The end of our first week “on the circuit” has brought on a rather dramatic change in terrain for us. We traversed Asbury’s coastal route over flat, straight roads – certainly easy on gas mileage, as one follower noted. Turning westward from Charleston, SC, the roads became gentle rolling, then gentle curves, then sharper curves, more dramatic rise and falls and eventually were were in a mountainous region, and feeling quite at home as we arrived in Salisbury, NC and settled down for the night.

Saturday, September 6: We visited First United Methodist Church in Salisbury first thing in the morning. I was unable to rouse anyone with their doorbell, so I slipped a copy of the Prologue in the mailslot of the main door. But then we found a side door propped open… wandered around inside and still did not encounter anyone. I took a picture of the sanctuary and grabbed a bulletin for Sunday’s worship service (they were already placed in the narthex). The church was established in 1783, on March 30, 1791, Thomas Coke (who had been traveling with Asbury since leaving Charleston, SC) preached here, as Asbury was too ill to do so.

We moved on to Clemons, to visit Clemons United Methodist Church. We interrupted a group of delightful ladies who were preparing the Fellowship Hall for a special celebratory worship service the next day. Georgia was gracious enough to offer us a tour – that’s Georgia with JoAnne in the first photo above. Clemons is what i would call a descendant church of McKnight’s Chapel, where Asbury and Coke held a conference on April 1, 1791. The third photo above is a pencil drawing depicting the “lineage” of Clemons UMC. Georgia also led us across town to where we could visit the “mother” church of this lineage – Mt. Pleasant UMC.

Mt. Pleasant is the renamed McKnight’s Chapel. It is not a functioning church, but is apparently available as an event venue. I took the second photo through a side window. There is a large graveyard attached to the church, with headstones dating back to the Revolutionary War era. Interestingly, it is surrounded by a public park and golf course – that’s the clubhouse in the background of the graveyard. From here, we moved onto Salem (Morganton) NC for a good night’s rest.

Sunday, September 7: We worshipped at Salem United Methodist Church. Received a warm greeting from Pastor Monica, who was appointed here in July, and many welcoming conversations with the congregation. We celebrated Holy Communion together. Salem was formed in 1800, members told us of a Gilboa church (not functional) nearby, that was formed in 1793. Both of these post-date Asbury’s circuit of 1791, but everyone agreed that there would have been an active Methodist Society in the area that Asbury visited and met with on April 5, 1791 – which likely spawned both Gilboa and Salem churches.

After leaving Salem, we visited a couple more waypoints in North Carolina, before crossing over into Virginia and finding accommodations in Danville, VA for the night. Asbury does not note a visit to Danville, but it was the only town with motels along this current leg of Asbury’s circuit. It was a long travel day for a Sabbath, but necessary to position us for two days in Baltimore and two days in Philadelphia later this week.

In my next two day update, Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke will receive troubling news from England.

Peace,
-Pastor Tim