Facing Tomorrow, Understanding Yesterday, A History of Orange ...

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2 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Francis Asbury Photo by permission of Methodist Library, United Methodist Church Archives and History Center, Drew University, Madison New jersey /' " joseph E. Pilmoor Photo by permission of Methodist Library, United Methodist Church Archives and History Center, Drew University, Madison New jersey gospel to all who would hear. In 1773, Wesley sent Thomas Rankin to superintend the developing societies, and under his guidance, the first American Methodist Conference convened in Philadelphia in June 1773. Rankin, a strong Tory, was told to bring the growing American societies more in line with English practices. Asbury, who had quickly become Americanized, found British precedents unsuited to the colonial experience and argued against many of Rankin's proposals. Time, of course, proved that Asbury's approach to the development of Methodism on the North American continent was correct. Hierarchical and philosophical differences over the management of the religious phenomenon known as Methodism, however, could not stop its spread. Methodist societies soon dotted the Atlantic coastline. Organized Methodism entered North Carolina as a great revival spread south from the Brunswick Circuit in Virginia. Joseph Pilmore, whom Wesley sent to the colony, preached the first Methodist sermon in North Carolina at Currituck Courthouse on September 28, 1772. The new faith grew rapidly, and by 1776, the eve of the war for independence, the Baltimore annual conference created the Carolina Circuit. Methodist records note aN orth Carolina membership of 683with three preachers assigned to the circuit. Despite the onset of war, figures reported at the next conference showed 930 Methodist society members in North Carolina, a gain of247. 1 The growth of Methodism in the colonies, and indeed its very survival, was jeopardized by the onset of the American Revolution. Wesley's Methodist societies were closely identified with the Church of England, and most of the clergy in the colonies had ties to the Mother Country as well. In fact, John Wesley further complicated matters by asking his American followers to remain loyal to England. By 1779, those English preachers, including the ones from North Carolina, had fled either to Great Britain or Canada. Only Asbury, who had adopted the colonies as his own, remained. Local Methodist meeting places closed, and missionary activity stopped during much of the war. The war has traditionally been considered a time of great hardship for American Methodists because of their English ties. From another perspective, the war provided a great opportunity for American Methodism to develop its own character. Under Asbury's direction, American preachers took up the leadership ofthe Wesleyan societies and began developing a distinctly American approach to the new faith. Asbury himself continued evangelizing the emerging nation. Realizing that the South was a fertile ground for Methodism because of the concentration of Church of England congregations in that area, Asbury moved in that direction. In North Carolina, for instance, the Church of England had been the official church much the way it had been in Great Britain. Even as the war severed the ties between this version of the Anglican church and the Mother Church, North Carolinians re-formed their dominant church into the Protestant Episcopal Church, which was almost identical to the Church of England. These events created natural missionary grounds for Asbury to tend. In June 1780, he entered North Carolina and preached his way through the eastern and central sections to spread the faith. By 1783, despite wartime persecution, the seeds of Methodism had been sown from the Atlantic Ocean to the Appalachian Mountains. At that time, 2,339 people were members of North Carolina Methodist societies," The movement as a whole was concentrated largely south ofthe Mason-Dixon Line, where 89 percent of its members could be found. By 1784,the number of persons identified as Methodists had risen to 14,988,up from 4,921 in 1776. Eighty-three men served as preachers in 1784, up from twenty-four in 1776. 3 These preachers, however, were at a distinct disadvantage. Because John Wesley wanted Methodists to stay within the Church of England, only men ordained by the Anglican Church could be considered true ministers of the word. Thus those serving the new American societies
wereconsidered as only local preachers who could give sermons on Sunday,tend to the sick, and bury the dead. They could not administer the sacramentsto those Americans calling themselves Methodists. If membersofMethodist societies in the United States wanted to be baptized or toparticipate in communion, they had to visit Episcopal churches. When America successfully severed its ties to the Mother Country, JohnWesley's plans for keeping his Methodist societies in the United Statestied to the Church of England were no longer feasible. He then madearrangements for forming American Methodists into a separate ecclesiasticalbody, complete with the right to ordain their own clergy so thatAmerican Methodists could have easier access to the sacraments. In 1784,Wesley sent Dr. Thomas Coke to the United States with instructions fororganizing the American church. Asbury and Coke met at Barratt's Chapel in Frederica, Delaware, on November14, 1784, where a quarterly meeting was in session. Coke's arrivalmeant that the Lord's Supper could be celebrated in America by an ordainedMethodist minister for the first time. In addition, Coke and Asburyused that occasion to make plans for the Christmas Conference to beheldin Baltimore later that year. Because of the results of this session, Barratt'sChapel is referred to as 'The Cradle of Methodism" in America. The Methodist Church as known today in the United States took form duringthe Christmas Conference, which convened on December 24, 1784,in Lovely Lane Chapel (originally Lovely Lane Meeting House) in Baltimore.For ten days, leaders of] ohn Wesley's Methodist societies met tocreatethe Methodist Episcopal Church. About sixty of the new nation's eighty-onepreachers were present, and they decided the new denomination would be episcopal in nature with superintendents, elders, and deaconsas officers. Coke and Asbury were unanimously elected superintendents. Betweenthe Christmas Conference and the first Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in April 1785, Coke and Asbury traveledthe nation and superintended the work of the growing church. Asbury'strip took him south to Charleston, South Carolina; as he returned, he visited Wilmington, Waccamaw Lake, Elizabethtown, and Kinston.He arrived at the home of Green Hill, a local preacher in North Carolina,near Louisburg on April 19, 1785. While Asbury was traveling throughthe South, Coke toured Northern areas, ending his trip in New York.He toured northeastern North Carolina with stops at Pasquotank, Edenton,and Roanoke Chapel before arriving at Green Hill's home on the sameday as Asbury. Withthe two leaders of the church present, the first annual conferenceofthe Methodist Episcopal Church inAmerica convened on April 20, 1785.Atthe time, the conference covered only Virginia, North Carolina, andSouth Carolina. About twenty preachers attended the sessions, at whichthey reported the addition of991 members to the rolls.' One of the maintasks facing Asbury and Coke was to ordain many of the local r FACING TOMORROW, UNDERSTANDING YESTERDAY 3 Thomas Coke Photo by permission of Methodist Library, United Methodist Church Archives and History Center, Drew University, Madison New Jersey National Monument Barratt's Chapel Historical Marker
Page 2 and 3: II ~u~ Donated by (mANGE UNITED MET
Page 5 and 6: FACING TOMORROW, UNDERSTANDING YEST
Page 7 and 8: DEDICATION This history of Orange U
Page 9 and 10: CONTENTS Foreword ix Introduction x
Page 11 and 12: FOREWORD Writing any history is a d
Page 13 and 14: INTRODUCTION John Wesley wrote to T
Page 15: The Appearance of Methodism in the
Page 19 and 20: were removed from the Virginia Conf
Page 21 and 22: Other longtime Orange Church member
Page 23 and 24: One possible result of these meetin
Page 25 and 26: The Sunday School Movement and Oran
Page 29 and 30: Richard S. Webb (1865-1869) Roderic
Page 33 and 34: Schoolwas available for church use,
Page 35 and 36: tolavish praise on the Ladies' Aid
Page 37 and 38: designed it,and he superintended it
Page 39 and 40: The young women serving as voluntee
Page 41 and 42: TheBible remains within the Orange
Page 43 and 44: While wedding decorations and attir
Page 47 and 48: honorofSamuel and Fannie Brockwell.
Page 49 and 50: activitiesthat were fun. In Decembe
Page 51: Williams,Wiley Williams, Annie Hoga
Page 55: The Arrival of the Stained Glass Wi
Page 58 and 59: 44 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Dear Frfon
Page 60 and 61: 46 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY - Amity Ch
Page 62 and 63: 48 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY from its i
Page 64 and 65: 50 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY - congrega
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52 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Vaughn-Mad
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54 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY David B. L
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56 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Vinton and
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58 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Puppet Sho
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60 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY As Paschal
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62 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY i Biscuit
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64 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Omie Black
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66 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Nellie Hut
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68 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY New Member
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70 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Chilcote F
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72 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Nellie Hut
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74 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Good Frida
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76 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY u Nursery
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78 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Ed Hess dr
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80 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY - The 1980
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82 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Youth Quar
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84 ORANGE CHURCH HISfORY 1991 Chanc
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86 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Seated at
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88 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Young At H
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90 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY 200th Anni
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92 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY UMM member
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94 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Lundsford'
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96 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Vacation B
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98 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Orange Pre
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100 ORANGE CHURCH HISfORY of the 19
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102 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Pioneer B
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104 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Sunday Sc
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106 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY A Growing
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108 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY - - wante
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110 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Planning
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112 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Orange Ch
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114 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Construct
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116 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Bethany S
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118 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Susanna W
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120 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY J Donald
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122 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Robeson C
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124 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY - - lawye
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126 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Minnie T.
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128 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY William D
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130 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY - - Endno
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132 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY Orange Un
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134 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY - ALVINAJ
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136 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY CONNECTIO
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138 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY r-- '-- O
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140 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY - '-- NAM
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142 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY NAME BORN
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144 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY NAME BORN
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146 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY r-- - NAM
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148 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY 1970 Firs
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150 ORANGE CHURCH HISTORY North Car
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152 Brockwell, Laura Hester, 13,21,
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154 Duke, Margaret Crawford, 140 Du
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156 Hutchins, Blanche Strain, 26, 1
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158 Noseworthy, Debbie, 137 Nosewor
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160 Sunday School class (junior hig
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