The first worship service of St. Luke was held in September 1976 in Woodhill Shopping Center as St. Luke United Methodist Church. Marion (Woody) W. Church, Jr. was the pastor. The name "St. Luke" was chosen as a reminder that this congregation would be an agent of healing in a hurting world, as Luke was the physician of the New Testament. There were 32 charter members and over 50 members by the end of 1977.
The first building, a multipurpose facility, was constructed on 6.4 acres at 141 Mount Tabor Road (Now 2351 Alumni Drive) in 1979. In 1985, G. Lindsey Davis was appointed senior pastor and in 1986 the new sanctuary was consecrated. Lindsey Davis became the Lexington District Superintendent and was later elected a Bishop of the United Methodist Church.
In 1990, the education building was built.
Rev. Eugene Strange was appointed as senior pastor in 1995.
Dr. Stephen L. Martyn was appointed senior pastor of St. Luke in 1999. Dr. Martyn later went on to become a Professor of Leadership and Spirituality at Asbury Theological Seminary.
In 2004, Rev. Debbie Wallace-Padgett was appointed senior pastor of St. Luke.
The congregation of Aldersgate UMC merged with St. Luke in June 2009.
In October 2010, the Life Center, which would hold several classrooms and a gym was dedicated.
In July of 2012, senior pastor Rev. Wallace-Padgett was elected a Bishop of the United Methodist Church and was assigned to the North Alabama Annual Conference.
In September of 2012, Rev. Mark B. Girard was appointed as the sixth senior pastor of St. Luke.
St. Luke launched a multicultural worship service on February 19, 2012. The service included scripture readings in languages representing Kenya, Senegal, the Congo, Bhutan, Nigeria and Ethiopia. We also launched a Swahili language missional community worship service on March 22, 2015. The purpose of this service is to connect with Swahili speaking diaspora in Lexington.
In 2016, St. Luke celebrated our 40th Anniversary with celebrations all year long culminating in a Unity Service combining all worship services.
During this period, a modern contemporary service was launched in the Fellowship Hall.
In June of 2019, Rev. Dr. Brian Ebel was appointed as the seventh senior pastor of St. Luke United Methodist Church.
During the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020, St. Luke suspended all in-person gathering, meetings, and services and switched to hosting one online service via live stream at 9:30am. They eventually added in-person worship services back into the schedule at the new times of 8:20, 9:30, 11am, and 1pm with the contemporary service moving into the Sanctuary and at 9:30 am and the Swahili service moving to the Sanctuary at 1pm.