Our History

Around 1981, Madison began to grow from a small sleepy cotton town to a bustling suburb of nearby Huntsville. Cotton fields were slowly turning into new homes, stores, churches, and schools. This growth impacted Madison United Methodist Church. In 1982, Marcus Long became the pastor; the church added an 8:30am service to accommodate the growing number of people.  In 1983, Sam Burns became the Associate Pastor.

In November 1985, a church-wide conference was held and the decision was made to relocate, with those wishing to remain at Madison UMC to do so.  Another church conference met on Sunday, January 18, 1986. Those wanting to participate in beginning a new church signed a charter and placed it on the altar.  Asbury was chosen as the name for the new church.  The church was named after Francis Asbury, who was the first Methodist bishop appointed in America.

The church began meeting in a “Warehouse” on March 2, 1986, with 361 people attending.  In June of 1986 David Carboni was appointed as an Associate Pastor, to replace Sam Burns who had been killed in an accident.

Many people made great sacrifices to raise the money needed to buy land and begin building.  Six acres of land, at the corner of Gillespie and Hughes Roads was purchased for $60,000.  Not long after, six more acres was purchased.  The first service in the new building, called the Joy Building, was held on May 3, 1987. Total attendance that first Sunday was 651 people, most of whom were members.

The sanctuary, the Faith building, was completed and occupied in June 1991. Worship attendance in 1994 averaged 898 with two worship services. A third worship service was added in September 1994. Mac Chapmen served as Senior Pastor from 1990 – 1992.  Doug Wells served as Senior Pastor from 1992 – 1997.  In 1997 our current Senior Pastor, Alan Weatherly, was appointed to Asbury.  In 1998 contemporary worship, named aCross Generations,  was introduced at the church.  In 2000 Asbury began having 2 traditional and 2 contemporary services each Sunday.

In March 1997 the Hope Sunday School and Child Development Center building was completed. The number of children involved at Asbury has grown rapidly over the years. Certainly, the excellence of Children’s Ministry has been a magnet to many people in the community.

In the past decade Asbury has established a counseling center.  The counseling center began offsite but is now located on the campus.  There are currently 4 licensed professional counselors, 2 licensed clinical social workers and a psychiatrist.

In 2000 Asbury established ACTS, the Asbury Community Thrift Store.  Through this ministry many thousands of dollars have been generated to help the poor in our community.

In March 2002, with the help of the Mission Society, Asbury adopted an Acts 1:8 strategy for missions.  Since then Asbury has established missions as a priority for the church.  Hundreds of members of the church have travelled throughout the country and the world spreading the Good News of our Lord Jesus.  Hundreds more are involved in local missions and prison ministries. Currently Asbury has 60 missionary partners, 8 of whom are in strategic partnership.

In May 2002 the new Five Points youth building was completed and youth participation grew to more than 300.  Youth ministry has been a catalyst for much of the growth and many innovations at Asbury.

In recent years Asbury has sought to place a greater priority on prayer.  A vision for 24/7 prayer and worship began to take focus.  In June 2008 Asbury launched The Storehouse, on Jordan Lane in Huntsville. It is at the Storehouse that Asbury is growing into a house of prayer. In the latter part of 2010, the Storehouse moved to the Asbury campus and now has 24 hour worship from 9pm Sunday night to 9pm Monday night each week.

On Easter Sunday, 2010, The Grace Building opened.  This facility is the home to contemporary worship (aCross Generations) and the nursery/preschool ministry.  The Grace Building can accommodate over 1500 worshipers.