Hundreds experience history of Frederick Christian houses of worship in annual tour

Dec. 27—Bright piano music and warm, powerful voices echoed from the doors of Asbury United Methodist Church on Monday evening.

Inside, a small line of congregation members closed their eyes, swayed back and forth, and belted Christian hymns and gospel music. Dozens sat in the pews before them, listening spellbound.

Asbury United Methodist Church — among the oldest African American churches in Frederick — was one of nearly a dozen Christian historic houses of worship that welcomed visitors for tours on the day after Christmas.

For the past two years, Visit Frederick, the organizer of the event, has hosted the annual tour online because of the pandemic. On Monday, however, several hundred participants walked the city's streets, bundled from the cold and clutching small informational pamphlets.

Asbury United, at the intersection of West All Saints and Court streets, was listed as the fifth stop on this year's tour. A volunteer inside provided a small booklet that listed highlights from the church's history.

Its congregation grew from one established nearly 300 years ago at All Saints Episcopal Church. Inside the house of worship on East All Saints Street, enslaved people worshipped with slaveholders, though the groups were kept separate.

Notable members of the Episcopal congregation included Francis Scott Key — a slaveholding lawyer who wrote the lyrics for "The Star-Spangled Banner" — and Roger B. Taney, the U.S. Supreme Court justice who delivered the majority opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford, ruling that Black people could not be considered U.S. citizens.

The beginning of Asbury United as it exists today dates to the "Old Hill Church," erected in 1818 on East All Saints Street. About 50 years later, toward the end of the Civil War, the building's Black congregants came in full possession of the house of worship.

For many years, Asbury United has been a vital institution in Frederick's Black community. Congregants have included Claude DeLauter, the city's first Black alderman, and Dr. Ulysses Grant Bourne, the first Black physician to practice medicine in Frederick County.

Positioned on East Church Street, the Evangelical Lutheran Church was among the oldest houses of worship included in Monday's tour.

It was organized in 1738 at a site in northern Frederick County that is still a mystery to researchers, said Marcia Hahn, a tour volunteer for around 15 years.

Construction of the building that today houses the Evangelical Lutheran Church was completed in 1855. It was only seven years old when, during the Civil War, it served as a hospital for Union and Confederate soldiers, Hahn said.

But to Hahn, the church is more than a historical site. It's where she grew up.

She was baptized in the house of worship and has been a congregant since she was a little girl. And since her mother was the substitute organist, Hahn spent many days roaming the sanctuary with her brother as she practiced. They had to entertain themselves.

"My brother in particular knows every nook and cranny of this building," she said.

Follow Angela Roberts on Twitter: @24_angier