First United Methodist Church - Florence

Standing in the heart of downtown Florence, First United Methodist Church has been a place of worship, community, and gathering for generations. Its architecture has become a familiar part of the downtown landscape, but like so many sacred spaces, its greatest significance can be found in the lives that have unfolded within its walls.

For me, this church represents something deeply personal.

There was a time when I found myself returning here searching for something I was not entirely sure how to name. In the quiet of its smaller chapel, I found a place to pray, reflect, and begin finding my way back toward hope. It became one of those places where faith felt less like having every answer and more like simply choosing to keep going.

That experience is part of why I am drawn to churches in my work. Their walls hold more than architectural history. They hold prayers spoken aloud and prayers known only to the person who prayed them. They witness weddings and funerals, baptisms and Sunday mornings, seasons of certainty and seasons of questioning.

My drawing of First United Methodist Church is an attempt to preserve both sides of that story: the landmark that generations of people in Florence recognize and the sacred, deeply individual memories that can exist behind its doors.

Because sometimes the places that shape our faith are not simply where we learned what to believe.

Sometimes they are where we learned to hope again.