United Methodism

We are living in the midst of Church of the Brethren ministries in New Windsor, Maryland.  But interestingly enough, this is also where the Methodist movement in America got it's start.  We went on a tour of the nearby Strawbridge Shrine -- viewing the house and worship building where Robert Strawbridge lived and preached, although he also traveled on horse to preach on a large circuit.  Because of his evangelism in the 1700's, at one point, 60% of Maryland were Methodists.  That could explain why we've seen so many Methodist churches in so many of the small rural communities we've driven through.    We're hoping to go to the Lovely Lane UMC in Baltimore where the 1784 Christmas Conference met and marked the official beginning of the Methodist denomination in America.

We attended the historic United Methodist Church which is only a block away from our retreat center.  It is really a beautiful church on the inside, and has been well maintained.