WHO WE ARE

​Be part of a warm, welcoming, community – one that lives the words “open minds, open hearts, open doors” every day.

Vale UMC is a small but very active congregation. We have mission activities that are making an impact in our local as well as global communities. We have fellowship time together, formative Christian activities on Sunday and during the week.  Our children and youth activities engage the kids – they are excited to be part of the Vale family. Our worship includes traditional and contemporary styles. Come join us! 

We are:

• Laid back – an easy culture to be highly involved or just attend a service when you want.
• Non-judgmental. Be as involved as you want, but no pressure.
• Friendly. We’ll answer your questions and help you if you need it. We’re here to help and to listen. 
• Involved with the community. We help the community, both locally and internationally, and are a member of the community ourselves.
• Service-oriented. We volunteer and help in many different ways, and we hope you’ll join us.
• Thankful. We are very thankful for our volunteers, members, and the community for which we are involved. 
• Passionate. We care about our members, our community, our fellow man, and give the glory to God.

We welcome all!

Founded in 1894, Vale Methodist Protestant Church held their first meetings at the Vale School. In November of that year, Thomas and John Clarke donated the property for the new church. Construction started soon after, in the spring of 1895, using materials and labor donated by church members. The church was dedicated less than two years later, in 1896. Our present sanctuary, built by lumber donated from Stuart’s Mill, is the original building and shows the fine workmanship performed by the original congregation. Vale Church remained a Methodist Protestant Church until the Methodist Protestant, Methodist Episcopal, and Methodist Episcopal South branches united to form “The Methodist Church” in 1939.

Up until the 1950s, Vale remained a one-room church with two doors leading into the sanctuary and used two wood stoves to warm the church in the winter. Water was carried in from nearby homes. Sunday school classes were spread out in different areas of the sanctuary. That all changed in August 1956, when the church dedicated the new wing of the church that included school rooms, a kitchen and a lavatory at a cost of $6,200.

The church, now called Vale United Methodist Church, was feeling growing pains again in February 1990. A meeting of the church membership was called and it was decided to expand the church to accommodate the growing Vale family. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on September 13, 1992 that resulted in a beautiful fellowship hall, kitchen, offices and classrooms, which were dedicated on May 16, 1993.

For more than one hundred years, the Vale Church family of faith continues to grow as we gather for worship and fellowship in this beautiful and historic church.