groups for Hard Seasons
Mount Tabor hosts five ongoing support groups that walk alongside people through grief, addiction, separation, and the holiday season. GriefShare meets Wednesdays from 3:30 to 5:15 p.m. in Room 102 for those grieving the death of a loved one. DivorceCare meets Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Parlor for those navigating separation or divorce. Nar-Anon, for those affected by someone else's addiction, meets Mondays at noon in the Parlor (rear entrance). Women's Alcoholics Anonymous meets Mondays from 7 to 8 p.m. in Room 102. Surviving the Holidays is a seasonal seminar that supports those facing the holidays after a loss or divorce.
Going Faithfully: Outreach Across Forsyth County and Beyond
The Outreach Committee and staff encourage every member of Mount Tabor to find a place to serve. The church commits financial support and volunteer hours to a long list of local and global partners.
Every Wednesday night, a Mount Tabor team serves dinner at the Bethesda Center for the Homeless, which shelters more than 100 men and women. Members staff a Meals on Wheels route, picking up meals at Senior Services and delivering them on weekday mornings. They support Crisis Control Ministry through monthly food donations collected in the Welcome Center and through volunteer roles in interviewing, administration, the food pantry, and the pharmacy. They serve Samaritan Ministries at the men's shelter and the soup kitchen that feeds 300 to 400 people daily, and they pick up grocery donations weekday mornings.
Members build with Habitat for Humanity on construction sites and at the ReStore. They tutor and mentor through the Church-School Connection with North Hills Elementary School, supplying backpacks, uniforms, hygiene items, and Christmas sponsorships. They volunteer at Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC, the largest food bank in the region, which distributes more than 22 million pounds of food each year. They support the Shalom Project at Green Street United Methodist Church in West Salem, which runs a weekly food pantry and clothes closet, a Wednesday evening community supper, a free medical clinic, and after-school enrichment.
Internationally, the church partners with Hope 4 Kenya, supporting education, healthcare, and personal sustainability for the vulnerable in Kenya. Closer to home, members serve at the Forsyth Correctional Center through prison ministry, and they support UMAR, a provider of residential, community-based, and vocational services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Each year the church's Angel Tree program provides Christmas gifts for more than 250 children from partner agencies including the Bethlehem Community Center, Little Red Schoolhouse, Potter's House, Waughtown Kids 'R' Us, and the United Methodist District Hispanic Ministry. The annual Forsyth County CROP Hunger Walk, which Mount Tabor has participated in for more than twenty consecutive years, raises money for Crisis Control Ministry, Sunnyside Ministry, and Church World Service.
Weekday Preschool and Afterschool Care
Mount Tabor operates a Weekday Preschool directed by Kim Saylor, with Emily Richardson as assistant director. The preschool is online at mttaborumcpreschool.org. The church also runs an Afterschool Care program staffed by Director Jeanna Hagan and Assistant Director Jodi Pratt. Afterschool details are at mttaborumcafterschool.org.
Wednesday Tabor Table and Church-Wide Fellowship Meals
The Tabor Table fellowship meal on Wednesday evenings at 5:30 p.m. in the Family Life Center has become a centerpiece of the church's community life. Menus change weekly and feature a main dish, sides, a salad bar, drinks, and desserts, with a children's option such as Kraft Mac & Cheese or chicken tenders. The church's Church Hostess, Sheri Nebinger, helps organize these meals along with other fellowship gatherings.
United Methodist Men host a monthly breakfast on the first Sunday at 7:30 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Tabor Troupers, a group open to all adults sixty and older, gathers monthly at 11:30 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall for lunch, fellowship, and a program that often highlights Mount Tabor's history. New Member & Baptism Sundays are held several times a year, with baptism available through sprinkling, pouring, or immersion.
Music and the Christmas Cantata
Music is woven through both worship services. The Traditional service features the Chancel Choir, handbell ensembles, the Cassavant pipe organ, and guest instrumentalists, while the Modern service is led by Christine Baltazar-Maldonado and her team. Singers from across the church are invited to participate in the annual Christmas Cantata, with rehearsals scheduled on Saturdays and Thursday evenings leading up to Christmas. No membership in the Chancel Choir is required.
Stewardship, Giving, and Consecration
Mount Tabor practices yearly stewardship through Consecration Sunday, an annual campaign anchored in Philippians 1:6. The church frames giving as a spiritual discipline: members begin with prayer, assess their giving, set a goal, choose a method, and worship with gratitude. Online giving is available through Realm, and an online Estimate of Giving form lets households pledge their support for the year. The most recent published budget reports a weekly need of $34,811.
Joining the Church
Those considering membership are invited to a Next Steps class that meets periodically on Sunday mornings at 10:15 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Pastor David Beam and Pastor Michelle Foster-Beckerleg walk prospective members through what it means to join Mount Tabor and answer questions about United Methodist beliefs and the church's ministries. Visitors can also explore a 3D campus map before arriving.
Lay and Staff Leadership
The pastoral team is led by Senior Pastor Rev. David Beam and Executive Pastor Rev. Michelle Foster-Beckerleg. Kim Harvey serves as Director of Congregational Care and Spiritual Formation, working closely with members during times of need. Alison Haile directs communications and Christine Baltazar-Maldonado directs Modern Music Ministries alongside Clay Whittington, who directs Traditional Music Ministries. The staff also includes Will Busch (Student Ministries), Marcey Davis and Colleen Carr (Children and Family Ministries), Ellen Creasman (Nursery), Kim Saylor (Weekday Preschool), Jeanna Hagan (Afterschool Care), Jessica Beitel (Organist), Sheri Nebinger (Church Hostess), Charity Goff (Church Administrator), Rebecca McLawhorn (Finance Administrator), Steve Dyson (Facilities Manager), and Emily Richardson (Assistant Director of Weekday Preschool).