What we believe

A Triune God

One living God, everlasting, full of wisdom, power, and love. We believe God is the maker of all things, known to us in three persons: the Father (Creator), the Son (Christ), and the Holy Spirit.

God's Love for Us: Grace

We believe that God's gift to each of us is a love and an acceptance beyond measure. We call it Grace. God's grace was alive in Jesus, and we see it at work in Him. God's grace comes into our lives through the work of the Holy Spirit, the presence of God that invites us to change our lives, to deepen our spiritual life, to travel and grow along our spiritual journey.

Spiritual and Social Responsibility

We believe that good works grow out of our encounter with Christ and His teachings. We seek to nurture and deepen our faith; we seek to make our faith more than words, by the way we choose to live our lives and serve others in need. More about the beliefs of United Methodists...

A Brief History of Sunrise Church

Sunrise: “A New Beginning”

Vibrantly Serving Colorado Springs Since 1980

From its very beginnings in February of 1980, Sunrise has been on the move to serve the northern Colorado Springs region. What began as the Northeastern Methodist Fellowship under the leadership of Rev. James Cowell, Minister of Evangelism at First United Methodist Church (UMC), and Rev. Ray Mattheson, retired Air Force Chaplain, has, throughout its history been a people on the move, alive with the Holy Spirit. Outgrowing worship spaces in the Tot’s Learning Center on York Road, and the Rockrimmon Children’s Center on Delmonico by our Chartering Sunday, June 15, 1980, with 75 members attending, Sunrise people were already preparing to move to a third worship venue.

In November, 1980, Aldersgate UMC, originally located in the Cragmoor area, voted to merge with Sunrise. Its 280 members became a blended family with our rapidly growing congregation. And on Easter Sunday, April 19, 1981, a celebration of the transition of people and worship space united the two congregations. Worship then was held at the Zeider Zee Conference Center on Academy Boulevard.

Very soon after the merger, the dream of a church building for Sunrise ministries began to materialize as the Aldersgate property was sold and a capital campaign bond sale provided the funding for the Briargate facility in three phases. Phase I – Fellowship Hall and classrooms below – began in February 1982 and took a year to complete and occupy. In June of 1983, Rev. Ed Beck was appointed to serve the expanding ministries of Sunrise. Rev. Ray Mattheson continued to serve as counseling pastor. Phase II – offices and what we now call the Connection Café – were completed in 1984. By 1987, with a membership of 735, a new capital campaign bond sale provided funds for Phase III – our sanctuary and classrooms on the west side of the building. The inaugural worship service in our present sanctuary was held on December 11, 1988. The sanctuary was formally consecrated in a special worship service on May 7, 1989.

In the ten years Rev. Ed Beck served as Senior Pastor of Sunrise (June 1983 - January 1994), appointed clergy Associates included Rev. Brenda Lear, Rev. Lynne Coffman and Rev. Paul Murphy-Geiss. Rev. Jim Calhoun was appointed as Senior Pastor in February 1994 until his retirement in June 1999. Rev. Calhoun was followed by Rev. Marv Vose, whose appointment as Senior Pastor began in July 1999 until his reappointment in June 2010. Rev. Jan Johnson served as Associate Pastor from January 2000 until June 2004. Rev. Kirsten Barlow joined the staff as Associate Pastor from July 2004 until June 2011. Beginning July 2011, Rev. Kerry McCormick now serves as the Associate Pastor.

During the 1990’s, Sunrise experienced the blessing of tremendous growth. In this decade, membership grew about 50% from around 900 to over 1,300. Program and administrative staffs expanded to provide better oversight for the ministries of congregational care, children, students, music, and preschool. In 2003, to accommodate this blessing of growth, Sunrise once again looked beyond itself to serve the community in a new place. Property (a warehouse building and adjacent land) was purchased from David C. Cook Publishers and was rededicated as our Woodmen Campus in August 2006.

Boldly Serving the Community Today

The bold vision of constructing a brand new Sunrise Church facility on the land east of the Woodmen Campus and the plan to connect the two buildings was indeed a faithful (if not audacious) way to serve the northern Colorado Springs region. Yet economic realities of the market downturn in 2008, and the slow recovery since required us to shift away from new construction in order to respond to the financial realities we faced.

In May 2010, Rev. Olon M. Lindemood was appointed to Sunrise and began to assess the hopes and dreams of faithfully living into God’s vision and the realities of our financial well-being. As a result of this work, the Woodmen Campus was put on the market for sale or lease.

In the first quarter of 2012, the Woodmen Campus was leased to Rock Family Church. This three-year lease agreement contained an option to purchase within the first year and Rock Family Church is vigorously pursuing that possibility with capital fundraising of their own. Other occupants in the Woodmen building include Children’s Theater, Colorado Springs Youth Ballet, Lazyboy Furniture, as well as the Sunrise Thrift Store.

January 1, 2012, dawned bright as Sunrise Church once again became a unified Body of Christ at the Briargate building. We continue to honor the variety of ways we worship, celebrate, learn, fellowship, disciple, grow and go in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Outreach into our community, our region, and our world creates ever-expanding circles of neighborhoods for Sunrise people to offer the ministry of their lives. Adults find support, encouragement and fellowship through active, varied small groups. Elderly and homebound maintain their connection with the congregation through a caring, compassionate pastoral ministry. And ministries for children and students are vibrant opportunities for whole families to be strengthened in their faith. We know that the real energy of Sunrise Church is not in a building, but in its people, as we strive to “change the world, one life at a time.”

Creating new and different opportunities to meet Christ and develop mature Christian disciples is a steady pulse for us, as it has been throughout our history. Come explore with us what it means to “know Christ and make him known…to serve Christ by serving others!”