__NOTOC__ Lovely Lane United Methodist Church, formerly known as First Methodist Episcopal Church and earlier founded as Lovely Lane Chapel, is a historic

United Methodist The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...

church located at

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 ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

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 territori ...

. The building on St. Paul Street and 22nd Streets in the Charles Village (then originally named "Peabody Heights") neighborhood in the northern area of the city, was designed by renowned

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

architect

Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect. He was also a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms. He designed many houses for the rich, in addition ...

, (1853–1906) in the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style, and completed in 1884, as the "Centennial Monument of American Methodism". It is patterned after the early churches and basilicas in

Ravenna, Italy Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...

. The exterior is constructed of a gray ashlar granite with limited ornamentation. It features a square bell tower patterned after the campanile of the 12th century church of Santa Maria, Abbey of Pomposa, near Ravenna. The pulpit is a reproduction of the one at St. Apollinaris, in Ravenna. Locally influential architect

Charles L. Carson Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

was supervising architect for the McKim, Mead & White firm from

during construction of the church. Lovely Lane Methodist Church 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 ...

in 1973.

Lovely Lane Chapel

The congregation is known as the "Mother Church of

American Methodism The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelicali ...

." The original Lovely Lane Chapel or Meeting House was the scene of the December 1784 "

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, ...

", at which 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 ...

in the United States was founded and

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 Thomas Coke were ordained as its first bishops. The plain original chapel on Lovely Lane, off German (now Redwood) Street, between South Calvert Street and South Street in the city's waterfront district, was abandoned in 1786 and demolished. It was replaced (first) by an elaborate beaux-arts structure of the Merchants Club, and now the building contains a teaching restaurant run by the Baltimore International Culinary College, now affiliated with

Stratford University Stratford University was a private university based in Virginia. On September 26, 2022, it announced it would close, including both the campus-based and online components, at the end of the Fall 2022 semester. Founded in 1976, Stratford delivers ...

Gallery

File:Lovely Lane Methodist Church.jpg, Exterior in 2012 File:LovelyLaneInterior.jpg, Interior of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, now Lovely Lane United Methodist Church on St. Paul Street. File:The Ordination of Bishop Asbury.jpg, The Ordination of

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

at the December 1784 "

References

External links

*, including photo from 2004, at Maryland Historical Trust
Lovely Lane United Methodist Church websiteLovely Lane United Methodist Church – Explore Baltimore Heritage
Churches in Baltimore United Methodist churches in Maryland Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Baltimore Churches completed in 1884 19th-century Methodist church buildings in the United States Northern Baltimore Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Methodist Episcopal churches in the United States Baltimore City Landmarks {{Maryland-church-stub