Sorry for being a little late with this update. There were many miles to travel and many places to visit. It is obvious I was too aggressive with our northerly circuit, some waypoints were skipped to maintain our appointment with Rev. Stefanie Bennett, the pastor of John Street UMC in New York City on Saturday morning.

Thursday, September 18, 2025: In shadowing Asbury’s journey… we travelled to Suffield, East Granby, Windsor, Hartford, New Britain, Farmington, Litchfield and Cornwall… all In Connecticut.

In Canaan, CT we stopped at Canaan UMC. Following my research, I wasn’t sure if it still existed – as you can see, it does – praise God! Asbury visited the town in July, 1791 and noted in his journal that he was drawn to preach at a Presbyterian church. We found no one at Canaan UMC to talk to and being pressed for time did not try to locate a Presbyterian church.

We skipped Asbury’s visit to Albany, which would have added another two hours to the day’s travels and instead settled in at Rhinebeck, NY for some much sought after rest.

Friday, September 19, 2025: We began the day visiting Rhinebeck UMC. Asbury visited Rhinebeck on August 3, 1791.

Rhinebeck church is historically significant because of Freeman Garrettson’s involvement. Garrettson and Asbury were often traveling companions, especially in the northern states. Sadly, there are no worship services being held in this building – it appears the congregation has joined with Rowe UMC. Finding no one to talk to, I left a Prologue and we moved on.

A brief stop at Pine Plains UMC was followed by a visit at Lakeville UMC. We found no one to talk to at either church, so I tucked a Prologue in the doors of each. Notice the close similarities of the two churches – it is something we have observed fairly often when churches are close by each other.

The gem of the day was Sharon UMC in Sharon, CT. We noticed a number of cars around back, so we walked to the back and found a door open. Inside were a group of ladies working on crafts for a yearly fundraiser. Having just reviewed Asbury’s journal, I knew the he had preached to a group of women in Sharon on August 7, 1791. Here is an excerpt from that entry:

I came to Sharon time enough to preach at three o’clock: the women crowded the house, whilst the men stood at the door, with patient attention, in the rain, which indeed many seemed scarcely to perceive; I spoke with life and freedom on Ephesians 2:8-10. Here are some praying souls.

I shared that with the ladies, who all laughed. Judy took time from what she was doing to give us a tour of the church and offer some history and the present-day challenges of Sharon and two other United Methodist churches nearby. It sounded as if they were working towards establishing a cooperative parish. I offered them encouragement and thanked them for their grace and hospitality.

From Sharon, we headed to Jersey City, NJ, which will be our launching point for our visit to New York City.

Peace,
-Pastor Tim