My name’s Daniel Payton and I’m the Pastor of the McCordsville United Methodist Church. I come from a long line of United Methodist Pastors, as I’m a third generation UMC preacher. For my undergraduate studies, I received a degree in Biblical Studies (Bachelor of Arts) from Indiana Wesleyan University. I did my graduate studies at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. A great passion that I have in my life, which was stoked by both schools, is that of the Bible. I absolutely love digging into the rich historical and cultural context of God’s Word. I believe deeply that God inspired the original writing of the Bible, and that He longs today to apply the truth that was spoken, to our everyday lives.

Another great passion of my life is that of the local church, which I believe the MUMC is uniquely extraordinary. There is truly nothing like beholding a congregation that is intentionally serving Christ, loving God, loving each other and their surrounding community. We as a congregation come from many walks of life. When we come together as a church we leave our differences at the door. Doing so has enabled us to soar to incredible heights in matters of worship and mission. We are what they consider a mid-sized congregation. We average about 125 to 150 in worship on Sunday mornings. This number does include the people that worship weekly with us online.

What amazes me is that we as a congregation actively serve well over our average worship attendance, every single week. We do so through our Food Pantry, Community Meals, Helping Hands Ministries and through other partnerships like we have with the Tuxedo Park Baptist Church. We as a congregation believe firmly in being good neighbors. Almost nine years ago at a Missions Meeting, the question was posed, “What if we literally did just that, be a good neighbor to our community?” The answer is being lived out in the here and now through us together.  

What can you expect from joining us? Is a loving, accepting welcome no matter who you are or what you’ve been through. You can expect to be included, to be given opportunity after opportunity to join in God’s work to make a difference in someone else’s life. You can expect a Sunday morning, a time of compassionate fellowship and vibrant worship. We as a church are traditional at our core, but I like to think of us as more lively than not. During Sunday morning worship the old hymns are sung, the Apostles Creed is read, the Lord’s Prayer is prayed, Scripture is proclaimed, and at the heart of it all, of us, is Jesus. He is the reason that we gather, He is the reason that we sing, He is the reason that we worship, and He is the reason that we serve.

A couple verses that truly sum up, us, are the following: Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV) 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

And this is how we have and will continue to make our swath in this world as the McCordsville United Methodist Church.