The Old, Rugged Chapel

This stone marker sits by the side of a wooded, back road.  Unless you were taking a shortcut, you might never even drive past this historic site.  And, even if you happened to notice the granite slab sitting near the remains of a few overgrown, stone walls, you might be surprised to learn what is being memorialized here.

Bush Forest Chapel, first built on this site in 1769, is the oldest Methodist meeting house in Harford County, second oldest in Maryland, and the third oldest in America, according to, Churches-An Illustrated History, by Henry Peden.

  Just to put things in perspective, Harford County wouldn’t exist until four years later, and Maryland wouldn’t become a state for another five years after that.  This church pre-dates the Revolutionary War by six years.

The roots of Methodism in Harford County run deep, and they run wide, as evidenced by the fact that there are currently more Methodist churches here than any other denomination.  In fact, Maryland is the home of Methodism in America.

When the first Bush Forest Chapel was built, it was a log building and was served by  itinerant preachers who rode from meeting house to meeting house on horseback to preach to the various local congregations. Robert Strawbridge was among those circuit-riding preachers. He built the first Methodist chapel in America in Carroll County.

Francis Asbury, one of the first two Bishops of the Methodist Church, visited in Dec. 1772 and wrote in his journal that the, “house had no windows or doors, the weather was very cold; so that my heart pitied the people when I saw them so exposed. Putting a handkerchief over my head, I preached, and after an hour’s intermission (the people waiting all the time in the cold) I preached again,” according to the Maryland Historical Trust.

The Methodist Church officially came into being in America when the Christmas Conference was held in Baltimore in 1784 at Lovely Lane Methodist Church, which would become known as the Mother Church of American Methodism. 

Four years later, Bush Forest Chapel became a part of the Harford Circuit and was now a recognized church, even though it had no windows or doors or steeple.

It wasn’t until 1842 that the rugged, log structure was replaced with a stone chapel.  There was a balcony in the rear for, “Christian Negroes,” according to MHT.  In 1878, the stone chapel was given to them for their own use as a church.  Oddly enough, the stone building burned that year.  What you see driving past is the remnants of this building.

In that same year, a frame structure of white pine was built adjacent to the stone chapel.  The new church continued to hold services until it was abandoned in 1925.  Most of the congregants had drifted away from the area or joined other Aberdeen churches, such as Baker Church or Grace Church.

When the last Bush Forest Chapel was dismantled, the building was bought by Mr. A. H. Wilson for $300 and the lumber was used to construct the Wilson-Oliver Insurance Agency, according to MHT.  The MHT also noted that the pews from the church were reportedly sold to Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church for $100.

The granite marker which we see today is the second marker on the site.  The first was made of bronze and was stolen during WWII.  Since the marker was inscribed, research has revealed that it is actually the second-oldest Methodist meeting house in Maryland, and the third oldest in America. 

The next time you drive along Stepney Rd. and see the stone ruins and the marker alongside the road, you’ll know how significant that spot once was in the religious history of the county.