The University Church

About Us

A Community With A Conscience

Are you looking for a faith community devoted to reaching out? Finding meaning in life? Finding purpose?

Are you looking to transform our community, our country and the world? To make a difference? To be part of something bigger than yourself?

Then you’ve just found what you’ve been looking for: The University Church!

Programs: Community Service, Social Justice, Faith and Work, Young Adults, Missions, Nursery, Adult Education, Children's Ministry

Music: Passionate Reverent, Traditional Hymns, Contemporary

Denomination: United Methodist Church

Size: Small

Language: English

Founded: 2006

Contact Information

Phone

419 534-3080

Website

http://www.theuniversitychurchtoledo.org

Our Services

Service Times

Sunday

10:00am: Service
06:00pm: Service

What to Expect

What are services like?
What can you expect at a worship gathering? You can expect to meet some friendly, kind and interesting people. And, although our gatherings are never quite the same from week to week, you can expect that typically we will include the following elements: A greeting from the pastor. A brief announcement about upcoming events in the life of the community. A call to worship in which the leader and the church family join together. An opening prayer. Songs, sung communally. A reading from the Old Testament. A reading from the New Testament. Music by our praise team, or guest artists. A message. Holy Communion. The Lord’s Prayer, said communally. Words of “sending forth”. Passing the peace (a way of greeting each other). Our worship gatherings usually last about one hour and fifteen minutes. After evening worship everyone is invited to gather at a local restaurant for our “Afterglow!” to carry on the conversation begun in worship and for fellowship. We hope that you will join us!

What is the community like?
Take a look at the folks involved with our church family in this video, featuring our Fall family Festival ... you'll get a good feel for who we are: http://youtu.be/OlKXJbCkk1Y Thanks for watching!

What if I'm not a Christian?
You'll be welcome! If you are interested in being part of a community that welcomes all people, that cares about individuals and the neighborhood, and that seeks to live in meaningful ways, then you fit here. We see relationships as central to living as an authentic church community. If you are looking to understand yourself, build meaningful relationships with others, and to find, build or develop a relationship with God, then you will find much in common with the people here. We are people who seek transformation of our community, and that cannot be accomplished unless we work together. Your skills and interests will find new meaning as you explore how you can make a difference in the world. We don’t expect you to think a certain way, dress a certain way, or act a certain way. We do ask you to explore, ask questions and then to decide if you’d like to commit to being part of this community in a way that works for you. If you have wondered if your life has meaning, if you have a purpose and if you can make a difference, then The University Church offers you the opportunity to be part of something bigger than yourself that will make a difference in your life.

Leadership

Julian Davies

Julian was born in England where he grew up entirely outside the church. It wasn’t so much that he never gave church a second thought, he never thought about it at all. After completing his B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees, he moved to Canada where he held a postdoctoral fellowship in chemistry for two years before coming to Toledo to take up a faculty position in the chemistry department at The University of Toledo. He served at UT as Assistant Professor for 3 years, Associate Professor for 3 years, Professor for 3 years and as Distinguished University Professor for 14 years, including nearly 3 years as Associate Dean for the Natural Sciences and Mathematics. During this time he was awarded the university’s outstanding teaching award, the outstanding research award and various other bits and pieces that seemed important at the time. Along the way he got married to Mary Kay Smith who had been raised in a small United Methodist Church in Pemberville, Ohio. She persuaded him to visit a church with her one Sunday where Julian proceeded to irritate everyone by asking questions about almost everything (“why do you say ‘amen’ at the end of prayers?” …. “is it OK to ask questions during the sermon?” …. “why does everyone keep standing up and then sitting down all the time?”…. and so on). Fortunately the people there embraced him and made him part of their church family. After a journey through many Sunday School classes, retreat experiences and a host of other formative events, Julian realized that he was called into ministry. He took himself off to seminary to obtain the M.Div. degree, resigned his position at UT and entered the ministry in The United Methodist Church. He served at Epworth U.M. Church in Toledo for three years, first as Youth Pastor and then as Interim Pastor before being appointed by his Bishop to return to the university community and start a new church. Because Julian didn’t grow up in a church and still doesn’t really know why churches do most of the things that they do, don’t expect The University Church to look like anything you’ve ever seen before!