Griffith First United Methodist Church
Our Mission
Make desciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Our Vision
A community that welcomes all to experience God's love through worship, prayer, and life-changing activities.
Our Valules
Worship - We value worship that incorporates a variety of musical styles and artistic expression that helps people of multiple generations connect to and experience God
Relationships - We value relationships with each other and with the wider community in which we live and serve. To that end we welcome all who come and seek to build bridges to those who live and work around us
Prayer - We value prayer and helping people grow in spiritual formation
Children and Youth - We value connecting children and youth to God and helping them to participate in a variety of ministries
Discipleship Pathway
The pathway is a guideline to help followers of Christ in their spiritual growth. Whether your relationship is new and unexplored or deep and long-lived, you may use it to help guide you in your journey with Jesus. The growth of the tree, from seed to maturity, represents the maturity of your personal spiritual life. Under each phase you’ll find classes or activities that will help grow your faith.
Get Started
Get Rooted
Grow in Faith
Glow in Service
Our Pastor - Bill Jones
I was baptized and confirmed at the age of 16 and have been a member of the Methodist Church for over 30 years now. For the past 5 years I was the Youth Director at FUMC Griffith which helped me decide to answer my call to ministry. I'm a licensed Local Pastor and have been serving at Church of the Four Seasons since 9/1/2019 and was recently appointed to First United Methodist Church of Griffith. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us!
Some of my passions are being outdoors, working with youth and volunteering at Epworth Forest. I was able to enjoy all three of these things at once by volunteering as a counselor at Epworth for the last four years. Epworth is also where I revisited my call to ministry in 2018.
I’ve been married for 21 years and have one daughter, and we've lived in Griffith for about 16 years now.
I have two philosophies I live by:
1) Everyone messes up, learn by it and move on
2) Don’t let the little things take your focus off the big things
Pastor Bill Jones
Leadership and Staff
Our History
From 1860’s through the 1880’s Griffith residents traveled to St Michaels Church in Schererville for Sunday services. There was a huge desire to have a church in Griffith and it was up to the Methodists to lead the way to Griffith’s first house of worship
In 1893, worship services were led by circuit-riding ministers or supply ministers from Northwest Indiana Conference who normally would arrive in town once every six months
In 1904, when Griffith was formally established, the small Methodist congregation was meeting in homes and over Russell’s store and then in the Town Hall after 1911
In 1915 the first church was realized at the corner of Lafayette and Columbia– the Methodist Episcopal Church
In 1919 the building was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. In the early 20’s the church was rebuilt in a different location – Columbia and Junction Avenue (later named Broad Street)
In 1959 ground was broken for a new church building at 400 44th Place in Griffith and the congregation moved in on February 19, 1961. The church building on Broad Street was sold to the Griffith Masonic Lodge.
In 2020 we moved from our Griffith location to 2201 Azalea Drive in Highland Indiana