About Us

What began as a survey of northwest Wichita in the Spring of 1976 has developed into a thriving congregation known as Aldersgate United Methodist Church. With positive results from the survey, the Kansas West Conference of the United Methodist Church authorized the development of a new church, purchased a house on Wood Drive to serve as the parsonage and meeting place, and appointed Rev. Henry Murray as the founding pastor. Several months of “getting to know you” meetings in the parsonage and other homes resulted in the decision to call the new church “Aldersgate” in recognition of its historical significance to the Methodist Movement. The initial service was held on October 10, 1976, at McCollum Elementary School. Aldersgate UMC held its charter service on April 17, 1977, with 193 members signing the Charter Membership Roll.

In 1978, Aldersgate purchased approximately 5 acres on the corner of West 21st Street and Woodchuck as the site for their own church. Groundbreaking ceremonies took place on November 30, 1980, and the first service was held in the new building on September 6, 1981.

As AUMC continued to grow, a 2nd worship service was added in April, 1986. In October of that year, Aldersgate celebrated its 10th Anniversary. A beautiful 10th Anniversary quilt still hangs in the original sanctuary, now the Fellowship Hall.

Continued growth resulted in the addition of more classrooms and a Great Room to the west in 1990. As membership passed 500, a third service was added. By 1998, talk began about adding a sanctuary to the complex. In June 1999, tragedy visited Aldersgate when Rev. Charlie Harrison lost his life while hiking in Colorado. Still grieving, Aldersgate renewed its resolve and moved forward with a capital campaign to build the sanctuary in the fall of 1999.

In October 2000, the church held a “mortgage-burning” ceremony during the 25th anniversary celebration, followed by a groundbreaking ceremony in the area of the new sanctuary. The first services were held in November 2001, with the congregation meeting in the old sanctuary to begin the service and transitioning to the new sanctuary to complete the service.

In April 2006, we held our first Saturday evening service with over 200 people in attendance.

Today, Aldersgate continues to grow in membership and outreach. We currently have over 1000 members, with an average attendance of approximately 630 during Saturday evening and Sunday morning services. In September 2008, we broke ground for additional classroom and office space, and began using that new space in April 2009.

As God's people we: