For some time prior to the formation of North Raleigh United Methodist Church, the Raleigh Board of Missions had considered establishing a new church to serve the area north of Raleigh. In the spring of 1971, several laymen met and discussed the need for this church. The first gathering, consisting of 13 families, met at the home of Lois and Paul Sharpe. Joe Trollinger was instrumental in coordinating the organization of North Raleigh church with the Methodist Conference. In June, two more organizational meetings were held with additional families committed to forming a new church.

Because there was no available building in the north Raleigh area, the meeting place selected for our church was Monk Chapel on the grounds of the Methodist home for Children. So, on June 20, 1971, 97 persons, representing 30 families, gathered for their first worship service at the chapel. Dr. N. W. Grant, who was Program Director for the North Carolina Conference, officiated at our first service.

We were assigned four ministers on a rotating basis - Rev. E. R. Porter, Rev. Belton Joyner, Dr. N. W. Grant, and Rev. J. M. Waggoner. We had an active choir from the beginning. The first few months saw the Sunday School unfold, an Administrative Board nominated and installed, an active Council on Ministries, and the United Methodist Women and the Methodist Men organized.

In June 1972 Rev. Sidney Huggins was assigned as the first permanent pastor of our church. The new congregation purchased seven acres of land on Honeycutt Road with financial assistance from the Raleigh Board of Missions, North Carolina Conference, the North Carolina Conference Ten Dollar Club, and The Duke Endowment Fund.

Ground was broken in September 1972 for our first on-site sanctuary, and seven months later on March 25, 1973, Rev. Huggins conducted the first worship service in the building. A second sanctuary was completed in March l983 and the Education Building was completed in 1987. Our current sanctuary was dedicated in February 2006 with an overflow crowd in attendance. This beautiful building includes staff offices, classrooms, and a conference room. The former sanctuary was renovated to be home for our contemporary worship service, Souljourn, which was begun in September 2003.

Since Rev. Huggins, the first permanent pastor, NRUMC has been appointed six more Senior Pastors. Our current Senior Pastor, Rev. David Clift, came to our church in June 2007.