WHERE WE’VE BEEN
Getwell Road United Methodist Church began as a small congregation that held its first worship service on September 7, 1986, in the Southaven Shrine Building under the direction of Rev. Bill McAlilly. After moving to its current location on Getwell Road following construction of what is now our Chapel, two building projects followed: an education wing addition to the Chapel, and the Family Life Center, the latter christened on the church’s 11th anniversary.
  Over the years, Rev. McAlilly was succeeded by three senior pastors, including Rev. Bill Beavers who currently leads Sunday worship and the staff at Getwell Road.
  In November 2002, a mid-week service, The Awakening, was added, led by Teaching Pastor Brad Butler. It soon outgrew its original home in our Chapel and moved to where we hold Sunday worship in the Family Life Center (FLC).
  Each of our buildings is equipped with our signature “green roof,” a physical element that distinguishes us from the six other churches within a mile stretch of Getwell Road. But it’s what God has built on the inside that is truly our foundation.

WHERE WE ARE
  As of the beginning of 2007, our membership has exceeded 1,400 with an average attendance of almost 800. Because we are nearing capacity on Sunday mornings in our FLC, plans for building a new
Worship Center are on the horizon.
   On Sundays, we offer two worship services - 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Children aged 4 years through 2nd grade are excused to Children’s Church shortly after worship begins. At 10:00 a.m., every room on campus is alive with small groups & Sunday School, including our education wing which houses “Power Hour” for 4-year-olds through 5th graders. Our sixth graders, called “Super Sixers,” have a special curriculum all their own which prepares them for youth activities the coming year.  Youth (7th-12th Grade) also have special Sunday School classes as well as meet up again on Sunday evenings from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Sunday nights are also prime time for committee meetings as well as choir rehearsal.
  Stop by any day of the week and you’re sure to find something that fits the design of your family. Monday through Thursday, our Getwell Road Day School provides a Christian learning environment for preschoolers. At night the entire campus is also buzzing with activity from counseling to small group studies to scouting ... to name just a few. Our spiritual health isn’t the only thing we work to tone. Seasonal team sports meet throughout the year to promote physical fitness.
  On Wednesdays from 5:30 p.m. until 6:45 p.m. during the school year, our children participate in Recharge where workshops in cooking, music, science & games are used to refill their tanks until Sunday. The Super Sixers are busy preparing for the next Kidstuf -- a stage production teaching the virtue of the month.  Youth also meet for small groups beginning at 5:30 p.m. All activities are over at 6:45 p.m. so that families may worship together at The Awakening. Worship begins at 7:00 p.m. and combines music, drama, and the spoken word in a contemporary setting.

WHERE WE’RE GOING
It’s been said that looking back at your past helps give clarity to your future. At Getwell Road, we are not only looking back at our history as a congregation, but all the way back to the church described in Acts 2:
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” -- Acts 2:42-27
  This description of the early church is so exciting we find ourselves asking, “Why not now? Why not today? Who wouldn’t want to be a part of a church where happiness is multiplied and sorrow is divided because everyone is intent on sharing what they have?  
  Why not now! The question has turned into an emphatic response leading us into our future, using the Acts 2 church as a model.  We are dedicated to providing our community a place to seek a closer relationship with God. We are committed to developing people to share their faith in daily living and grow in spiritual maturity. We have a desire to bring people into a relationship with Christ because we truly believe that everyone matters to God. So they matter to us.
  And just as He did with the church in Acts 2, God continues to bless us by adding to our number. Hardly a week goes by where a family or individual doesn’t join our church.
  In response to our rapid growth, we have since finished out our Family Life Center with an expanded nursery, commercial kitchen, additional storage and state-of-the-art Youth rooms including a theater. Construction of our new sanctuary will begin by the summer of 2007, with plans to expand our educational facilities in the future.
    If you’re looking for a place to worship and grow in your relationship with God, stop by anytime; we’d love to show you around. If you want to see our church, however, come on Sunday mornings or Wednesday nights. That’s when they all show up at once. For our church isn’t our buildings; it’s the life inside of them.