Our History...
The Methodist movement began in England in the 18th century. John and Charles Wesley presented a powerful message centered on a radical transformation of a person's life through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The movement quickly spread to the North American continent, and by the time of the American Revolutionary War, Methodist circuit riders were already carrying this strong Gospel message to new American settlements as the population moved westward.
In 1828, here in Indiana, a lay minister, started holding services in his home. The heart warming, Christ-centered, aggressive faith of Methodism had come to Boone County. What would follow across the next years would be a remarkable, growing ministry in this community. The Methodists built their first building in 1839 and then regularly remodeled their facilities and relocated to new buildings in 1854 and 1961 to more effectively reach their current generation with the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.
This present ZUMC facility is conveniently located on the north east edge of Indianapolis on Whitestown Rd in Zionsville. The building includes a sanctuary with seating for 700, a Family Life Center with gymnasium, more than 20 classrooms, chapel, office complex, with parking for more than 300 vehicles.
But a church is not a building. A church is a group of Christians seeking a living faith in Jesus Christ. In a sense, we are all guests of the generations that have gone before us. Today we stand at the end of a stunning line of souls stretching from those first services in 1828 all the way up to the present. We are more than guests of the past. We are hosts of the future to all those who will follow us. This is our moment to strengthen this ministry and reach this generation for Christ. The best chapters of our history are yet to be written.
By the late 1990's the ministry had, once again, outgrown its physical building. Worship, Christian Education, children and youth programming and outreach ministries were all stifled for lack of space. God was preparing a new chapter in the ministry of ZUMC. After months of prayer, planning and preparation ground breaking for a new facility was held on a snowy January 30, 2000. A crowd gathered at the Oak St. building and trekked more than a mile through six inches of newly fallen snow to a new plot of land and a renewed vision. Children and adults took shovels and broke "snow" to represent a new claiming of this community and this metropolitan area for Jesus Christ. Construction began in March and the first worship was held on Labor Day weekend of 2001.
