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OUR STORY

the history of williamsburg umc

On August 21, 2022, the congregation of Williamsburg United Methodist Church observed the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the Methodist movement in America’s colonial capital. In the summer of 1772, Joseph Pilmore, a Methodist lay preacher sent by John Wesley to organize Methodist Societies in America, made a wide southern tour of Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas. Pilmore arrived at Jamestown landing by boat and made his way to Williamsburg to preach in the local theater and on Palace Green. On hearing him, the rector of Bruton Parish Church courteously welcomed Pilmore into his pulpit, and interest in the Methodist message of repentance and transforming Grace built swiftly. Williamsburg Methodists met in small, intimate groups together and continued regular communion as members of Bruton Parish Church.

Francis Asbury, the first bishop of the Methodist Church in America, made several visits to Williamsburg beginning in 1781, at times preaching from the steps of the Court House of 1770. Ultimately, American Methodists separated from the Anglican (or Episcopal) Church in 1784; in Williamsburg that transition would be gentle and gradual. William McKendree, later a distinguished bishop, became an early itinerant pastor in 1785 on the Williamsburg Circuit, which extended from Old Point Comfort in Hampton to Hanover (near Richmond) after 1785.

THE FIRST METHODIST BUILDING

Little is known of Williamsburg's first Methodist building, which was said to have been a barn and later to have been used as a coffin shop.  It is thought to have been located on the south side of Francis Street, in the region of the parking lots used today by the Colonial taverns on Duke of Gloucester Street.  

THE SECOND METHODIST BUILDING

Williamsburg UMC's second church home was erected in 1842 and was used until 1926, after which it became the city Post Office. It was later dismantled during the restoration by Colonial Williamsburg.  It stood on the south side of Duke of Gloucester Street, on the site of the westernmost of the booths where wares and refreshments are sold in Market Square. 

THE THIRD METHODIST BUILDING

Our third building was erected in 1926 at the western end of what is now Merchants Square. The building, abandoned for the present location in 1964, stood until 1981 and was the last pre-restoration non-residential building on Duke of Gloucester Street.  The site is now retail stores. 

PRESENT CHURCH HOME

In 1963, the congregation made the bold decision to move to its present location at 500 Jamestown Road, directly across from the College of William and Mary and adjacent to the Wesley Foundation ministry to college students. A major new addition was then added to the building in 2006 to accommodate our day and early childhood music schools, many 12-Step groups, a thriving Scout Troop (itself nearly 100 years old!) and more than 2,000 members.

breaking ground

On July 21, 1963, Williamsburg Methodists gathered to break ground for an extraordinary new church home. The first shovel-full of earth was turned by “the Tabb triplets,” Ann, Peggy and Beth – daughters of John and Rae Tabb. Mr. Tabb, then our Lay Leader, had been among those guiding the congregation in following the leadership of its Building Committee (comprised of Baxter Carr, Champ Powell, Leroy Phillips, John Tabb, Alan Fink, Clyde Boyer) in a very bold decision: to relocate from what is now the Merchants Square area of Colonial Williamsburg to a new home on Jamestown Road.

Pictured are (seated) representatives from local churches and the Virginia Conference, and (standing, from left to right) Leroy Phillips (handing shovel to the girls); George Thoneson (Trustee Chair); Baxter Carr (Chair of the Building Committee); and Champ Powell, Chair of the Administrative Board. Rev. John Wesley Newman, then our Pastor, can be seen at the podium.

60 years of legacy and faith 
with Baxter Carr

In the Fall of 2023, Williamsburg UMC celebrated the 60th Anniversary of our church's groundbreaking at 500 Jamestown Rd was made even more special by the presence of a remarkable individual, Mr. Baxter Carr, who played a pivotal role in shaping our church's destiny.

Imagine standing in the presence of a centenarian whose vision and dedication helped shape the very building in which the congregation gathers today. Listening to Mr. Carr's firsthand accounts of the church's early days, the challenges they faced, and the determination that drove their vision was nothing short of inspiring! We invite you to play the video to hear Baxter's story. 

methodist sites in colonial williamsburg

BRUTON PARISH CHURCH

Famed English evangelist George Whitefield (1714-1770), a friend and rival of John Wesley, preached at Bruton Parish in December 1739 - Williamsburg's first known encounter with the Great Awakening. Whitefield created no great stir, however, in the heavily Church of England/Episcopalian colonial capital of America.

THE CAPITOL

Joseph Pilmore, sent as one of the first two lay missionaries to the American colonies by John Wesley, preached in the baking heat of the Capitol yard in August 1772. Courteously received by the rector of Bruton Parish, Pilmore lodged with Elkanah Deane, coachmaker, in his home on the Palace Green, and took to preaching nearby in the sweltering Playhouse (not reconstructed). The Methodist "society" for which Pilmore stridently called would take root over the coming years. 

THE COURTHOUSE

Francis Asbury (1745-1816), prominent evangelist (and eventual Bishop of the new Methodist Episcopal Church), opted to preach on the stairs on the Courthouse steps after the keys to the public building reportedly could not be found, on December 17, 1783. This was Asbury's second visit to Williamsburg. After his first in December 1782, he wrote matter-of-factly of the former colonial and state capital (and stalwartly Episcopalian community) that its "worldly glory is departed from it; as to Divine glory, it never had any."

THE OLD PARSONAGE

An early parsonage was built in 1926 and housed Methodist ministers and their families until 1964. This fine building is still standing at its original location in Merchants Square, and presently houses a shoe store. 

BROWN HALL

Brown Hall was built in 1930 by the Virginia Annual Conference as a dormitory for newly-admitted female students of the College of William and Mary. Named for a prominent Methodist family of Williamsburg and Lynchburg, it addressed the concern in an era of increasing co-education that young Methodist women have a proper home at the state-supported college. The nearly 100-year-old residential building is presently undergoing renovation to become a multidisciplinary academic facility focused on addressing global issues. It will be named for William and Mary alumnus and current chancellor Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama. (Dr Gates also once served as Assistant Scoutmaster of WUMC’s own Scout Troop 103, and maintains a friendly rapport with that 100-year old unit.)

THE WESLEY FOUNDATION

The United Methodist Campus Ministry at the College of William and Mary began its worthy work in the 1920s, and in 1964 moved to a new and “permanent” space: a 19th-century house at 526 Jamestown Road, right next to the present site of our Church. The Wesley Foundation serves and houses students of the College at this location and is served by minister Rev. Ryan LaRock