Charles Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church- Abingdon, Virginia
Posted by: UberHOKIE
N 36° 42.789 W 081° 58.004
17S E 413660 N 4063487
Charles Wesley United Methodist Church
322 East Main Street
Abingdon, Virginia 24210
Pastor: Rev Donald Swift
(276)628-1304
Waymark Code: WM3FHJ
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 03/29/2008
Views: 26
Historical Significance:
In the early 1800's, some of the black citizens of the Wolf Hill section of Abingdon, known as King's Mountain, attended the Wolf Hill Methodist Church. Black people from the beginning of American Methodism have been a substantial portion of the denomination membership. In 1823, Holston Conference total membership included 7,512 whites and 1,078 colored. In 1827, Abingdon church membership included 70 whites and 30 colored. The first meeting was held in the Masonic Lodge Hall located on the park where Campbell's funeral home now has a warehouse. Here the first black Methodist church was organized.
No records could be found telling who the first pastor was. However, in 1873, Rev. Soloman Wing founded the Charles Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church. The congregation outgrew their facilities. This situation sparked the committee to locate a new site. In 1873, a tract of land on the east end of Abingdon was purchased. This land, on Main Street, was part of a "convent" occupied by the sisters of the Academy of Visitations of Abingdon, Virginia. On November 20, 1877, the congregation moved into their new church on East Main Street in the name of Charles Wesley Episcopal Church. After the Civil War, the Holston Conference Methodist Episcopal Church, south, granted a request of the Negro members that they be constituted separately. Charles Wesley joined the Washington County Conference in 1878 and the East Tennessee conference was in 1900.
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