You have probably noticed a lack of personal reflections in most of my blog posts. I am reserving those reflections for my book and following the end of my journey, when I can more properly digest, assemble and compile them.

Wednesday, September 10: We visited Washington Street UMC on our way out of Alexandria. Someone with the preschool answered the doorbell and said there was no one from the church there at that time. Washington Street’s online history traces their roots to Asbury’s visits to Methodist Societies in Alexandria prior to Asbury and Thomas Coke holding a conference there in 1791.

We set our GPS to Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Baltimore, MD. It was only about 50 miles away, which would be our total travel miles for two days, as we will spend two nights in Baltimore. We entered the cemetery through the narrow gates and discerned where Bishop’s Lot, or Bishop’s Hill was located within. The paths within the cemetery were rough, but passable by car. Above is the memorial marker for the four bishops buried here, it is a replacement for the previous marker that had decayed from age. The earthly remains of My Old Friend lay beneath the marker.

Along with Bishop Asbury, bishops Enoch George, John Emory and Beverly Waugh lie here also. Asbury himself, had ordained George as a Deacon and Elder.

There are other notable “Methodist movers” buried or remembered nearby. Robert Strawbridge, a marker in memory of Bishop Thomas Coke, who died at sea on a missions trip to Sri Lanka and was buried at sea in 1814. In this area, is also a buried time capsule to be opened in 2066, guess I will miss that celebration.

I will have much to share about this stop in my book, we spent a long time in the cemetery.

Thursday, September 11: A non-travel day for us, and thanks to 3 awesome Uber drivers, we had a wonderful time exploring our two waypoints in Baltimore. Our first stop was Lovely Lane UMC. This is not the physical location of the Lovely Lane Chapel where the Christmas Conference of 1784 was held, but certainly one of those “descendant churches” of that historically significant event in Methodism. The church administrator Avis, greeted us warmly, and turned us over to Ivan, the church sextant to give us a tour.

The sanctuary is stunning, I noted that the pulpit bible was opened to Micah, chapters 5 and 6.

Behind the chancel, Ivan showed us a small chapel which is currently undergoing restoration.

It turns out that Rev. Dr. Bonnie McCubbin was in the museum that day (open only to tours by appointment) and she took the time to share her vast knowledge of Asbury and Methodism and show us the various displays of Asbury sundries. Above is an original painting, the only one that Asbury ever set for. It was restored by the Smithsonian Museum and later donated to the Lovely Lane Museum. Asbury would have presided at conferences from the desk, and that is his gavel. The other desk is where he would have preached… he preferred that over a pulpit.

A few other interesting artifacts. The second photo is Thomas Coke’s pocket bible, which he was clutching in his hands when he was found dead in his cabin on the ship. The poster in the corner shows Cokesbury College… we will visit its site on Friday, on our way out of Baltimore, as we set our GPS for Philadelphia.

I can’t thank Avis, Ivan and Bonnie enough for their grace and hospitality while visiting Lovely Lane UMC (and showing up completely unannounced). Bonnie is the Director of Museums and Pilgrimages and Conference Archivist for the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the UMC. And just to make sure she is always busy… she is also the appointed pastor at Old Otterbein UMC, just a couple miles south of Lovely Lane.

That is Old Otterbein UMC in the photos above. Otterbein is buried there, Francis Asbury preached at his funeral. The last photo shows me standing on that side of the church where Otterbein is buried. If you notice on the left of that photo: Camden Yards. The Orioles were getting ready to play the Pittsburgh Pirates. This was the third of a three-game series, the game started while we were there with a burst of fireworks. If you’re wondering… the Orioles swept the series 2-3, 1-2, 2-3. Now we rest and leave in the morning for Philadelphia.

Peace,
-Pastor Tim