Lovely Lane United Methodist Church (formerly known as First Methodist Episcopal Church and 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 evangelical ...

church at 2200 St. Paul Street in the

Charles Village Charles Village is a neighborhood located in the north-central area of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It is a diverse, eclectic, international, largely middle-class area with many single-family homes that is in proximity to many of Baltimore's cultu ...

neighborhood of

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The building was designed by renowned

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

architect

Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect and a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms at the turn of the 20th century. White designed many houses ...

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 t ...

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 ; ) 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 during the 5th century until its collapse in 476, after which it served as ...

. The exterior is constructed of a gray

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

granite with limited ornamentation. It features a square

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

patterned after the

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

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 L. Carson (November 3, 1847 – December 18, 1891), was an architect born in Baltimore, the oldest son of Daniel Carson, a builder, and one of the founders of the Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore chapter of American Institute of Architect ...

was supervising architect for the

McKim, Mead & White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm based in New York City. The firm came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in ''fin de siècle'' New York. The firm's founding partners, Cha ...

firm 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 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 1973. __NOTOC__ The pipe organ in the church was built in 1930 by the Austin Organ Company as its Opus 1738. The case remains from the original organ of 1887, Hilborne L. Roosevelt’s Opus 336, which had been enlarged by Adam Stein (1844–1922) in 1914. The Austin instrument incorporates a few of the Roosevelt and Stein pipes. This organ was played in recital during the Organ Historical Society Convention in July 2024. The Sunday School Chapel houses an historic pipe organ built by Hilborne L. Roosevelt, in 1885 (Opus 239). It was restored by Richard Howell (1985) and the Reservoir was releathered by David Storey (2008). This Roosevelt pipe organ was played in recital during the Organ Historical Society Convention in July 2024. The Pipe Organs of Baltimore July 21-25, 2024 OHS 67th Annual Convention. (Villanova: Organ Historical Society, 2024), pg. 52

Lovely Lane Chapel

The congregation is known as the "Mother Church of American Methodism." 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. Background of Methodism in ...

", 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 nationally. In 1939, th ...

in the United States was founded and

Francis Asbury Francis Asbury (August 20 or 21, 1745 – March 31, 1816) was a British-American Methodist minister who became one of the first two bishop (Methodist), bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. During his 45 years in the col ...

and Thomas Coke were ordained as its first

bishops A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

. 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 restaurant as well as offices and teaching space used by Chesapeake Shakespeare Company.

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 member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

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-Methodist-church-stub