Who We Are

Asbury United Methodist Church occupies a building that is an architectural masterpiece, designed by local architect Andrew P. Cooper. The Hummelstown brownstone structure, with stained glass, brass chandelier and wall sconces all by the studio of Louis Comfort Tiffany, was dedicated in 1919 as First Methodist Episcopal Church of Uniontown. Just walking by or stepping inside, its overall design is seen as pleasing to the eye. However, taking a longer and closer look reveals a wealth of beautifully crafted Christian symbolism.

This year marks the semiquincentennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. By coincidence, July 6, 1776, the same day that the Continental Congress formally adopted the declaration in Philadelphia, some 300 miles to the West across the Appalachians, Henry Beeson posted a notice on his Redstone Creek grist mill announcing a lottery to be held on the 20th of the month. This was not a lottery for cash, but a drawing to purchase lots in the town plan Beeson had surveyed. At the time, Henry and others who lived in the vicinity thought of themselves as British. Even though they were on the frontier, far from the scenes of action, most settlers allied themselves with the patriot cause, although there were those who remained loyal to Great Britain. Incidentally, because Francis Asbury (sent to the colonies by John Wesley in 1771) was English, he was under such scrutiny for being disloyal to the American cause that he had to hide out at a friend's home in Delaware for the duration of the war for independence.

War officially came to a close in 1783 with a treaty ending hostilities. It was signed in Paris by representatives of the onetime colonies and of the former mother country. Far off in western Pennsylvania, the predecessor of our current congregation was affected by what happened an ocean away. The reason is that Methodists were tied to the Church of England. Charles Wesley sought to reform Great Britain's state church through his preaching and establishment of band societies and class meetings, but he never wanted separation from the church in which he remained an ordained priest until the end of his life. The war's end made separation for Americans inevitable.

A major issue for citizens of the new United States who were Anglicans and members of their sub-group, the Methodists, was that the King of England was the head of the church. How could citizens of a country that just overthrew George III remain members of a church of which he was the Supreme Governor? Traditionalists who wanted to hew to all they were used to under the Church of England met in Philadelphia in 1785 and formed the Protestant Episcopal Church. Those who were in accord with the reformist principles of John Wesley established the Methodist Episcopal Church at the legendary 1784 "Christmas Conference" in Baltimore. Methodist -- that is pretty clear, but why Episcopal? Because John Wesley favored the hierarchical form of church governance under bishops, a term that derives from the Greek word episkopos, literally meaning overseer.

In the late 18th century, there were far fewer Methodists north of the Mason-Dixon Line than to the south (about a tenth as many). Because of relatively few licensed preachers, circuits were established that linked preaching places and those hardy souls literally rode horseback from place to place. The roots of Asbury's establishment as a congregation go back to 1783, when the Redstone Circuit was established by Richard Owings, the first American-born Local Preacher, who was encouraged to take up his role by Robert Strawbridge, an Irish follower of John Wesley's. Strawbridge, from his eastern Maryland base, is credited with establishing the first Methodist class in the colonies in 1761. John Cooper and Samuel Breeze were assigned to the Redstone Circuit at a Conference held in Baltimore in May 1784, with Uniontown as a preaching location, where a log building for worship was built the following year.

FJK: 4/6/26