On Pleasant Grove Church Road in northwest Raleigh, a congregation that first gathered under a grove of trees in the 1840s still meets every Sunday morning in a brick sanctuary set behind a sloping cemetery. Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church, sometimes shortened to PGUMC, has grown from a small rural society sharing dirt roads and circuit riders into a congregation of more than a thousand members spread across three Sunday services, a full music program, and a wide web of community partnerships. Designated a Lighthouse Congregation of the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church and partnered with The United Methodist Collective and the Office of New Faith Communities, the church describes its mission in a single line: We exist to be the Body of Christ in the world.
A Country Church from the 1840s
The congregation takes its name from the spot where its earliest members met. Around 1846 a group of Methodist believers in Northwestern Wake County gathered beneath trees to worship, at the height of what historians call the Second Great Awakening. The original society called itself Pleasant Grove Methodist Episcopal Church South because of the serene setting. There are no surviving documents proving the 1846 date, but the church held a centennial celebration in 1946, and that anniversary points to continuous gathering since the mid-1840s.
During the first decades, services moved with the weather. Worshippers gathered outside along dirt roads known to attract weary travelers, and in bad weather retreated to a farmhouse, a community store, or a building called Edward's Store. As attendance grew, the small flock moved into a one-room wooden meeting house, probably constructed around 1856, when John King deeded an acre of land to the trustees of the Pleasant Grove Methodist Episcopal Church South "for a public grave yard and meeting house." In May of that year, J.T. and Mary Edwards also sold an acre to the trustees for one dollar "and in consideration of love and affection." A hand-drawn picture dated 1856 of that meeting house hangs in the church's history timeline.
The early church was served not by a resident pastor but by circuit riders. Pleasant Grove moved through five circuits in turn: Wake, Rolesville, Millbrook, Jenkin Memorial, and Westover. A pastor on a circuit was responsible for preaching, baptizing, marrying, and visiting members at each of several churches, and was supervised by a Presiding Elder (now a District Superintendent) who visited four times a year for what was called Quarterly Conference. The earliest known appointed preacher was Sidney R. Trawick, listed as founder and first pastor in 1870.
The Civil War passed through the region with serious effects. Sherman's army entered Raleigh in 1865, and an agricultural census of 1860 and 1870 documents the devastation of civilian farms and the starvation that followed. Membership at Pleasant Grove still grew during Reconstruction. In January 1867 an additional acre on the north side of Cedar Fork Road was sold to the trustees for ten dollars. A second wooden sanctuary was built in 1903 and dedicated in 1907, with classrooms created using curtains and heat supplied by a pot-bellied stove in the center of the room. When the new pews were painted red in a rush to finish before the first Sunday, members stood to sing and discovered the paint had not yet dried, leaving streaks on trousers and ruining new dresses.
The twentieth century brought steady growth. The third church building, a modern brick sanctuary, was constructed in 1968 and consecrated on December 29 of that year, with Wilton Kelly chairing the building committee, Morris Moorefield as treasurer of the building fund, and Charles Davis as architect. A fourth major addition in 1990, under Rev. Curtis Campbell, added a fellowship hall, six classrooms, bathrooms, and the parking lot, with John Ramsay as architect and Jedco as contractor. Around 1961 the congregation was offered the chance to close its location and join other churches to form Benson Memorial Church; the members firmly declined. The same year, Pleasant Grove Methodist Church became a station church with its own full-time minister, Rev. Jack Hunter.
Rev. Jay Minnick arrived in June 1993 as a thirty-one-year-old freshly out of seminary and was ordained an elder in 1995. He would go on to serve Pleasant Grove for more than three decades, presiding over the expansion to two and then three services, the addition of substantial staff, and the design and completion of an extensive renovation in 2018. The current pastor, Rev. Heather Rodrigues, was appointed in July 2026 after fifteen years in United Methodist ministry that included service as associate pastor at Millbrook UMC and lead pastor at Duke Memorial UMC.
Three Sunday Mornings
PGUMC now gathers three times every Sunday morning, each in a different setting and with a distinct feel. The early 8:30 a.m. service is held in the Sanctuary and is a traditional service with weekly communion, a Children's Time followed by Children's Church, and music provided by the Coffee Chorus and other guest musicians. The middle service at 9:45 a.m., known as the Grove, meets in the Fellowship Hall and is a non-traditional, contemplative service with weekly communion, a reflective prayer time, and coffee and refreshments. Music is led by the Grove Band. The late 11:00 a.m. service returns to the Sanctuary for a traditional liturgy, with communion celebrated on the first Sunday of each month, a Children's Time followed by Children's Church, and music by the Chancel Choir. The 11:00 service is also livestreamed on YouTube.
The church operates under a Safe Sanctuary policy that requires all staff and volunteers who work with children, youth, or vulnerable adults to be trained and background checked. Nursery care is available during every service in Room 102E of the Education Building. During the 8:30 and 11:00 services, children ages four through first grade are invited forward for Children's Time and may then go to Children's Church for a short Bible lesson and playtime, with pickup in Room 101E. Children who stay in the pew can use special worship bags and activity sheets.
Communion at Pleasant Grove is open to all who worship and is received by intinction: those coming forward take the bread, dip it in the cup, and partake. Gluten-free bread and a gluten-free cup are available; servers are notified at the table. Members of the church staff describe the sacrament as "a mystical reality in which the presence of Christ is made real to us, and by God's grace it forges us into one body so that together we can extend the merciful touch of Christ into the world."
Visitors can park behind and in front of the Sanctuary, behind the Hyder House across the street, or on the street itself. Handicap and visitor spaces are available near the Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall entrances. Office hours run Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Friday from 9:00 a.m. to noon.
Music at Pleasant Grove
Music has always been central to the church's life. The first documented instrument is a piano purchased from C.H. Stephenson Music Company in 1928 for $225 and played by Mary Lynn. An organ was almost certainly part of the 1968 sanctuary, and the organ now in use is a three-manual Allen G340 Ginisys organ dedicated in February 2020 as a gift from an anonymous donor. A Schimmel grand piano arrived in 2007, unveiled by Music Director Joe Lupton during a December service, and an anonymous donor purchased it under his direction. Three octaves of Schulmerich bells came as a gift from longtime benefactor Wilton Kelly in 1976, and an electronic carillon once played twice a day over speakers atop a fifty-foot pole until the equipment became too costly to maintain and neighbors asked for quiet.
The current music program is led by Director of Worship Arts Chris Dodson, in his role since May 2013, and accompanist Jill Boliek, who has been at PGUMC since 2007. The Chancel Choir provides anthems at the 11:00 service and rehearses Wednesday evenings during the school year. The Coffee Chorus rehearses at 7:30 on Sunday mornings, takes turns bringing breakfast, and sings at the early service at least monthly. The Grove Band rehearses Sunday mornings and leads the 9:45 service. A handbell choir rehearses Sunday afternoons and shares music at the 8:30 and 11:00 services once a month. Children's choirs include the Cherub Choir for ages three through first grade and a children's choir for older elementary children; both perform about once a month during the school year.
Each year brings a Christmas cantata, a Christmas by Candlelight concert, and other seasonal performances. Youth and adults have also recorded performances for the YouTube channel.
Children and Youth
Children's ministry is organized by Director of Children and Youth Ministries Ashley Yohman. The Sunday school hour from 9:40 to 10:40 a.m. is divided by age: a nursery for the youngest, classes for Pre-K, kindergarten through first grade, second and third grade, and fourth and fifth grade. A Sunday School Club launched in fall 2025 gathers second through fifth graders in Room 103E from 9:40 to 10:00 a.m. for an opening game and a lesson-related song before they disperse to their regular classrooms.
The Quest program gathers third through fifth graders once a month for community-building and outreach. Children in third grade and older may also serve as acolytes, lighting the Christ candle and altar candles during the 8:30 and 11:00 services. Community Mission Nights invite families to the Fellowship Hall four times a year for dinner and a service project. Past projects have included packing busy bags for Dorcas Ministries, making staff appreciation gifts for Hilburn Academy, and assembling baffles for Habitat for Humanity.
Youth ministry includes Sunday school for middle and high schoolers, a combined MSYG and HSYG that meets Sunday evenings from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. during the school year, and a Confirmation class recommended for fifth grade and up that runs ten weeks on Sunday afternoons beginning in February. Dinner Theater, an annual fundraiser held nearly every year for three decades, transforms the Fellowship Hall into a candlelit dining room where the youth serve a three-course meal followed by an interactive show. Each summer the high school youth group goes on a service trip; the most recent trip took the group to Baltimore, Maryland.
Sunday School and Adult Classes
Sunday school is offered for every age at PGUMC. Children meet in the Education Building and Mattie Bell Building, while adults gather at the Hyder House across the street and in the Sanctuary Building. The Upper Room Class, made up of adults in their mid-forties and older, focuses on how the Bible relates to life today. The Journey Class, made up of married couples in their early thirties through their fifties, is led primarily by Danny Sullivan and studies topics from world religions to compassion and generosity. The Seekers Class, led by Bob Starkes, is open to adults of all walks of life and discusses local and national news alongside religion and theology. A Sunday Morning Bible Study meets in the Sanctuary parlor and library under the leadership of Deborah Horton and Jonah and Stephanie Bishop.
Bible studies meet during the week in person and through Zoom, and the church records selected Bible study sessions so they can be reviewed later. The sermons and devotions page recommends the Upper Room devotional and Richard Rohr's daily meditations for individual reading, and sermons are also available as a podcast.
The Next Chapter: A Renovation Story
By the early 2000s the eleven o'clock service was packed uncomfortably full. In spring 2006 the church invited Dr. Lovett Weems of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership to lead a visioning day. Measuring the pews at thirty inches per person, Weems estimated the Sanctuary could comfortably seat 184; with more than two hundred in attendance, newcomers would be discouraged from returning. The work that followed led to a new mission statement - "We exist to be the Body of Christ in the World" - and a new vision: "To reach all through hospitality, engage all in ministry and enable all to grow spiritually."
In 2009 the church was given an unexpected gift. The estates of Christine House and Noah Hyder, both longtime members, left legacies that made it possible to buy the house across the street. Once it was brought up to code for a public building and made handicap accessible by a swarm of volunteers led by trustee chair Mike Lakey and member Randy Callahan, the Hyder House opened for adult Sunday school classes and weekday meetings.
A second visioning retreat in fall 2013 produced a list of needed facility work: dedicated hospitality space, more Fellowship Hall seating, a Sanctuary remodel and updated sound system, a safer chancel area, larger staff offices, accessible restrooms, a renovated kitchen, more storage, and a new HVAC. Capital campaign consultant Pat Luna was hired in April 2016, and the campaign - titled "God's Vision: The Next Chapter" - ran from October 30 to November 20, 2016. Members pledged $1.2 million over three years.
On November 5, 2017, the congregation voted unanimously to proceed. Construction began January 11, 2018. For nearly a year, the preschool moved to the Hyder House, church staff squeezed into the Education Building classrooms, and all Sunday worship was held in the Fellowship Hall while the building around them was rebuilt. Diamond Contracting finished on time in August 2018, and an open house and service on September 9, 2018, marked the completion of a new Welcome Center, an expanded Fellowship Hall, a larger kitchen, an enlarged office suite, and a brighter Sanctuary. A third Hyder House classroom was eventually converted into a dedicated music room. Bob Starkes, who chaired the move logistics, later estimated that 107 people helped move back into the new building.
The Hyder House Across the Street
Across Pleasant Grove Church Road from the main campus sits the Hyder House at 4400 Pleasant Grove Church Road, named for Noah Hyder and Christine House. The two-story house hosts adult Sunday school classes during the Sunday school hour, and it has also been used for blood drives, small meetings, and other weekday gatherings. The lower-level playground added during the renovation belongs to the preschool that has shared space in the building.
Outreach and Mission
PGUMC's outreach page lists a remarkable number of partnerships for a church its size. Members regularly volunteer with or support the Society of St. Andrew, Habitat for Humanity of Wake County, the Blood Connection, Backpack Buddies (through the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle), Family Promise (in partnership with Millbrook UMC), and the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Two programs were started by PGUMC members themselves: GreatMinds, an afterschool and tutoring program for children living in the nearby Stonecrest subsidized housing community that began in 1999; and the Young Disciples' Christmas for Robeson County, in which a fourth- and fifth-grade Sunday school class has raised more than $30,000 since 2005 to buy toys for children in one of North Carolina's poorest counties.
Other regular outreach partners include Alliance Medical Ministry (the recipient of Prayer Shawl Ministry gifts), the Arc of the Triangle (an annual angel tree), the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, Hilburn Academy (snacks and Thanksgiving meal boxes), the Methodist Home for Children, the Miracle League of the Triangle, the Robeson County Church and Community Center, Rise Against Hunger, and the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (in partnership with the Green Chair Project to set up housing for newly arrived refugees). A hardworking team of sewers and cutters make quilts for the Women's Center and table runners for the Green Chair Project.
The church has also organized at least fifteen major mission trips since 2005, with destinations including Mississippi for Hurricane Katrina relief (2005, 2006, 2007), Appalachia for the Appalachian Service Project (2007), Guatemala for a United Methodist Volunteers in Mission project (2008), coastal South Carolina for hurricane relief (2010), Black Mountain Home for Children in North Carolina (2012), the REACH program in Roanoke, Virginia (2014), Hinton Life Center in Hayesville (2015, 2017), St. Simon's Island, Georgia (2016), and a churchwide trip to Tarboro, North Carolina for Hurricane Florence relief in 2019. The next high school youth trip is planned for Baltimore, Maryland.
Senior Adults, United Methodist Men, and United Women in Faith
Senior adults at PGUMC gather for a monthly lunch and sing along and for a men's breakfast at Brig's on the second Tuesday of every month. The United Methodist Men plan and provide the yearly congregational meals - Fall BBQ, Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, and VBS meals - and run a handyman team that helps members with small household projects. They also organize outings to sporting events. United Women in Faith run sewing and craft groups, host socials, and lead short-term Bible studies.
The Cemetery and the Beloved Community
Behind the Sanctuary lies a cemetery of about 176 graves, some dating to the middle of the nineteenth century. The cemetery is segregated, with sections that reflect the racial separation of the era in which it was established. The largest headstone in the African American section belongs to Richard Chavis (1842-1914), and many graves of African American members remain unmarked or marked without names. The most recent burial, Dorothy Dixon Edwards, was laid to rest in 2013. Plots have not been available since January 2000.
The Church and Society Committee has begun a project it calls the Beloved Community Cemetery, taking its name from Martin Luther King Jr.'s phrase for a fair and just society. With a Peace with Justice grant from the conference Board of Church and Society, the committee is hosting workshops on race and other systems of exclusion, clearing the wooded African American section, and inviting descendants to share what they know about those buried there. The committee has also hosted a Historic Cemetery Specialist from the Office of State Archaeology to advise on restoration.
Pastoral Leadership and Staff
The current pastor, Rev. Heather Rodrigues, was appointed to Pleasant Grove in July 2026 after fifteen years in United Methodist ministry. She holds a degree from Duke Divinity (2009) and previously served as associate pastor at Millbrook UMC and lead pastor at Duke Memorial UMC. Chris Dodson, the Director of Worship Arts, came to PGUMC in 2013 from West Virginia, where he grew up; he holds degrees from West Virginia University and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and performs with several local ensembles. Ashley Yohman directs Children and Youth Ministries and has served on staff since 2014. Deborah Horton, a Certified Lay Minister commissioned in June 2023, coordinates volunteers. Jill Boliek, the accompanist, has been with PGUMC since 2007. Sarah Jane Richards joined the staff in September 2026 as a 9:45 worship leader. Julie Lebria has been the office administrator since 2005, and William Holley has managed live stream and audio-visual needs on Sunday mornings since 2021.
Giving and Records
PGUMC accepts one-time and recurring online gifts, gifts of stock (handled by the Methodist Foundation of the North Carolina Conference), and donations through Amazon Smile. The church maintains a member directory through Instant Church Directory, accessible online and through a mobile app. Recent membership reached 1,012 professing members by the end of 2019, a striking increase from 115 in 1953 and 390 in 1984.
Sermons are posted as a podcast and on the church's YouTube channel, where past recordings can also be viewed. Daily devotions are recommended through the Upper Room and Richard Rohr's daily meditations.
The church extends a standing welcome: whatever a visitor's race, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or relationship status, physical or mental ability, economic circumstance, political persuasion, faith background, age, history, or station in life, "you are welcome here." Members and visitors are invited to "bring your gifts, your pain, your doubt, and your hope, as together we learn, live, and tell the story of God's Grace."