About Us

On the first day of 1900, a Methodist Church — Smith Chapel — was established at Rockhill in honor of C.L. Smith, who donated money for the building. When the Frisco railway was built through west Collin County in 1902, the town of Prosper was established. The Chapel was relocated to the corner of First and Third Streets. and, in 1924, the building burned beyond repair. That same year, materials from the old frame church were used in the concrete for a new structure, a brick church, which was completed and furnished for $22,000. Approximately 20 worshiping adults designed a building that would seat well over 200!

The historic sanctuary remains framed by the solid oak timbers and beautiful stained glass windows that were hauled in by horse and wagon. These are testaments of remembrance to our deep roots.

As the community around us continued to swell and burst past normal growth projections, as we continued to meet new families seeking a church family, and as we continued to expand our ministries, the demands on the Church Street campus was stretched it to its limits.

Seating capacities limited the number of people who could join with us in worship each Sunday. Because of a limited number of classrooms, we couldn’t add more Sunday School classes for children, youth or adults. Space utilization had limited our creative attempts to implement new youth small groups and activities – there is only so much we could do in the largest spaces with 30-40 youth and counselors. We couldn’t fellowship and connect as a church as fully as we would have liked because the design of the building did not accommodate for our growing congregation or community groups.

Through creative repurposing of former parsonages, former closets and offices, through face-lifts, cosmetic upgrades and expensive renovations on basic systems, our aging campus had faithfully served us as a tool for the Kingdom-impact work. The building had been a tool of blessing.

And so, in 2021 we began a building campaign to directly address and alleviate the challenges that are keeping us from blessing the Prosper community and beyond. We were moving from can’t to can!

You see, God has already provided the greatest can’t-to-can. Our church is on a journey that has already experienced miracle territory! It began with the generous gift of farmland from O.J. and Nellie Lanier. Once sold, the church had resources to pay off our ministry-limiting debt, invest in upgrades and needed repairs to keep us moving forward and press ahead in discerning next steps. From that faithful work, a unanimous church decision was reached to purchase a new piece of property located about 2 miles away along the north side of Coleman St. (west of Preston Rd. and east of Prosper High School). These 39 acres represent the next 100 years of this church as it created the space needed to dream and imagine new ways to bless the Prosper community and beyond. After a Ground Breaking Ceremony in the Spring of 2021, construction began. What was once just a piece of dirt became the site of a budding campus. As the building continued, a request to the Town of Prosper to name the road leading onto our new campus was granted. Our new campus now sits on Lanier Way in honor of the generous gift from O.J. and Nellie Lanier.

Prosper UMC has been in community with Prosper for over 100 years and we look forward to the next 100 years!