Decades before I-210 was built as Lake Charles was expanding to the south and new subdivisions were being built to provide homes for expanding industries, the Lake Charles District of the Methodist Church commissioned a new church.  With a lot of help from First Methodist Church of Lake Charles, the new church became a reality.

On September 28, 1947, in an unfinished building on the edge of a prairie in what was then South Lake Charles, the first worship service was held.  The name University Methodist was chosen because of its proximity to McNeese Junior College, which later became McNeese State University.

University Methodist Church gained national attention when the Christian Advocate magazine nicknamed the church the Miracle Church, because 226 people became members and 17 infants were baptized on the very first Sunday.

The city has expanded around us and now University United Methodist Church sits in the heart of the city.  The church has grown as well and now includes a beautiful sanctuary for traditional worship, a contemporary worship center, Sunday school classes, and a day school wing that houses a week-day preschool.

As it approaches 70 years in ministry, University United Methodist Church continues to live out its identity as a miracle church, as a community of imperfect Christ-followers longing to connect with you, to care for each other and our community near and far, and to change the world through Christ’s love.