Who We Are

History of Asbury UMC

The progenitors of what would become Asbury United Methodist Church began gathering for worship as early as 1803. In 1838 a wood frame church building was erected at the current location on West Street.

Prior to 1838 Methodist Episcopals, white and ‘colored’ worshipped in the same building - the First Methodist Episcopal Church (First Church) in Annapolis. The Reverend Job Gess of the former Baltimore Conference served as pastor to all members. Black worshipers occupied the galleries of First Church which were accessed by means of high steps on the outside of the building.

With racial tensions mounting it was deemed prudent to find separate facilities for worship to permit a more indigenous leadership, as far as the law allowed. Two Black Annapolitans, The Reverend and Mrs. Henry Price donated the land. The brick church building below was built in 1888 to service the growing congregation of Asbury Methodist Episcopal church. William B. Gardner was the contractor and builder. This brick church building, which stands today, is on the site of the 1838 wood frame church that was incorporated into the present brick structure. Asbury was under the leadership of The Reverend Alexander Dennis (1886-1897) during the planning and building of the 1888 structure.

The new church was named for Francis Asbury (1745-1816) the first Methodist Episcopal Bishop in America. Records show he worked untiringly to develop Methodism in the Baltimore Conference as well as in other areas of Maryland, covering almost the entire east coast in his work.

It should be noted that no Negro local preacher had yet been accepted as a member of the Baltimore Conference of that time. Their status was that of helpers to the white pastors assigned to the Negro churches. From 1838 to 1864 the minister and Presiding Elder of the First Methodist Episcopal Church served Asbury Church. Asbury’s first local preachers, Harry Price, Samuel Hackney, and Benjamin Drummond relieved the assigned minister of such duties as visiting the sick and burying the dead.

The assigned minister (of First Church) administered Holy Communion, kept statistics, and performed those jobs which the local preachers could not as dictated by law. He preached to the congregation once a month. By law Asbury was not permitted to have class leaders from its congregation, so these leaders, too, came from First Methodist Church.

In 1864 the all-Black Washington Conference was created. By virtue of the action of this Conference Asbury was able to receive its own minister, The Reverend Tilghman Jackson, who served until 1867. Since then Asbury has been led by a succession of fine pastors who served for a variety of terms.

In 1944, this picture of the 1888 Upper and Lower Sanctuary was taken during the leadership of The Reverend Isaac R. Berry. He served Asbury for 23 years from 1942-1965, the longest tenure of any Asbury pastor.

In 1968 the 750,000-member Evangelical United Brethren Church and the 10.3 million-member Methodist Church became one church, The United Methodist Church. The merger also brought people together in another way: marking the official dissolution of the Methodist Church’s racially segregated Central Jurisdiction, of which the Washington Conference was a member.

By the third quarter of the 20th century the growth of the congregation prompted an expansive building program that resulted in the construction of a new sanctuary wing. In 1977 a new structure was designed by local architect, James Weller, under the leadership and planning of The Reverend Dr. Joshua Hutchins, Jr. This brick building is located to the west of the 1888 structure and houses the present sanctuary. The dining hall located inside of the 1888 structure was named in honor of The Reverend Dr. Joshua Hutchins, Jr., who served as pastor of this congregation for five years; from 1973-1978.

In July of 2011 Bishop John Schol appointed Asbury’s first female pastor, The Reverend Dr. Carletta Allen, who has served since.