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Wethersfield Historical Society

Wethersfield Historical Society

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A Brief History of Wethersfield United Methodist Church

Home » Articles From The Community » A Brief History of Wethersfield United Methodist Church

by Grace Hayes

In 1790 the first Methodist sermon was preached in Wethersfield by Jesse Lee in the North Brick School House, now the site of Standish Park. For several years itinerant preachers came to Wethersfield until 1821 when the Rev. William S Pease was appointed as circuit preacher for Wethersfield, Newington, New Britain, and Kensington. Early services were held in Academy Hall, but this was protested by some of the leading men of town from the already established Church of New England.

(Jesse Lee)

In 1824 the cornerstone was laid for the first Methodist Church building in Wethersfield, still in use now as temple Beth Torah, at 130 Main Street. Extensive structural changes were made in 1882 when the building was moved 26 feet onto a new stone foundation. The Baptist Church in Wethersfield graciously allowed the Methodists to worship in the Baptist church Sunday afternoons during this work. The original 1824 brownstone cornerstone now serves as a bench near the memorial garden at the Prospect Street church.

A Sunday school addition was built in 1913 but a fire destroyed this and damaged the sanctuary in 1941. Services were held in the Welles School during repairs to the sanctuary and the Sunday school portion was rebuilt twice as large. This space was soon outgrown and 11 acres were purchased at the site of the present church.

In 1959 worship began at the 150 prospect Street location. In 2005 the cornerstone was laid for construction of the Family Life Center. This addition, including a large kitchen and youth room, facilitates many church and community programs. A contemporary Morning Glory worship is held in this space every Sunday morning. It is extensively used by our youth and preschool as a recreation space and by adults for fitness training. Large groups are hosted overnight for community volunteer opportunities, such as UMARMY, United Methodist Action Reach out in Mission for Youth. Community events such as Red Cross blood donation drives, town voting and mission fund raising dinners are held here. Classroom space downstairs is used for Sunday school as well as our preschool program, open to the public.

Wethersfield United Methodist Church is much more than the structures built as a place of worship and faith formation. Led by our present pastor Albert Hahn, we continue to reach out in mission. The church has longstanding relationships with North Methodist Church in Hartford, to share worship and fellowship, and with South Park Inn, Interval House and Plimpton House ,also in Hartford. Members continue a close working relationship with a medical clinic established in the mountains of Fercy, Haiti, donating supplies and traveling there to work with the Haitian people.

About the Author: Grace Hayes

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Articles from the Community

  • Articles from the Community
    • 284 Brimfield Road
    • A Birds-eye View of Wethersfield's History
    • A Boyhood Visit to G. Fox & Company
    • A Brief History of Wethersfield United Methodist Church
    • A History of Franklin Avenue
    • A History of Temple Beth Torah
    • A Life of William Beadle
    • A Shepard and his Flock: Counting Chairs and Tracking Down Apprentices at the Wethersfield Historical Society
    • A Whaling Family
    • About the Authors
    • Black History in Wethersfield
    • Childhood Memories of the Wethersfield Homefront
    • Colonel John Chester
    • Connecticut at War: 1634 – 1781
    • Connecticut's Black Governors
    • Connecticut's Witch Trials
    • Dividend
    • Fairway 6
    • Foodways
    • Francesco A. Lentini – Three-Legged Wonder
    • Frank and Lou
    • George Whitefield – The Billy Graham of Colonial America
    • Governor Thomas Welles
    • Griswoldville Connecticut (1680-1987)
    • History of Public Libraries in Wethersfield
    • History of the Church of the Incarnation
    • History of Trinity Parish (Episcopal)
    • History of Wethersfield Library
    • Horribles Parade
    • Horseradish King
    • Houses of Worship
    • Irish Immigrants in Wethersfield 1860 to 1900: Outcasts to Neighbors
    • Issacson's Field Plane Crash
    • Jared Butler Standish
    • Meet Mr. Wethersfield: Alfred W. Hanmer
    • Mill Woods Park: A History
    • One Branch of the Josiah Willard Family of Wethersfield
    • Rediscovering Benjamin Lee Whorf
    • Religion in Glastonbury: the Congregationalists
    • Reverend and Colonel Elisha Williams
    • Rocky Hill: A History
    • Sgt. Maj. Robert H. Kellogg
    • Slavery and Wethersfield
    • Sophia Woodhouse's Grass Bonnets
    • Still Fighting Fires After All These Years
    • Table of Contents
    • The "Conference State"
    • The Blue Violet
    • The Chesters of Blaby Leicestershire England
    • The Contentious Life of James Wakelee
    • The Eel-Catcher’s Travels: Robert Seeley 1602-1667
    • The First Church of Christ
    • The Undoing of Silas Deane
    • The Welles Family and the Establishment of Newington
    • The Wethersfield Elms
    • The Wethersfield Meteorites
    • The Woman Came To Do Laundry
    • They Even Survived Rocks on the Track
    • Thomas Hickey: George Washington's Wethersfield Kidnapper
    • Town's Biggest Fire
    • Twentieth-Century Wethersfield
    • Wethersfield Almshouse 1843-44
    • Wethersfield Enters the Revolution
    • Wethersfield Evangelical Free Church
    • Wethersfield Illinois
    • Wethersfield in the Civil War by Wes Christensen
    • Wethersfield Prison Blues
    • Wethersfield Street Life 1634-1995
    • Wethersfield Summers
    • Wethersfield: A History
    • Wethersfield: The Cradle of American Seed Companies
    • Wethersfield's "Other" Plane Accidents
    • Wethersfield's Homebuilders: 1634 – 1900
    • Wethersfield's Homebuilders: 1900 – 1930
    • Wethersfield's Homebuilders: 1940s and Beyond
    • Wethersfield's Top 10 Natural Disasters
    • Wethersfield’s Dinosaur Footprints
    • Wethersfield's Glorious Baseball History
    • Who was Charles Wright?
    • William W. Anderson Veteran of the Allied Invasion of Normandy June 6
    • Wintergreen Woods: A History
Wethersfield Historical Society Wethersfield Historical Society
150 Main Street, Wethersfield, CT 06109
p. (860) 529-7656 f. (860) 563-2609
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