Ankeny First United Methodist Church

04/08/2026

04/07/2026

Attention families! Get your kiddos signed up today for our Children's Soccer League! Games are held on the first four Monday evenings in June.

https://ankenyfirst.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/3286322

04/06/2026

The earliest documented gathering of Ankeny First was a Sunday School organized in 1875, even before the church’s formal incorporation. In a schoolhouse northeast of town under the leadership of Eli Thornton, Grandma Sheppard asked that they invite God to begin their time together. In 1876, Reverend A.B. Shipman was appointed as the circuit minister for Saylorville, Polk City, Ankeny, and neighboring communities. He gathered with founders Gross, Parmenter, Riley, Sexauer, and Wagner in Sexauer’s home for the purpose of incorporating a Methodist church in the settlement of Ankeny. They had no building. They had no budget. They had only faith, a shared Methodist identity, and a longing to establish a spiritual home.

In that living room, surrounded by prairie, they committed themselves to planting a congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the only church in Ankeny for more than two decades. “They met in faith,” later generations would write, “and the future would show how good and right their vision was.”

YOU are part of Ankeny First’s story. Share your favorite moments and memories of your time at Ankeny First as well as your hopes for the future. (https://ankenyfirst.churchcenter.com/people/forms/1168561)

Photo Credit: “Irvinedale Farm,” Ankeny Historical Society

04/05/2026

He rose!

04/03/2026

Join us this evening at 6:30pm at our Uptown site for our Good Friday Cantata.

206 SW Walnut Street, Ankeny

04/02/2026

John 13:34: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another" (ESV).

Join us this evening at 6:30pm at the CLC for a Maundy Thursday worship service.

04/01/2026

We have a new Mission of the Month! Throughout April, we’re supporting Bright Beginnings Preschool in three meaningful ways. We’re collecting donations to provide preschool scholarships for families in need, helping make early education more accessible by covering a portion of tuition for those who qualify. We’re also hosting a Spring Clean-Up Day on April 18 to care for the preschool spaces within the church (register at https://ankenyfirst.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/3549290), and inviting you to support their supplies wish list on Amazon here (https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/36U3GXBQKBW7N?ref_=cm_sw_r_em_ud_ggr-subnav-share_B4BEQAWZSQ75J0V2MYA5).

Your generosity—through giving, serving, and donating needed items—helps create a safe, welcoming, and well-equipped environment where children can learn and grow. Give monetarily by writing "April Mission of the Month" on your check memo or simply give at www.AnkenyFirst.org.