About Us
Cotton Hill United Methodist Church held its first service at 5931 N Cotton Hill Road in Springfield in December of 2014. Before moving to our new building, we were previously Woodside United Methodist Church on Sheffield Road in Springfield. In 2020, we adopted a new vision to Love Like Jesus. Through this new vision we are committed to serving and sharing the love of Jesus with all people in our community.
Our Pastor - Larry Moreau
Pastor Larry Moreau has been appointed as interim pastor at Cotton Hill for one year, beginning July 1, 2026. Larry and his wife, Ali, moved to Auburn in 2021 when Larry retired. Larry has been serving Middletown, Mt. Pulaski, and Witt United Methodist Churches part-time for three and a half years.
Larry was born and raised on a farm south of Shelbyville, Illinois. He responded to the call to be a United Methodist pastor as a senior in high school. He said that since he was 17 years old, all he wanted to be was a United Methodist pastor. Larry graduated from Asbury College and Asbury Theological Seminary. He was ordained an Elder in 1983 and has pastored churches since June 1982 in the former Central Illinois Conference and the Illinois Great Rivers Conference until he retired in 2021.
Ali and Larry were both widowed and were married on January 1, 2020. Larry has two grown children and three grandsons. Ali has four grown daughters and several grandchildren and step-grandchildren. They play in a nursing home band each Wednesday morning – Larry plays guitar and sings; Ali plays the fiddle, mandolin, and sings. They also volunteer twice a month at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. Larry and Ali are looking forward to serving Cotton Hill and Auburn UMCs.