Barratt's Chapel
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Barratt's Chapel is a
chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
located to the north of Frederica in
Kent County, Delaware Kent County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851, making it the least populous county in Delaware. The county seat is Dover, the state capital of Delaware. It i ...
. It was built in 1780 on land donated by Philip Barratt, owner of
Barratt Hall Barratt Hall, also known as the Philip Barratt House, is a historic home located near Frederica, Delaware, Frederica, Kent County, Delaware. It dates to the mid-18th century, and is a two-story, three bay, center-hall plan brick dwelling in the ...
, and a prominent local landowner and political figure. Barratt, who had recently become a
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
, wanted to build a center for the growing Methodist movement in
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
.


History

Barratt's Chapel is the oldest surviving church building in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
built by and for Methodists, but it earns its title as the "Cradle of Methodism" because of what happened there in 1784. Methodism began in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
as a movement within the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
led by John and
Charles Wesley Charles Wesley (18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788) was an English leader of the Methodist movement. Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime. His works include " And Can It Be", " Christ the Lord Is Risen ...
. As members of the Methodist Societies emigrated to the American
colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
, Methodism took root in the New World. Between 1768 and 1774,
John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...
sent
Francis Asbury Francis Asbury (August 20 or 21, 1745 – March 31, 1816) was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. During his 45 years in the colonies and the newly independent United States, he devoted his life to ...
and seven other Methodist lay preachers to the colonies to minister to the growing societies. When the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
broke out, only Asbury and James Dempster chose to remain in
America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Dempster withdrew to a farm in the Mohawk Valley of upstate
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
, where he remained for the rest of his life, preaching occasionally in the surrounding area. Asbury became the effective leader of American Methodists. In 1784, with peace returned, John Wesley sent his friend Thomas Coke to America with instructions to find Asbury and to discuss with him the future of American Methodism. Coke came to Barratt's Chapel on Sunday, November 14, 1784, expecting to find Asbury. As Wesley's personal emissary, Coke was invited to preach. During the sermon Asbury arrived. Coke came down from the
pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...
and embraced him. A star in the floor of the Chapel commemorates this historic meeting. During this service the sacraments of
baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
and
Holy Communion The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instituted ...
were administered for the first time by ordained Methodist clergy. Following the service, Coke and Asbury adjourned to the home of Philip Barratt's widow, across the field from the Chapel. That evening they formulated plans to call all the Methodist preachers together for a meeting in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
on
Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...
. At this
Christmas Conference The Christmas Conference was an historic founding conference of the newly independent Methodists within the United States held just after the American Revolution at Lovely Lane Chapel in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1784. Prior to the revolution, ...
of 1784, the
Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...
was organized. The Chapel as it appears from the outside today looks very much the way it did when Coke and Asbury met there. The interior of the Chapel has undergone several renovations. The present appearance dates from 1842. Barratt's Chapel is an officially designated Heritage Landmark of the United Methodist Church. Today it is owned and maintained by the Commission on Archives and History of the Peninsula-Delaware Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Several thousand people visit the Chapel each year. The Commission sponsors two major services each year at the Chapel: the Anniversary Service on the second Sunday of November, commemorating the meeting of Coke and Asbury, and a Christmas Carol Service on a Sunday in December. The Chapel is also used for many weddings, baptisms, funerals, and other special services. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1972. and


Barratt's Chapel Museum

The Barratt's Chapel Museum features original furniture, religious books and artifacts about the history of Methodism on the
Delmarva Peninsula The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a large peninsula and proposed state on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the vast majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore regions of Maryland and Virginia ...
. There is also a video about the history of Barratt's. Guests can tour the original chapel and a reconstructed 18th century vestry. The chapel and museum are open on Saturdays and Sundays. Barratt's Chapel, Frederica, Delaware in winter.jpg , Barratt's Chapel in winter Nineteenth Century Methodist Hymnal in Barratt's Chapel Museum, Frederica, Delaware.jpg , Nineteenth Century Methodist Hymnal Nineteenth Saddlebags in Barratt's Chapel Museum, Frederica, Delaware.jpg , Nineteenth Century Saddlebags Sunday School Organ in Barratt's Chapel Museum, Frederica, Delaware.jpg , Sunday School Organ


See also

*
List of the oldest buildings in Delaware This article attempts to list the oldest extant buildings surviving in the state of Delaware in the United States of America, including the oldest houses in Delaware and any other surviving structures. Some dates are approximate and based upon den ...
*
Oldest churches in the United States The designation of the oldest church in the United States requires careful use of definitions, and must be divided into two parts, the oldest in the sense of oldest surviving ''building'', and the oldest in the sense of oldest Christian church ...


References


External links

* * {{National Register of Historic Places in Delaware Historic American Buildings Survey in Delaware United Methodist churches in Delaware Chapels in the United States Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Delaware History of Methodism in the United States Museums in Kent County, Delaware History museums in Delaware Churches in Kent County, Delaware National Register of Historic Places in Kent County, Delaware 18th-century Methodist church buildings in the United States Methodist Episcopal churches in the United States