Church History

Ankeny First United Methodist Church was the first church established in the town of Ankeny.  Known at that time as Ankeny Methodist Episcopal Church, the first church structure was constructed in 1886.  The original white frame church building is still standing on South Walnut Street, as a house. 

In 1903, a second brick building costing $11,000 was erected at our current location.  This church was replaced with a larger building in 1968.  That same year, the Methodist Church (which had changed its name from the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1939) merged with the Evangelical United Brethren Church to become the United Methodist Church.  Our local membership at that time was 1475.

In 1970, Faith United Methodist Church was constructed on NW 16th Street.  In 1998, Faith UMC was merged into the ministry of Ankeny First United Methodist Church.  Faith UMC was renamed and we began operating as one church with two locations: Faith Chapel and Uptown.  That same year the fellowship hall and chapel at the Uptown site was constructed at a cost of $2.6 million.  Our membership was 2600.

In the Fall of 2007, we initiated an additional 9:30 contemporary service at an off-site location at Parkview Middle School.  This new service was meant to ease the over-crowding at our 9:30 service at our Uptown Location, and it worked!  Around 120 people on average attended the Parkview service each Sunday.

In June, 2009, the service at Parkview moved to our newest location, the Christian Life Center, 710 NE 36th St in Ankeny.

This quick outline of our history is a strong foundation on which we are continuing to build as we seek God's will for future growth in ministry. We invite you to share in this story with us.