The Lexington Methodist Episcopal Church, South, appears in the records of the east Texas conference as early as 1850, with the Rev. Jefferson Shook assigned as pastor. Its history can be traced through the histories of four other Lee County churches. The Liberty Methodist Episcopal Church, South, met west of Lexington, and the two congregations shared the same pastor; when that church disbanded in the 1930s, some of its members joined the Lexington congregation. Tanglewood Methodist Episcopal Church, South, served the Tanglewood community five miles north; during the 1930s its congregation sold its land and church building, forwarded the proceeds to the Lexington church, and the few remaining members joined that congregation. The early chapel congregation met in the northern part of the county as early as 1850, and members of that dwindling fellowship voted to move their memberships to the Lexington church in 1927. The German Methodist Church in Lexington was founded in 1882 with the Rev. Jacob Ott as first pastor, and in 1939 the two Lexington Methodist congregations merged. With these additions to its membership over the years, the United Methodist Church of Lexington grew to provide significant service and leadership to the community.