About Us
Who We Are
Temecula United Methodist Church is a welcoming, affirming, and reconciling congregation. All who seek God are welcome. Join our TUMC family to participate in worship, education, fellowship, ministry and mission, regardless of race, color or ethnicity, age, marital status, gender, sexual identity, expression, physical or mental ability “Anyone who comes to me, I will never drive away” (John 6:37). This is a place where you will find welcome, support, comfort, and strength for your life.
Our Pastor
Pastor Drew Davis was born in Martinsville, VA, where he began a long journey of education and religious growth that has led him to his position here at Temecula United Methodist Church. Pastor Drew attended Virginia Intermont College, where he received a degree in Fine Arts with a concentration in Vocal Performance. It was at VI where he met his wife, Gretchen, and in 1997, they both graduated from VI and got married just one week later.
Following graduation, Pastor Drew became the Youth Director of The First United Methodist Church of Bristol, TN. This was not Pastor Drew’s first leadership role in the church, as in 1994, he served as a summer intern at Lone Oak Baptist Church in Axton, VA, and Midway Baptist Church in Bristol, VA in 1995. It was during his three years of youth leadership at Bristol that Pastor Drew received his calling to ministry and moved to San Diego, CA, to attend Fuller Theological Seminary, where he received his Masters in Divinity in 2006.
While in pastoral leadership in the California Pacific Annual Conference, Pastor Drew has had the blessing of serving at Hope United Methodist Church in Rancho Bernardo, North Coast United Methodist Church in Oceanside, and now is blessed to serve at Temecula United Methodist Church.
Pastor Drew has a passion to maintain a welcoming and affirming space for our LGBTQIA+ siblings and holds a firm affirmation that all are loved and of sacred worth in the eyes of faith and in the heart of grace. Pastor Drew desires to be active with the affirming advocates in the Temecula Valley to create safe spaces not only at Temecula UMC but also to build safe and welcoming spaces throughout Temecula.
Our History
After serving as a missionary in India, the Rev. David French returned to Southern California, where he faithfully served Corona United Methodist Church from 1979 to 1985. During a sabbatical leave in 1986, David approached the Bishop with a desire to start a new church. The Bishop said “yes,” and the beginnings of Temecula United Methodist Church were set in motion.
On July 1, 1987, Rev. French was sent to Temecula with an ambitious assignment: to establish a church without a building and, at first, without a congregation. Around the same time, the denomination had purchased land for the future church at its present location, a hilltop campus just north of Temecula Valley High School, below the water tower off Margarita Road. Rev. French immediately began reaching out to the growing community, knocking on doors, meeting families, and inviting people to become part of the new congregation.
As the congregation grew, so did its need for a place to gather. Over the next several years, TUMC worshiped in five different temporary locations throughout the city. Those early years were marked by perseverance, fellowship, and a shared vision of establishing a permanent church home in Temecula. That vision took an important step forward in 1995, when the first phase of construction was completed on the church’s hilltop property.
Rev. French retired in 1997, and the Rev. Dr. Randy Johnson was appointed to continue the ministry he had begun. The congregation continued to flourish, and in 1998, through the generosity of its members and supporters, a major second phase of construction was completed. This expansion provided additional worship space, a kitchen, and new church offices. In 2002, the congregation once again raised the funds necessary to expand the campus, completing a third phase that added dedicated space for youth ministry and classrooms for Christian education and other ministries.
In 2014, Temecula United Methodist Church came under the pastoral leadership of the beloved Rev. Rick Malec. During his decade of service, the church continued to improve its campus, upgrading its facilities and audio-visual equipment to better support its worship and ministries. Rev. Malec faithfully served the congregation until his retirement in 2024.
Today, TUMC continues the work begun nearly four decades ago when Rev. French first arrived in Temecula with little more than a piece of land and a vision for a new congregation. We are blessed to have the Rev. Drew Davis serving as our current pastor and are grateful that he, his wife Gretchen, and their two children have found a home within the TUMC community. From its humble beginnings in rented spaces to the church and campus we know today, Temecula United Methodist Church continues to be a place of worship, fellowship, service, and welcome for the people of the Temecula Valley.
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