Organized in 1891, First Church was the very first church in the village of Sarasota, Florida.

As the only Sarasota organization in existence today that existed in 1891, First United Methodist Church parallels and represents the history of Sarasota.

The first services were in a little school building on Main Street with the Reverend E. F. Gates, a horseback riding circuit-rider, as the first pastor. Reverend Will Tresca was sent to formally organize the church. He gathered twelve members in a Main Street storeroom for the signing of the charter. That property, on the corner of Pineapple Avenue and Main Street at Five Points, was purchased for $40. That first building looked more like a barn than a church.

Throughout the decades, this congregation has been constantly re-evaluating its mission and purpose in serving those locally and globally.  As a downtown church, half of the congregation drives more than three miles to attend worship and other church activities.  We now find ourselves on the cusp of a revitalizing downtown Sarasota with burgeoning opportunity for our mission - to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.