In the beginning (1865) it was John McKown who gave an acre of wooded land bordering the Great Western Turnpike (Western Ave) for church purposes to the Methodists. Before this the Methodists had been meeting in a small schoolhouse on Great Western Turnpike.

The congregation of the Methodists built its first place of worship in 1866 on the site of the present building. The second building was planned and completed in 1898/99 at a cost of $3500. (The first building was sold and moved off the property.) An addition was built in 1928 at a cost of $18,000. That structure served the congregation until the 1950's when the rapid growth of Guilderland warranted another much larger addition that includes the present sanctuary. This addition was completed in 1960. The building that you see now as you drive down Western Avenue is the 1898 building with its two major additions.

In the early years, McKownville Methodist Church was part of the Guilderland circuit and shared a minister with a Methodist church located on Willow Street. This affiliation continued until 1920 when McKownville became an independent charge with its own minister.

There was phenomenal growth of the suburb of Guilderland after World War II when the GI's were returning home. During the period of 1947-1953, the Sunday School enrollment grew from 92 to 200 students and attendance at worship went from 54 to 170. The church was used for some public school classes because the growth of Guilderland had also affected the school system.

The early church served the small geographical area of McKownville. Since families were not as mobile as they are today, many families saw their children and grandchildren grow up in the church. In 1896 the new organist, Mrs. Ida Manville, began her tenure serving the church faithfully for 55 years. Presently there are still some members whose parents and grandparents were a vital part of the congregation. There are 6 women and 3 men who have each been members of the McKownville Methodist Church for 70 years or more.  Two of these nine joined our church as teenagers in 1921!

Over the years the McKownville United Methodist Church has reached out to the community in different ways:

• The Learning Tree Nursery School celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1997.
• Over the past seven years we have supported the Capital District Habitat for Humanity and have been actively involved in the construction of two Methodist Houses raising money by holding Tent-a-thons in Tawasentha Park.
• We have been active in the Guilderland Interfaith Council.
• We have been delivering Meals-on-Wheels for Albany County since 1996.