University Heights United Methodist Church

What University Heights United Methodist Church does

University Heights United Methodist Church (UHUMC) is a non-profit United Methodist congregation founded in 1956 in Decatur, Georgia, serving the North Druid Woods neighborhood and surrounding Laurel Ridge and Shamrock communities. The church delivers a Sunday worship service at 11:00 a.m. with a Chancel Choir, concurrent Sunday School for adults (9:30 a.m.) and youth (9:45 a.m.), and supplementary programs including a monthly Open Mic Night, a Prayer Request Ministry, and an annual Vacation Bible School (VBS) for children ages 2 through 4th grade. Since 2001 it has operated Preschool at The Heights (PATH), a weekday preschool serving 50+ children ages 2-5, which functions as both a community-facing ministry and a structural anchor of the church's engagement with young families.

The church operates from a single owned campus at 1267 Balsam Drive, Decatur, GA 30033, with a sanctuary constructed in the 1960s and an educational building renovated in 1969. Headcount is reported in the 11-50 range, with a small core staff of four named leaders: Pastor Briggs Smith (an ordained UMC elder and Duke Divinity School graduate), Director of Music & Worship Linda Cooke, Office Manager & PATH Director Nicole Sinkler, and Custodian David Maxson. The technology stack is intentionally minimal and entirely third-party: clover-sites for the website, REALM for online giving and recurring donations, YouTube for recorded worship, Google Calendar for event scheduling, and Google Forms for registrations and prayer requests. No proprietary technology, mobile app, or AI capability is disclosed.

The business model is donation-driven, anchored by voluntary tithes and offerings from congregation members collected in person, by mail, or through REALM online giving — including designated gifts to specific ministries and optional recurring payments. Secondary revenue comes from PATH preschool tuition (implied from program scale; rates not disclosed) and modest VBS registration fees ($50 per child before May 15, $75 thereafter, with teen volunteers free). Services are free at the point of use; pricing is not the primary commercial lever. The recipient base consists of neighborhood families, young families with preschool-age children, school-age children and youth, and adults and seniors — all horizontal persona segments within a single local service area.

Name

University Heights United Methodist Church

Legal name

University Heights United Methodist Church

Website

https://uhumc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1956

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

University Heights United Methodist Church is a non-profit United Methodist congregation in Decatur, Georgia, founded in 1956, offering Sunday worship, Christian education, Open Mic Night, Vacation Bible School, and the Preschool at The Heights serving 50+ neighborhood children.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious and Congregational Worship Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (8131), Educational Services (611)

akta.pro primary industry

Faith-Based Education & Formation (Seminaries, Religious Schools, Catechesis) (BPAGAJAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Religious Music & Worship Broadcasting (MPABALAN)

Keywords

• Religious worship services
• Christian education programs
• Community preschool services
• Vacation Bible School
• Church youth ministries

Headquarters

HQ city

Decatur

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Tithes and Offerings: Voluntary donations from congregation members collected during worship services, by mail, or through online giving via the REALM platform.
2. Online Giving via REALM: Donors can select specific ministries to support and set up automatic recurring payments through the REALM online giving platform.
3. VBS Registration Fees: Vacation Bible School charges $50 per child participant ($75 after late deadline) with teen volunteers free of charge.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

University Heights United Methodist Church is a neighborhood congregation offering weekly Sunday worship at 11:00 a.m., adult and youth Sunday School, Chancel Choir music ministry, Vacation Bible School for children, Preschool at The Heights (PATH) for ages 2-5, prayer request ministry, Open Mic Night community gatherings, and online giving via REALM along with sermon recordings on YouTube.

Product overview

University Heights United Methodist Church offers a unified portfolio of religious and community programs centered around Sunday worship. The core offerings include weekly Sunday worship services at 11:00 a.m. with music ministry, Sunday School for adults and youth, and choir/music programs. Seasonal offerings include Vacation Bible School during summer months. Community engagement programs include Open Mic Night (monthly), a Prayer Request Ministry, and Preschool at The Heights (PATH) for young children. The church also provides online giving capabilities through REALM and sermon recordings via YouTube for remote participation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Preschool at The Heights (PATH): A preschool program established in 2001 serving 50+ children, operating within the church facility
• PATH

Products and services

• Sunday Worship Service Weekly Sunday worship service held at 11:00 a.m. featuring music ministry and opportunities for children to participate with Kids' Corner activities and nursery care, for neighborhood families and individuals.
• Sunday School Religious education program with Adult Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. in the church library and Youth Sunday School at 9:45 a.m., serving all ages in the congregation.
• Chancel Choir / Music Ministry Music ministry featuring the Chancel Choir that performs at the 11:00 a.m. Sunday service, with Wednesday morning rehearsals. Performs classical and traditional anthems, hymn-tune arrangements, early American hymns, and spirituals, and welcomes new singers.
• Vacation Bible School (VBS) Annual summer program for children ages 2 (potty-trained) through completed 4th grade, featuring a 'ROAD TRIP' themed curriculum exploring God's presence. Charges $50 per child if registered by May 15, 2026, and $75 thereafter; teen volunteers participate free.
• Open Mic Night Monthly community event held on the fourth Wednesday of each month from 7:00-9:00 p.m. in the church sanctuary, welcoming musicians of all ages and encouraging listeners.
• Preschool at The Heights (PATH) Community preschool program established in 2001 serving 50+ children ages 2-5 on the UHUMC campus, with the church providing space, utilities, and operational support. Office hours Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
• Prayer Request Ministry Ministry that allows individuals to submit prayer requests to be shared with the congregation for prayer support.
• Sermon Recordings Video recordings of Sunday worship services available for online viewing through the website and YouTube channel for those unable to attend in person.
• Online Giving Digital tithes and donations platform powered by REALM, allowing contributions to various ministries with options for automatic recurring payments.

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Preschool at The Heights (PATH)coreOthers · 1 January 2001Established in 2001 after community research identified demand for a local preschool. Church provides space, utilities, and support. The preschool serves 50+ children and families from the neighborhood. PATH continues to touch the lives of neighborhood children and families, with church inviting preschool families to participate in children's activities. The school is on sound financial footing.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Peachtree Road United Methodist Church: One of the largest United Methodist congregations in the southeastern U.S., located in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood. Same denomination with overlapping programming (worship, music, education, missions) at significantly larger scale, serving as the broad-incumbent benchmark for what a UMC congregation in metro Atlanta can become.

Direct peers

• First Baptist Church of Decatur: A long-standing Baptist congregation in downtown Decatur, GA offering worship, Sunday school, music ministry, and community programs to surrounding neighborhoods. Same city and similar small-to-mid-sized community-focused program mix as UHUMC, the most direct non-UMC local peer.
• Decatur First United Methodist Church: A downtown Decatur, GA United Methodist congregation offering weekly worship, Christian education, music ministry, and community outreach — directly comparable to UHUMC in denomination, city footprint, and program mix. Most apples-to-apples comparable for a same-metro UMC peer.
• Westminster Presbyterian Church (Atlanta): A mid-sized Atlanta Presbyterian congregation operating a well-known weekday preschool program alongside worship and Christian education. Comparable to UHUMC in that faith-based preschool serves as a primary family-acquisition channel into the broader congregation, despite differing denomination.
• Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church: A historic Atlanta-area United Methodist congregation affiliated with Emory University, from which UHUMC's founding visionary Dr. Candler Budd came. Same denomination, similar worship + education + music programming mix, with historical and leadership ties to UHUMC.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCwpP32wlUim7sW4wVF3s8ug
• Facebookfacebook.com/uhumc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/university-heights-united-meth

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about University Heights United Methodist Church