Asbury United Methodist Church, founded in 1836 as Asbury Chapel, is the oldest black

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 evangelical ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Located on the corner of 11th and K Streets Northwest, it was placed on the District of Columbia Register of Historic Places on November 1, 1986. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1986. In 2003, the National Park Service approved the listing of Asbury on the

National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

History

Founded in 1836, the church was a pioneer of African-American Methodism in Washington, D.C., and of social history through

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, and the Civil Rights movement. It is the city's oldest African-American church to remain on its original site. A new building on the same site was completed in 1870. The current building was designed by Clarence Lowell Handing and built in 1915–1916 in the English Gothic Revival architectural style. In the 1920s, the building had alterations by African American architect, William Wilson Cooke. In December 2020, the congregation's

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

banner was burned during an event for President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, an action the congregation's senior pastor described as "reminiscent of cross burnings". In January 2021,

Enrique Tarrio Henry "Enrique" Tarrio ( ; ; born ) is an American convicted seditionist and far-right activist. From 2018 to 2021, he was the chairman of the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist organization that promotes and engages in political violence ...

, chairman of the

Proud Boys The Proud Boys is an American far-right politics, far-right, Neo-fascism, neo-fascist militant organization that promotes and engages in political violence.Far-right: * * Fascist: * * * * * Men only: * * * Political violence and militancy: ...

, was arrested in relation to the incident. On July 15, 2021, the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced Asbury United Church as one of 40 sites and organizations to receive $3 million in grants from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. The grant is to be used for repairs to the church’s wood windows and bell tower masonry, as well as repointing and cleaning of its stone facade.

References

External links

* African-American history of Washington, D.C. Black Lives Matter Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. United Methodist churches in Washington, D.C. {{WashingtonDC-Methodist-church-stub