Did you know ?

The original plan was to name the new church “Homestead Heights Methodist Church” reflecting the surrounding area. However, Bishop Garber, hearing of the transformation of a dance hall into a church, said it reminded him of the radical change John Wesley experienced at Aldersgate and successfully proposed to call the new church “Aldersgate”.

The original address of Aldersgate was Horton Road and Reade Avenue because Duke Street did not extend that far out at the time!

The next snippet of AUMC history will describe renovations in the early days to transform the cinder block building into a church.

The original Aldersgate Methodist Church (formerly Smith’s Dance Hall) was located at northernmost fringe of Durham and lacked water and sewage. A well was dug largely through rock hitting water at a depth of 138 feet. Digging for a septic tank by men of the church was accomplished at night by the light of kerosene lanterns.

Have you ever heard of a Thacker Whacker? This homemade device, named for its inventor Howard Thacker, was used annually to more safely pound metal poles into the dirt/gravel parking lot of the church with a sledgehammer. Christmas trees for sale were then lashed to the poles with twine. Primitive? Yes; but effective.

The annual budget for Aldersgate in 1958-1959 was $3,518. This annual budget was less than one fourth the weekly budget for 2026.

The two large chairs at the rear of the sanctuary were the Pulpit Chairs at the "old" church on Duke Street. One chair was given by Annie Mae and John Chappell, and the other by Doris and Tom Blalock.

The stained glass windows on each side of the altar came from the "old" church. The Women's Society of Christian Service (WSCS) raised funds to purchase them by making and selling Brunswick Stew. Pearl Turner and Lee King were sent to Raleigh Stained Glass Company to select them.

Mo Brueckner and Anthony DeFelippo made small crosses out of the wooden altar rail from the "old" church. Each church family received one. For several years, each family that joined the "new" church was also given one until they ran out.

Aldersgate began making Chrismons and decorating a tree around 1976-1979 in the "old" church. Joan Coble and Georgine Brueckner led the United Methodist Women (UMW) in making the gold and white bead symbols of Jesus Christ.

The first banners displayed in the "old" church were rented from the Conference Media Center by Pastor Bob Wallace. When they had to be returned, the congregation sorely missed them. Elisabeth King, Lee and Burton King's daughter-in-law, designed and made Aldersgate's first banner, which was for communion.

Did you know that from 1981-1985, Aldersgate sponsored a family of Cambodian refugees (the Siengs who arrived June 1982? They stayed in Durham until June 1985 when they moved to Houston, Texas to be near family who had come to the U.S.