Methodism has been intimately intertwined with the history of  North Carolina, Orange County and Chapel Hill since the earliest days. Beginning in 1772, circuit-riding Methodists traveled across the state. Francis Asbury preached in Chapel Hill in 1800.

In 1841, University of North Carolina president David L. Swain invited Charles Force Deems, a Methodist minister in New Jersey, to join the faculty and the Annual Conference assigned him to Chapel Hill. Deems taught classes, preached at evening services in the village chapel and held Methodist services in a home on Rosemary Street. In 1843, the upper room at 157 1/2 East Franklin Street was rented for worship services and the membership numbered 64 whites and eight African-Americans.

In 1850, Samuel Milton Frost, a university student, served as minister. Determined to carry out Deems’ plan to build a church, Frost traveled the state and raised $5,000 for a church building. The church — dedicated in 1853 — still stands on Rosemary Street.

In 1878, anticipating continued growth, the trustees purchased a lot between the university and Franklin Street, the present site of the church. In 1886, construction began on a new church building on the site of the present Education Wing. The building was completed in 1889.

After the turn of the century, increased attendance by university students crowded the church. In 1915, the Reverend Walter Patten proposed the construction of a Sunday School building. However, his idea would have to wait until the end of World War I, at which time Rev. Patten planned and solicited funds for a new church and a Sunday School building. The current sanctuary and corridor classroom wing were completed in April 1926. The construction costs topped $230,000 with members of the local church contributing $34,000.

The upkeep of the Sanctuary was a continuing strain on the congregation. The church was a mission church and as such relied on the Conference and friends across the state for support. (The church remained a mission church until the 1970s.) The growth in UNC enrollment after World War II brought many new members into the church, helping with finances but also overflowing Sunday School classrooms.

In 1957, the 1889 church was razed to make way for the present Education Wing. Construction was completed on the Fellowship Hall and kitchen in 1960; the classrooms were completed in 1961.

In 1968, the church changed its name from University Methodist Church to University United Methodist Church when the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged with The Methodist Church.

Since its founding, UUMC has been at the physical center of the UNC campus and community. In recent years, the church has experienced extraordinary growth in membership and activity. the fruits of which appear on the pages of this website.

from Don Hayman, Records and History Committee