Q: What are your favorite memories of life at Boone UMC?

A: One of my favorite memories from the old church on King Street was that I always went to the Sunday School class that Jenny Groce taught. She always brought Little Debbie cakes…chocolate swirls with vanilla cream…and Cherry Coke. One Sunday, she wasn’t there and there was this new person just hired named Vern. And I was like, “Who is this random guy? And where are the Little Debbies?” But as the conversation and time went on, he had a way of engaging. I felt really seen and really cared for. That youth group had a culture that was genuine. When I went to the high school, they were kind to me and welcomed me, even though I was just a lowly freshman.

Q: What are your hopes for the future of Boone UMC?

A: It seems that things continue to be very polarized. And I think it is very important that we make spaces for everyone, for diversity, and to learn from each other. And I hope the church continues to do what it did for me, which is to see the strength in our youth and our young people and let our young people lead us.

Q: What do you remember about our move from King Street to New Market Blvd.?

A: I still have a brick from the original building that burned. I have been here since the early ‘80s. I remember the conversation at a church meeting when we discussed coming here to New Market Blvd. Tom Cottingham stood up in front of the meeting and said, “We have to go where God leads us.”

I was on a committee with Ruth Petrey. She was someone who could really get things done. She would have an idea and would encourage other people to help make it a reality. She was the one who saw the need for a preschool. So, we started Boone United Methodist Preschool. She also decided there should be recycling in town. So, we would have people bring their recyclables to the church. And every month, someone would take those items to the landfill. And we would get around $25 a month for the recycling that we delivered. And then we put that money into another ministry. We did that for several years before the Town of Boone began a program. The ministries that we have expanded here at New Market Blvd. got their start on King Street. The preschool has grown, and now our Creation Care Team and Trail have continued our legacy of caring for the earth.

Q: What are your favorite memories of life at Boone UMC?

A: One of my first favorite memories of life at Boone United Methodist Church was when Vern put together a 20 foot-long ice cream sundae for the youth. And I swear he put it in something like a gutter. But I remember it was amazing and everybody ate it. I also remember one of the first talent shows that we did here. And I also remember Senior Sunday. I was a senior, and Vern and Piper sang a song to us. I still have the CD of that song. But then I went off to college and there have been a lot of memories since then: our wedding, our kids’ baptisms, and, most recently, their confirmations.

Q: What do you remember about the move from King Street to New Market Blvd.?

A: The biggest thing that I remember about the move is John Marshbanks bringing the big metal cross that used to sit on the top of the church all the way down King Street to the new church here on New Market Blvd. Now that cross actually sits in the Columbarium, so it has an even newer life since we first moved 25 years ago.

Q: What are your hopes for the future of Boone UMC?

A: I think my hope for Boone United Methodist Church is that we continue to come up with fresh ideas and take a leap of faith while still honoring traditions. If we had stayed on King Street, we wouldn’t be the church we are today. It took a big leap of faith for us to move all the way out here. So, I hope we continue to invest in our children, our youth, and all of the different angles we take to share the love of Jesus Christ.

Q: What are your first memories of Boone UMC?
A: I was part of Boone United Methodist Preschool, so I have memories with Jana Duke and Janet Mears, reading stories and making crafts, which, by the way, still make it on my mother’s tree every Christmas. That was a really warm, sunny time. And, of course, on Sundays, I would come to church with my parents and my sisters. We would sit in a pew and go to Sunday School, laying the foundations of my faith and learning Bible stories.

Q: What are your favorite memories of life at Boone UMC?
A: I think going through confirmation was one of the most formative times of my life in the church. I think it was one of the first times that faith wasn’t just a passive thing. It was no longer just a routine thing we did on Sundays. It was a time when I was engaging. I was able to ask questions. I was able to take what I was learning and apply it to life. That was really, really important to me. Faith became this very active thing that I chose in the day-to-day. That Confirmation Sunday was always such a special time. People laid their hands on me when I got confirmed. I was always part of the church. But that was the first time I got to choose the church back.

Q: What do you think Boone UMC does well?
A: I think Boone United Methodist Church does a really good job of providing opportunities for people with all sorts of gifts to serve. I think it is easy to think that God can only use a certain kind of gift, but I don’t think our church thinks that is true. So if you are good at gardening or working with children, or food, or music, there is always an opportunity for you to serve. I don’t think there is a gift too small for the church or too unimportant for a congregation member. I think Boone UMC is always going to encourage you to use your gifts. I think it is really important for a church to not just live for Christ, but to live like Him. Boone UMC’s focus on service is really important to me.

Q: What are your hopes for this church’s future?
A: My greatest hope for the church is to always leave our doors open and our hearts open. In a world that is full of a lot of division and a lot of pain, leading with a lot of love the way Jesus does is really important. When we are celebrating 225 years of the church, I hope that we can always look back and know that we were a church of acceptance and love.

Q: What do you remember about the move from King Street to 471 New Market Blvd.?
A: I have been with the church for several decades and was a part of the team that considered moving the church. We had a church downtown that was landlocked. Our education space was falling apart. We really couldn’t come up with any new ministries at that location. We had very little parking. A group of us decided we needed to consider moving from this location to a much larger footprint. All kinds of things had to line up for us to do that, so God had to be watching us all the way through the process. When we got here, our members couldn’t wait to come up with new plans, new ministries, new programs to reach out to the community. We can be very proud of what we did, and we can be very proud of the changes we are making right now.

Q: What were some of the obstacles of moving to this location?
A: The number of decisions was unbelievable. You can imagine the number of decisions it takes to build a house. I was in discussions about the organ. How big was this organ going to be? How many stops was it going to have? How many pipes? All other kinds of decisions were involved, like what kind of kitchen do we want? Do we want an industrial, commercial-grade kitchen and what kind of equipment would we need? And landscaping — how beautiful did we want the church to look from the outside? There was a whole group that was involved in coming up with the shrubbery and the types of grass and mulch. It was a Herculean task, and we did it loving each other. Caring for each other. And always trusting in God that we were doing the right thing.

Q: What are your hopes and prayers for the future of Boone UMC?
A: This church will continue to be innovative and take chances and move forward. If you look at the youth of this church. If you look at any of the services where the children have done musicals — that is the future. We have 60, maybe 85 children involved with the choir and the musical that was put on the other week. Not only the kids, but teachers that work with them — the talent that this church has. Any one who watches them believes in the future where we are heading.

Q: How do we encourage and nurture future leaders for this church?
A: When I became a member here as a young man, I remember some of the leaders, and they were much older than me. They had many years of experience. I remember them bringing along people like me. There was a whole group of people in my age group, and those older people  mentored us. They helped bring us along. And, of course, God’s hand was there that whole time, and we were all praying. And we all knew that we had to grow leaders internally. We didn’t have to go outside. We had a large number of people in the church who could grow into leadership positions. I have faith that this church will continue to do that. We have young people running around all over this church in Crossroads and in the 8:30 and 11:00 am services, and I don’t think we will have any trouble coming up with the next generation of leaders.

Q: What are your earliest memories of Boone UMC?
A: I was born in December 1999, and the church opened in the summer of 2000. So I have essentially spent my entire life attending Boone United Methodist Church. My earliest memories are attending Boone United Methodist Preschool. Also Vacation Bible School. Sometimes during the summer, I would go with my Mom to work in the Church Office for a few hours. Or, sometimes I would get out of school and help her. She would do things like stuff bulletins, and I would see how it operated.

Q: How do you believe Boone UMC has changed you as a follower of Christ?
A: I would say Boone UMC has been very central in establishing my faith. Whether it was attending Sunday School as a kid or listening to sermons, there have been a lot of takeaways that I have made and thought more about. It has established me as a person through all of the friends I have made through Sunday School, Club 45. I have made lots of friends and connections through some of the older people through the congregation.

Q: What are your favorite memories of life at Boone UMC?
A: One of my favorite memories was the Back to School Barbecue and playing on the inflatables. I also enjoyed working with Mom in the Church Office. Recently, I have enjoyed the volunteer and creative work I have done. Starting in 2012, I helped out with VBS. Then, I will always treasure the mission trip I took in April 2024 to Selma, Ala., with my dad and several others. We were there to repair homes that were damaged by a tornado. It also gave us a chance to spread God’s love to that community and strengthen our own bonds.

Q: What was your involvement in moving to 471 New Market Boulevard?
A: We built the picnic shelter here two years before we began building the church. I pulled the building and electrical permit. Audrey and I did the wiring. A lot of other people did the labor.

Q: What do you remember about the early days of being in the new building?
A: I remember it was all fresh and new. We had more areas that could lend themselves to the community. Over the years, that has really blossomed

Q: What would you like to see for the next 25 years?
A: More of the same! I plan to still be here, and I am sure I will notice great improvements over what we have now, which is really good.