About Us

First United Methodist Church of Baton Rouge was incorporated by legislative act on January 25, 1834. From an initial membership of about fifty in 1835, the church grew exponentially over the ensuing decades, aided in large part by the commitment and industry of its dedicated pastors.

Office Hours:

9:00 AM-5:00 PM, Monday – Thursday
9:00 AM-4:00 PM, Friday

Television Broadcast on Sundays:

9:30 AM on WBXH (Cox Channel 16, Digital Channel 39, Dish TV Channel 39)
10:30 AM on WAFB Channel 9

Radio Broadcast on Sundays:

5:30 AM on WYNK 101.5 FM
8:00 AM on THE RIVER 96.1 FM

The History of FUMC Baton Rouge

Christianity, quite literally, flowed into Louisiana. Catholic missionaries who bore the sacred symbol of the cross of Jesus first entered this land aboard vessels plying the Mississippi River. In time, more and more missionaries descended the Mississippi, among them the “people called Methodists.” Shaped by a Wesleyan vision and powered by an evangelical fervor, ministers such as Learner Blackman, Tobias Gibson, and Elisha W. Bowman would carry the cross throughout what is now southern Louisiana, including one settlement destined to grow into a great city on the river – Baton Rouge. And it was from those who gathered around that first cross planted by Methodists in Baton Rouge that one of the city’s great churches, First United Methodist Church, also would grow.

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sanctuary with tile people leaving service, FUMC, Baton Rouge
sanctuary pews, About Us About Us, First United Methodist Church of Baton Rouge

The History of the United Methodist Church

In 1729 England, a small group of Oxford University students were ridiculed as “Bible Bigots,” the “Holy Club” and “Methodists” because they spent so much time in methodical prayer and Bible reading. Led by John and Charles Wesley, the students held their ground against jeering students and went out to preach and pray with those considered to be the underbelly of English society.

The United Methodist Church is the result of a 1939 merger of three Methodist bodies (Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal South and Methodist Protestant churches), and a 1968 union of the Evangelical United Brethren and The Methodist churches.
The United Methodist Church is part of a Wesleyan movement that now claims a total of 18 million members of various Methodist churches around the world. There are 8.5 million Methodists in the United States and one million members of the denomination outside of the United States.
The United Methodist Church is part of the Church Universal. All persons, regardless of race, color, national origin, status, or economic condition are welcome to attend its services, receive Holy Communion, and, after taking vows, be baptized and admitted into membership.
Denominational practices and standards are set by General Conferences that meet once every four years. Delegates to that conference are elected by clergy and lay representatives from local churches gathered in regional annual conferences.