Towson United Methodist Church
| Towson United Methodist Church | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The west exterior and 235-foot (72 m) spire, viewed from I-695
| |
| Location |
501 Hampton Lane Towson, MD 21286 |
| Country |
 United States
|
| Denomination | United Methodist Church |
| Website |
www |
| History | |
| Former name(s) |
Towson Methodist Episcopal Church (later First Methodist Church) Towson Methodist Protestant Church (later Second Methodist Church) |
| Founded | October 26, 1871 |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | J. Alfred Hamme |
| Style | Georgian |
| Groundbreaking | October 7, 1956 |
| Completed | May 11, 1958 |
| Administration | |
| District | Rev. Dr. Wanda Duckett, Superintendent, Baltimore Metropolitan District |
| Clergy | |
| Bishop(s) | Rev. LaTrelle Miller Easterling |
| Minister(s) |
Rev. Dr. Mark W. Johnson, Lead Pastor Rev. Margery Schammel, Assistant Pastor Rev. Douglas Hollida, Minister of Music and organist |
| Laity | |
| Business manager | Kim Ayres |
| Youth ministry coordinator | Rachel Livingston |
| Music group(s) | Chancel and Joyful Noise Choirs, Alleluia Singers and children's choirs |
Towson United Methodist Church is a large United Methodist Church in the historic Baltimore County, Maryland suburb of Towson. Its past, rooted in 19th century America, and subsequent growth in the two centuries since then, have closely paralleled the nation's political and sociological trends. It was a congregation split asunder in 1861 on the eve of the American Civil War in a border state of divided loyalties, which eventually reunited and built a church in the post-World War II era of the 1950s, a time of reconciliation and rapid growth by mainline Protestant denominations, especially in the more affluent suburbs.
The 1,000-member church, pastored since July 2017 by Rev. Mark Johnson, has a number of community outreach programs, including an accredited child care center and a Boy Scout troop, and actively supports a home for unwed mothers, overseas missions, and Habitat for Humanity projects. The congregation worships in a 1,000-seat sanctuary built in 1958. The large building's prominent 235-foot (72 m) spire and cupola, a landmark visible for miles from the nearby Baltimore Beltway (Interstate 695), has been called "the beacon of Towson".
Towson United Methodist Church is located on Hampton Lane at interchange #27B of the Baltimore Beltway and Dulaney Valley Road (Md. Route 146), one-half mile (one km) west of Hampton National Historic Site. The church's land was originally part of the vast 18th century Hampton estate.
First settled by brothers William and Thomas Towson in 1752, the hamlet now bearing their name remained mostly farmland until the 1830s, with no churches and little more than a roadside inn/tavern for travelers on York Road (now Md. Route 45). In the 1790s, Rebecca Dorsey Ridgely, the wife of Charles Ridgely III and described as an ardent Methodist, began holding prayer meetings at the Ridgelys' grandiose Hampton Mansion, located one-half mi (one km) east of the present church site. By 1825, the first Sunday School was started in a private home near a blacksmith's shop on York Road. In 1839, the citizenry of sparsely populated Towsontown, as the village was called by then, built the tiny community's first church in a wooded location north of Joppa Road and east of Dulaney Valley Road. The site was previously used for a powder magazine built by Gen. Nathan Towson prior to the British attack on Baltimore in September 1814, during the War of 1812. Called Epsom Chapel, the 1,000-square-foot (93 m2) structure was built of stones salvaged from the arsenal. Led by Methodist Episcopal minister Daniel Helpler, Epsom Chapel was dedicated and opened for Towsontown's first public church service on Sunday, November 10, 1839. In line with Methodist practice of the time in rural areas, circuit rider ministers would travel on horseback to preach to the villagers at Epsom Chapel. With the designation of Towson as the county seat in 1854, the town began to grow more rapidly. The small chapel was shared with other denominations until the 1870s, when Towson's increasing population spurred the construction of larger churches.
...
Wikipedia