List of Methodist churches
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This is a list of notable Methodist churches, either of notable congregations or of notable buildings or other places of worship. This very limited list reflects historically interesting sites, and omits most of the very largest Methodist congregations. Since the founding of Methodism in the mid-18th century, the movement has spread throughout the world, and remains a presence in many countries today.
Many church buildings are notable for their historical or architectural significance. Many of the historic churches can be found in the United Kingdom and the United States, but some are also located in Canada, China, Korea and other in countries where there has been a Methodist presence. In some cases the congregation which established the church has since disbanded but the building remains. This list is intended to comprehensively index notable Methodist churches world-wide.
Australia
[edit | edit source]| Church | Image | Dates | Location | City or Town | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wesley Church, Melbourne | File:Wesleychurch.JPG | 26 August 1858 Consecrated | Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Melbourne, Australia | Grand Gothic design with high quality architecture |
Barbados
[edit | edit source]Ann Gill Memorial Methodist Church, in Fairfield Road, Black Rock, St. Michael, honours the memory of Sarah Ann Gill, the sole female national heroine of Barbados.[1]
Canada
[edit | edit source]Two British Methodist Episcopal Church churches have been designated National Historic Sites of Canada due to their roles in welcoming Underground Railroad refugees to Canada and their historic importance to the Black community in the Niagara region:
| Church | Image | Dates | Location | City or town | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R. Nathaniel Dett British Methodist Episcopal Church | File:R- Nathaniel Dett British Methodist Episcopal Church National Historic Site of Canada 2012-09-17 23-00-39.jpg | 1836 built |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Niagara Falls, Ontario | Named in honour of Robert Nathaniel Dett[2][3] |
| Salem Chapel, British Methodist Episcopal Church | File:British Methodist Episcopal Church - Salem Chapel.jpg | 1855 built |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | St. Catharines, Ontario | Linked to Harriet Tubman.[4][5][6] |
| British Methodist Episcopal Church, Windsor, Ontario | File:British Methodist Episcopal Church, Windsor, Ontario.jpg | 1854 built, rebuilt 1856, rebuilt 1963 |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Windsor, Ontario | From 1856 to 1963 the BME church was an active church in its original location, 363 McDougall street.[7] |
Puerto Rico
[edit | edit source]| Church | Image | Dates | Location | City or Town | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primera Iglesia Metodista Unida de Ponce | File:Methodist Church on Villa Street, Barrio Segundo, Ponce, Puerto Rico (IMG 2874).jpg | 1907 | Calle Villa 135 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
Ponce | Methodist church built in 1907 that was architect Antonin Nechodoma's first commission in Puerto Rico. |
| McCabe Memorial Church | File:McCabe Memorial Church (Iglesia Metodista Unida) on Avenida Hostos, Barrio Playa, Ponce, Puerto Rico (IMG 2986).jpg | 1908 | 835 Eugenio Maria de Hostos Ave. Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
Ponce | Another Nechodoma work. |
| Ernesto Memorial Chapel | File:Iglesia de Piedra -3 (4846220764).jpg | 1912 | Intersection of PR 486 & PR 488 Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
Camuy | Designed by Albert Munson |
Singapore
[edit | edit source]| Church | Image | Dates | Location | City or Town | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wesley Methodist Church | File:WesleyMethodistChurch-sepiapostcard.jpg | 5 Fort Canning RoadLua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Singapore | Oldest Methodist church with an English-speaking congregation in Singapore |
United Kingdom
[edit | edit source]The first Methodist churches were in Norwich (1757), in Rotherham (1761), in Whitby (1762), and in Heptonstall (1764).
About 700 Methodist chapels in the United Kingdom have been identified as significant buildings for their architecture or history by author Ian Serjeant, who has served as Conservation Officer for the Methodist church since 1996.[8]
A list of Methodist churches that are listed buildings was prepared by the U.K. Methodist church's division of property in 1976.[8] A standing committee of the Methodist Church of Britain is charged with having "knowledge of the history, development and use of Methodist chapels, of Methodist liturgy and worship, or archaeology, of the history and the development of architecture and the visual arts, and the experience of the care of historic buildings and their contents", and to advise on about 250 renovation projects per year to the Methodist listed buildings.[9]
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, is said to have had a preference for octagonal buildings, as exemplified by the Heptonstall Methodist Church in West Yorkshire, England.[8]
Appropriate style for Methodist church buildings was debated during the mid-1800s. Architect-trained Reverend Frederick Jobson argued for "beauty and perfection in design and execution without unnecessary adornment"; the governing body of Methodism adopted his works and Gothic architecture "became the predominant style, particularly within Wesleyan Methodism."[8]
| Church | Image | Dates | Location | City or Town | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. John’s Methodist Church, Arbroath | File:Arbroath St. John's Methodist Church.jpg | 1772 built |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Arbroath Angus, Scotland | A listed building in Category B that is identified by Serjeant as particularly notable. It was opened by John Wesley in 1772. Remodellings and other changes in 1882, 1896, and 1946 have hidden the octagonal chapel behind the later frontage.[8][10] |
| Wesleyan Church, Aldershot | File:Aldershot Methodist Church 2016.jpg | 1874-77 built Grade II* listed building |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Aldershot, Hampshire | Built to reflect the expansion of the town of Aldershot with the arrival of the Military Camp during the mid to late 19th-century. Now redundant and used as offices, homes, a dental surgery and gymnasium. |
| Altarnum Methodist Chapel | File:Altarnun, Cornwall, The wesleyan Chapel - geograph.org.uk - 223519.jpg | 1859 built |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Altarnun, Cornwall | A typical building reflecting the values expressed by Jobson.[8] |
| Wesley's Chapel | File:Wesley's Chapel 1.jpg | 1777–78 built |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Islington, London | Known as 'The Mother Church of World Methodism', having been built by John Wesley, and acting as his London base. The portico was added in 1814–15, and there have been other alterations and additions since. The building is listed at Grade I.[11][12] |
| Methodist Central Hall | File:Methodist Central Hall.JPG | 1905-11 built |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Westminster, London | Built in order to commemorate the centenary of the death of the founder of Methodism, John Wesley. |
| Heptonstall Methodist Church | File:Heptonstall Methodist Church - geograph.org.uk - 771259.jpg | 1764 built |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | West Yorkshire | Octagonal chapel whose foundation stone was laid by John Wesley. Church was completed in 1764 in symmetric octagon shape, but was extended in 1802 to provide for more space. Wesley recommended the octagonal shape to differentiate from the established church.[13] The building was featured in a 2010 BBC Four series Churches: How to Read Them,[14] in which Dr Richard Taylor named it as one of his ten favourite churches, saying: "If buildings have an aura, this one radiated friendship."[15] See photo here [1]. |
| Moor Park Methodist Church | File:Former Moor Park Methodist Church, Preston.jpg | 1861-62 built | Preston, Lancashire, England | Designed by Poulton and Woodman, opened 1862, seating for 900, closed 1984. | |
| Preston Central Methodist Church | File:Central Methodist Church, Preston.jpg | 1817 built | Preston, Lancashire, England | Active, Methodist church whose building was one of the first public buildings in the country to be lit by gas. | |
| Surrey Chapel, Southwark | File:The Ring (15326766471).jpg | 1783 built 1881 demolished |
London | Independent Methodist and Congregational church, located at first in open fields, then enveloped by industrial development. Circular in plan with domed roof, its design was of interest. | |
| Trinity Independent Chapel | 1841 built 1944 demolished |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | London | ||
| West Street Chapel | File:26 West Street, London (3).jpg | First leased in 1743 by John Wesley | London | ||
| West London Methodist Mission | File:West London Mission of the Methodist Church - geograph.org.uk - 1053024.jpg | Established in 1887 under Hugh Price Hughes | London | ||
| Bethesda Methodist Chapel | File:Bethesda Methodist Church, Hanley.jpg | 1819 built 1972 Grade II*-listed |
Stoke on Trent | [16] | |
| Brunswick Methodist Chapel | File:Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle upon Tyne - geograph.org.uk - 939386.jpg | 1820 built 1987 Grade II-listed |
Newcastle upon Tyne | [17] |
United States
[edit | edit source]In the United States, numerous Methodist churches are listed on the National Register of Historic Places[18] and on state and local historic registers, many of which reflect the values of plainness, of Gothic architecture, of simple adornment. The Greek Revival style is also simple and came to be adopted for numerous American Methodist churches.
Several, selected significant Methodist churches in the U.S. are:
| Church | Image | Dates | Location | City, State | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barratt's Chapel | File:Old Barratt's Chapel (Methodist), Route 113, Frederica vicinity (Kent County, Delaware).jpg | 1780 built 1972 NRHP-listed |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Frederica, Delaware | "Cradle of Methodism", where Methodism first took hold in the United States in 1784 |
| Lovely Lane United Methodist Church | 1884 built 1973 NRHP-listed[18] |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Baltimore, Maryland | Romanesque Revival style, known as the Mother Church of American Methodism | |
| St. George's United Methodist Church | File:Philadelphia StGeorgesUMC from West.jpg | 1767 built 1971 NRHP-listed |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Philadelphia | The oldest Methodist church worship in continuous use in the United States.[19] |
| Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church | File:Mother Bethel Philly a.JPG | 1794 built 1972 NRHP-listed |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Philadelphia | Romanesque style, The founding church of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.[20] |
For a more complete list, see List of Methodist churches in the United States.
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Barbados Today, Ann Gill Memorial Methodist Church celebrating 125 years, published 3 November 2018, accessed 23 December 2019
- ^ R. Nathaniel Dett British Methodist Episcopal Church, Directory of Designations of National Historic Significance of Canada
- ^ R. Nathaniel Dett British Methodist Episcopal Church, National Register of Historic Places
- ^ Salem Chapel, British Methodist Episcopal Church, Directory of Designations of National Historic Significance of Canada
- ^ Salem Chapel, British Methodist Episcopal Church, National Register of Historic Places
- ^ See also Tubman Home for the Aged, Harriet Tubman Residence, Thompson A.M.E. Zion Church, Auburn, New York.
- ^ British Methodist Episcopal Church, Windsor Mosaic
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- ^ Heptonstall Trail, A Calder Civic Trust publication, 1996
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- ^ St. George's United Methodist Church Archived July 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
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