About Us

"Welcome to First UMC in downtown St. Augustine, otherwise known around town as 'The Pumpkin Church'! We are so glad you decided to drop by. We love company! As a matter of fact, if you make a trip our way, you will see just how many doors we have to welcome you. But even more than loving our new visitors, we love Jesus and spreading and showing His love to all of our neighborhood. So take a look around and check us out! When you are finished, mark a date on your calendar and join us for an amazing worship experience. Our hearts, minds and doors are wide open to greet you!"

Worship is our first priority at First United Methodist because worship honors God and God's teachings as found in the scriptures: "Jesus answered, 'It is written, You will worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.'" (Luke 4:8) We do so out of our great love because we know, "[it] is better than life", so we part our lips to glorify God and praise God as long as we shall live (Psalm 63:3-4). What we experience in worship guides us in our everyday lives. We celebrate and honor the Lord through diffferent worship syles and music that ranges from contemporary to traditional hymn singing, as we believe they sing our beliefs and theology. We invite you to worship with us and participate in our adoration to the Triune God every Sunday morning at 10 a.m.. on our Facebook page and our YouTube Channel at FUMC of St. Augustine.

To learn more about who we are and what we believe, click on https://www.flumc.org

Our Vision is "To share the Word of God as far and wide as we can in our community through selfless acts of love so that all may become one to welcome everyone into the body of Christ." We continue to discover new ways God is calling us to create more disciples who will also follow Jesus on a journey to becoming more of who we are. We do so by our willingness to strengthen every facet of the church (that's us), family and community so that we can grow to our fullest potential to be brothers and sisters and children of God who please God.

At First United Methodist we worship the one and only triune God whom we know as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe God created the universe and all that is in it.

We believe God is both sovereign (all powerful) and loving, and that we can know and experience God's love in our life.

We believe that God has expressed the fullness of His love through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that through Him we have abundant life and the forgiveness of sins (our wrongdoings).

We believe in God's Holy Spirit, which is God's continued presence with us today.

We believe it is by the Holy Spirit that we are able to know, love and serve God, as well as one another.

We believe in the authority of Scripture as God's inspired word and that it is the story of our salvation. The Bible is our primary source for understanding God's will for our lives and for the world. Our reason, experience, and the history of the church's interpretation help us to understand more fully what God is teaching us in the Bible.

John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement in England, emphasized God's grace. God loves and is present with all people by His prevenient grace. God graciously forgives, restores and receives us through His justifying grace. God continues to grow us into better followers of Jesus through His sanctifying grace.

An itinerant Methodist missionary on horseback is credited with the birth of First United Methodist here in St. Augustine. When John Jerry introduced Methodism in 1821 to what is now known as the oldest city in America, Florida was being transferred from Spanish to American rule. That opened the door for two missionaries from the Georgia and South Carolina conferences to advance the ministry here. One of those young men was Joshua Glenn, who in 1823, baptized a local slave by the name of Sitiki, (aka Jack Smith) to Christianity and to Methodism, making him the first black Methodist minister in St. Augustine.

It was due to the ministry and groundwork of Rev. Jack Smith that made it possible in 1825 for the ministry of Rev. Daniel McDaniel to begin. He founded First United Methodist, what is now affectionately known by St. Augustine residents as the "Pumpkin Church".

First United Methodist was in three locations before it found a permanent home on King and Riberia Street in 1911. Then it was known as First Methodist Episcopal Church South. A revival a few months after its opening welcomed many new members, who worked to build the ministry. Sunday School buildings were erected, a parsonage was purchased and a youth house was donated. It remains today as the center of spiritual development for the youth of the church and is available to local missionaries and ministry groups who might need a place to stay while they are working in the surrounding community.

Over the years, the church has been a hallmark in the St. Augustine community and continues today to be the sanctuary for many as the church over the years has initiated creative ministries dedicated to showing and sharing the love of Christ. Addressing family and children needs has become one of its calling cards, along with ministering to those who are most vulnerable among us. Daily, the church expresses its love to those who are homeless and in need by providing food and clothing.

""....The beauty of her ministry is that she doesn't give up."

First United Methodist like most other churches has gone through seasons of decline and great transition, but the beauty of her ministry is that she doesn't give up. She continues to push herself beyond the boundaries to show that Jesus is indeed in the neighborhood.

In 2019, First UMC opened its history room. The church has also launched a story-telling project, inviting its faith community to help compile its history for the publication of its first history book. To learn more, we invite you to contact our Historian, Abby Preston, at sewsewabby1@gmail.com or call the church office at (904) 829-3459.