Florence First United Methodist Church sits just off the downtown square at 415 North Seminary Street, a short walk from the shops and courthouse that grew up around it when the city was young. Founded in 1822, it is one of the oldest Methodist congregations in the Shoals region of North Alabama and still gathers in the sanctuary whose cornerstone was laid in 1922. Three different Sunday services follow one another through the morning, and a full slate of Sunday School classes, choirs, small groups, youth programs and outreach keeps the building busy the rest of the week.
Sunday Mornings: Three Services, One Story
First-time visitors have a real choice about how to spend a Sunday at FUMC. The earliest gathering begins at 8:15 a.m. in Rogers Memorial Chapel and centers on traditional Methodist communion, with the historic creeds and congregational responses that have shaped Christian liturgy for centuries.
At 9:00 a.m. the Family Service fills the main Sanctuary. It is a thirty-minute service designed for households with younger children, blending the historic prayers of the tradition with participatory music, scripture and a sermon aimed at all ages. Many regulars treat this hour as a launching pad for the Sunday School hour that follows.
The 11:00 a.m. service returns to a fully traditional format with piano, pipe organ, the Sanctuary Choir and classic hymns. Members and guests worship side by side, and the messages work through the depth of the Christian faith and how it translates into daily life. Those who cannot attend in person can livestream the eleven o'clock hour on Facebook and YouTube, or listen to the church's podcast First Words, released every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on the same channels.
From a Log House to the Sanctuary on the Square
Few congregations in the United States can trace themselves back to the era of Lorenzo Dow and the early circuit riders, and FUMC makes the most of that heritage. On Sunday, September 8, 1822, local preachers John Cox and John Kerr gathered eight people in the large front room of Cox's new log house on West Tuscaloosa Street to organize the Florence Methodist Church. The next morning Cox registered as the town's first Methodist minister.
The young congregation alternated between Cox's cabin and a nearby cobbler's shop for the next five years before putting up a frame meetinghouse in 1826 at North Locust and West Tuscaloosa. By the summer of 1827 the Methodists had rolled that 24 by 30 foot structure on logs down the middle of Tuscaloosa Street to the corner where the church still stands.
A brick sanctuary with a steeple and the first electric lights followed in the early 1900s, but fire shaped the campus more than any architect. A flash fire destroyed the temporary tent where services were held during construction of the next building, saving only the Bible inside. A second blaze gutted the unfinished structure in April 1904, though firefighters saved most of the walls and the building was finished in 1905. The sanctuary that rose from that work burned on the night of November 21, 1920 - a fire that destroyed nearly everything except portions of the walls, the pulpit Bible and most of the furniture. An unknown boy reportedly ran back into the flames to save the 1902 Bible.
The cornerstone of the present sanctuary was laid in 1922 and the building was dedicated in 1924. When the Great Depression left the congregation badly mortgaged and facing foreclosure, the church was saved by Louis Rosenbaum, a Jewish owner of Florence's movie theaters who paid the overdue balance and persuaded the New York bank holding the loan to hold off on a sale. Members eventually repaid the Rosenbaum family, and that act of generosity has never been forgotten.
An office wing and classrooms were added in 1964, Rogers Chapel opened in 1965, and the sanctuary was renovated in 1968. McDowell Hall and the Christian Life Center, completed in 2001, gave the church its current kitchen, fellowship hall and Christian Life Center classrooms. In 2017 an anonymous benefactor challenged the congregation to raise half of its roughly half-million-dollar mortgage by a deadline; members contributed more than $800,000, the donor covered the rest, and the burned mortgage deed was celebrated in Mullins Memorial Garden.
Wednesday Night Alive and the Rhythm of the Week
From September through December and again from January through March, Wednesday nights have their own steady rhythm at FUMC. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. for the Wednesday Night Alive supper in McDowell Hall, where families and friends gather around long tables for a shared meal. At 6:00 p.m. classes begin for every age: deep Bible study with the senior pastor, women's studies, classes for young couples and singles, and a separate children's program on Floor 2R. Youth meet on the third floor from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Sundays carry their own adult-education offerings. Between the worship services at 9:45 a.m., seven Sunday School classes fill classrooms on the first and third floors and span the generational spectrum.
- The Parlor Class meets in the parlor on the first floor and welcomes adults in their twenties and early thirties, including the Discussion Class that gathers around current events and the Bible.
- The W. A. Graham Class has met since the Second World War and uses a mix of lecture and discussion.
- The Sonshine Class, founded in 2010 in Room N305, draws singles and young couples in their twenties through forties for relaxed conversation on everything from current events to biblical truth, with annual social events that include a summer cookout and a Christmas party.
- The Cornerstone Class in Room N312 serves adults in their thirties through fifties.
- The Almon Class in Room N304 gathers adults fifty and older, many of them empty-nesters who reach out to the wider community.
- The Norton-Musselman Class in Room N301 brings together members aged forty and up for varied Bible and faith topics, often joining with other classes for fellowship.
- The Ferguson Class in Room N317 describes itself as a "3-D Experience": Diverse, Devoted and Delightful.
Adult offerings extend beyond the classroom. Dinner and the Bible meets in homes at times chosen by each circle. The Vivian Davis Women's Bible Study has met since 1985 and walks verse by verse through the Old and New Testaments; two of its original members, Marilyn Tallman and Jackie Breed, are still part of the group. The Adult Ministry adds occasional day trips, plays, overnights and even international travel.
Children and Youth: A Whole Floor of First Kids
First Kids Florence FUMC is the umbrella for every program from nursery through sixth grade. The nursery in rooms N122 and N123 welcomes newborns through age three from 8:15 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Sundays, with all caregivers CPR-trained; parents are asked to remain on the property while their children are in the building. Children's Worship for three-year-olds through kindergarten runs at 8:30 a.m. and again at 10:45 a.m., so that parents can join the services that bracket it.
Sunday School at 9:45 a.m. splits by age: pre-kindergarten and kindergarten in Room N206, first through third grades in N207, and fourth through sixth grades in N210. Wednesdays add a second weekly touchpoint during the school year, with kids meeting on Floor 2R. Year-round events include the Fall Festival, an Easter Egg Hunt, Vacation Bible School and a seasonal cantata.
Youth ministry meets on Sunday from 9:45 to 10:30 a.m. and on Wednesday from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. on the third floor. The program engages young people across Lauderdale County with a strong volunteer team and ongoing communication through a dedicated newsletter and family events.
Every children's and youth volunteer follows the United Methodist Safe Sanctuaries guidelines, and every child, member or visitor, must be checked in at the Welcome Desk just inside the North Seminary Street entrance.
Music that Carries the Service
The music program runs through both Sunday services, special concerts and seasonal celebrations. The Sanctuary Choir is the principal ensemble, singing weekly at the 11:00 a.m. worship and presenting three major concerts a year, including an annual Christmas concert. The Choral Scholars, an auditioned vocal group of University of North Alabama students, sing at the 8:15 a.m. service, fill in for special services and join the Sanctuary Choir for major performances. Wesley Ringers, FUMC's three-to-five octave handbell choir, rings about once a month at the 11:00 a.m. service and at the Christmas concert.
Behind the scenes, the Director of Worship and Arts serves as organist and leads the adult and children's choirs; the Assistant Music Director coordinates instrumentalists, draws on his training at The University of Alabama and the University of North Alabama, and continues to perform as a tubist with area ensembles including the Shoals Symphony Orchestra, the Corinth Symphony Orchestra and the Principal Brass Tuba Quartet. Donations to the FUMC Special Music Fund support the Choral Scholar program, guest musicians and the Florenzmusik concert series.
Small Groups and the Walk to Emmaus
FUMC takes seriously John Wesley's accent on small groups, accountable relationships and the disciplined Christian life. The church hosts the Walk to Emmaus, a 72-hour short course in Christianity that begins Thursday evening and ends Sunday evening and is offered separately for men and women. Fifteen talks by lay and clergy leaders cover God's grace, the disciplines of Christian discipleship and the meaning of being the church, all wrapped in prayer, daily communion and a 24-hour prayer vigil sustained by the local Emmaus community. After their weekend, pilgrims are encouraged to meet in ongoing small reunion groups; FUMC members regularly serve in the Shoals Emmaus Cluster and the Alabama Emmaus Community, both of which keep the renewal ministry alive between weekends.
United Methodist Women at FUMC gathers around five mission initiatives: opportunities to grow spiritually, equipping women and girls to lead, transformative educational experiences, organizing for growth and flexibility, and working for justice through service and advocacy.
A Congregation in Discernment
On September 26, 2022, FUMC Florence formally entered a season of prayer and discernment to seek God's leading for the future of the church. A Discernment Team drawn from Sunday School classes, the choir, the lay leadership and the Staff-Parish Relations Committee meets under a written covenant that emphasizes prayer, Scripture, attentive listening, the use of "I" statements, humility before those who disagree, and a willingness to be changed by the process. The team regularly reviews survey results and meeting notes with the congregation and posts its documents for transparency.
The church's hospitality and its willingness to keep working at difficult conversations also show up in other venues. Senior Pastor Dale Cohen hosts Crafted Conversations, a monthly gathering at Singin' River Brewing Company that offers a musical guest and thoughtful exchange for people who describe themselves as "spiritual but not religious." Communion and a prayer chapel are available throughout the week for anyone who wants to drop in.
Rogers Memorial Chapel is open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday evenings from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Communion is offered every Sunday at 9:30 a.m. in Rogers Chapel, except on the first Sunday of the month, when Holy Communion is celebrated during the worship services themselves.
Reaching Florence, UNA and the Shoals
Mission extends well beyond the walls on Seminary Street. The Wesley Foundation at the University of North Alabama, a campus ministry supported by the Northwest Alabama District of the United Methodist Church, finds a steady partner in FUMC: two class-supplied meals each month bring UNA students to the Wednesday night fellowship supper at no cost to the students.
Across town, FUMC volunteers assist the Girls' Group Home in Florence, part of the United Methodist Children's Home organization. The congregation also supports Camp Sumatanga, Good Sams, The Caring Place (a local adult daycare for elders living with dementia and Alzheimer's), and the interdenominational Help Center, where the church supplies volunteers and money for the food pantry, clothing closet and emergency assistance with rent, utilities and prescriptions. Help Center volunteers staff Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. A FUMC team delivers a Meals on Wheels route every third week of the month, taking about an hour to bring a hot noon meal to homebound seniors throughout the Shoals.
What FUMC Teaches and Practices
The church names five core values that shape its life together: Jesus-Centered, Wesleyan, Missionally Engaged, Openness to Learning and Relationally Healthy. In the Wesleyan tradition, FUMC affirms the Trinity, the centrality of grace, the primacy of Scripture together with tradition, reason and experience, and the call to grow in personal and social holiness. Its mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, and it traces its strategy through a discipleship pathway it calls "Attract, Connect, Transform, Send."
The congregation follows the guidance of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. The FUMC Day School, under director Courtney Rohling, enrolls preschool children year-round as a separate ministry of the congregation.
Pastors, Staff and Music Leadership
Senior Pastor Reverend Dale Cohen came to FUMC Florence in July 2018. He is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, a Birmingham-Southern and Emory Candler Seminary graduate, and a former Superintendent of the Northeast District of the North Alabama Conference. He is married to Ann and has three adult children and five grandchildren in their blended family.
Ian Butler serves as Minister of Discipleship and Faith Formation. A Florence native and Asbury College graduate with a master's from Memphis Theological Seminary, he has served fourteen years in North Alabama United Methodist churches and five years as a hospice chaplain. Marianna Jordan leads the children's ministry. Courtney Rohling, a Savannah College of Art and Design graduate, directs the FUMC Day School. Linda May serves as Director of Worship and Arts and organist. Daniel Ritch, a tubist and Hamilton native, is the Assistant Music Director. Terry Stubblefield serves as Associate Pastor through the discernment season. The church office is staffed Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Visiting Florence First United Methodist Church
The church sits at 415 North Seminary Street in downtown Florence. Metered parking is available on Seminary and Tuscaloosa Streets (meters enforced only Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., never on weekends or in the early mornings and evenings) and three nearby lots: east of the church at the Wilson Park Medical Arts Building on Seminary, north of the church beside the Bauer and behind the Zodiac Building on Hermitage Drive, and west of the church at Compass Bank. Visitors can enter through the Welcome Center or church office doors off Seminary Street, the big white main doors off Tuscaloosa Street, or either set of doors under the main portico from the west. Weekday visitors should ring the buzzer beside the church office door.
A nursery and children's program are available every Sunday morning; children's and youth volunteers follow United Methodist Safe Sanctuaries guidelines. Giving can be done at services, by automatic bank draft, by check, through the church's secure online portal, or through PayPal. Past sermons, a weekly newsletter called The Messenger, and the full church calendar are easy to find for newcomers who want to keep up with the life of the congregation.