who is the u?

We stand on the edge of a new day of ministry at University. Years of planning, hoping, dreaming, and sacrificing are about to come to fruition. Soon we will be opening a facility consecrated to God and dedicated to reaching generations who are perishing. As we look forward to that great new day, I want to encourage you to pause and simply remember from where we have come.

History, they say, has a way of repeating itself. As we consider the great and glorious future that God has for us, we would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge that who we are is who we have always been. In the midst of new logos, new buildings, and new paradigms for communicating and sharing ourselves with our community, we must remember that all this newness is nothing new for the U!

Consider these words that I shamelessly pulled and redacted from our spiffy new website (www.uchurch.tv): University began with twelve faithful laypersons and the Reverend A. E. Rector. The year was 1890 and the place was the west side of Woodlawn Lake. This dedicated group assembled to worship on July 25th in the West End Methodist Church, so named because it was then the west end of San Antonio! With a strong sense of mission, our small congregation reached out to others and grew.

By 1915, we realized that we had made a mistake in locating the church. Our buggies got stuck in the mud whenever it rained! After 1920 it was clearly time to move. So, move we did to a small wooden structure built on Woodlawn Avenue, which became known in 1923 as Woodlawn Methodist Church.

We grew in every way. By 1925 we provided a variety of ministries to reach others and to support our 327 members. In 1927 we erected a new building to accommodate a membership which eventually grew to over 1,500.

As the area around the church changed, the congregation tried to reach its neighbors in meaningful ways, while also purchasing a site on De Zavala Road on which to establish a new mission church. We consecrated the new site as Woodlawn North on December 29, 1974. We held Sunday School in a farm house on the site and, to serve our new community, soon began a Mother's Day Out program.

The Woodlawn church building was sold in 1976 to the Rio Grande Conference of the United Methodist Church. It was sold for $250,000 less than the top bid so that it could remain a Methodist Church. Neighbors in that area now worship God and offer a vital ministry through the El Divino Salvador United Methodist Church.

The Woodlawn and Woodlawn North congregations began worshipping together on the northwest location on August 27, 1978, with approximately 250 members. Signifying our desire to be relevant in to our neighbors and people had put before us to reach for Christ, we changed the name of our church to University.

In 1980 we finished a stone multi-purpose building to house our expanding ministry. On Christmas Eve, 1988, we began worship in our new Sanctuary, in 1996 we opened our new Education Facility, and in 2000 we opened our Children's & Music Facility. In 6 months we will open our Student and Multipurpose Building.

This is our story. It has not ended. As long as there are people who are in need and who do not know the love and joy of Jesus Christ, our story will go on. Because we are the Church, Christ is our story.

Amazing, isn’t it? Our spiritual ancestors have left us a legacy that compels us to do everything in our power to continue the mission of Jesus Christ. It is through the teaching and example of our oldest generations that we continue to be relevant to new upcoming generations. It is because of the faithfulness of our dearest saints that we know we are bound to our history in such a way that compels us toward a new and changed future!
Over the years, our church has been known by many names: West End Methodist Episcopal Church; Woodlawn Methodist Episcopal Church; Woodlawn United Methodist Church; Woodlawn North; University United Methodist Church. Whether people know us as “Woodlawn”, “University”, “University UMC”, “University United Methodist Church”, “UUMC”, “The U,” or very likely, “that big stone church,” we will continue to be the same Body of Jesus Christ – committed to sharing his grace always and everywhere. Let us honor our spiritual mothers and fathers by continuing in the legacy they have bequeathed to us. Let us be unafraid of change that we may speak to our neighbors and those in need in such a way that transforms their lives into new creations of Jesus Christ.