Woodlake United Methodist Church
...A Work of Faith
Every day of the week the halls ring with the sounds of people in worship, in prayer, in Bible classes; choirs and orchestras rehearsing; children of all ages running up and down the halls; the Pastors, staff and committees doing the daily business of the church and the quiet sounds of counseling and consoling. But it wasn’t always this way.
In the summer of 1986 Reverend Dennis Perry arrived with his wife, two small children, a charter from the Richmond District to start a new United Methodist Church in Western Chesterfield, and faith. And it took a lot of faith. There was no church, no staff and no congregation. There was a need in the community to connect, or reconnect with God. The need must have been great because on a Sunday morning in September 1986, 107 people gathered under the open sky at the Woodlake Pavilion to worship Christ.
By October 1986 the small congregation had moved indoors and was calling the gymnasium of Clover Hill Elementary School “home”. At least temporarily. Time passed and Woodlake United Methodist Church (WUMC) continued to grow and serve the needs of the congregation and community. A full course of Christian Education and Sunday School complimented our Worship services by 1990 and the members numbered 300. Those members cast the die and decided that the time was right for a church home.
In September 1991 the 800 members of WUMC moved into the church on the hill by the lake. This allowed us to continue to grow and serve God in new and exciting ways. But we weren’t done yet. The paint wasn’t dry when the modular buildings were added as the “educational wing”. In the nineties we added risers and chairs in the balconies, added a third Sunday service and utilized the Woodlake Child Development Center and Clover Hill High School for Sunday School and Sunday evening children’s programs. In October 2002 we began holding Connect contemporary worship services on Saturday nights.
And we’re not done yet! We're "growing" down the street to a plot of land at the entrance to the Hampton Park subdivision!
At the new location, we'll have...
- A new worship and educational facility in ONE location
- A larger sanctuary for 800+ worshipers
- An education building and childcare center which will house 20 classrooms (6 adult; 4 youth; 7 children; 3 nursery)
- A preschool
- A secure area for children with convenient drop-off and check-in
- Flexible walls in some of the classrooms to accommodate various size classes
- Better parking
- In the future, a gymnasium and fellowship hall
The current Woodlake facility will become our Youth and Mission Center. This center will also be used for fellowship gatherings and overflow educational space. This will reserve the new facility for worship and education.
Phase One includes building the two-story Education Building and Childcare Center. We plan to begin using these new facilities in Spring 2008. Stay tuned for more details on this exciting, faithful, adventure!