[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 123 (Tuesday, September 16, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1761-E1762]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


           SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO ASBURY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 16, 1997

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, the Asbury United Methodist Church, 
celebrating 161 years in the Washington, DC community, is conducting 
its 11th annual homecoming September 23 through 28, 1997. Asbury's 
extraordinary history and contributions warrant praise and honor from 
this body and I ask that you join me in rendering that honor today.
  Asbury United Methodist Church was organized in 1836 when a group led 
by Eli Nugent left the Foundry Methodist Church to form its own 
congregation. The first Asbury Church was a white frame building on the 
same site as the current Asbury Church edifice.
  Mr. Speaker, Asbury's growth and history are intricately woven with 
that of African-American history. The decade of the 1860's brought 
civil war. Asbury opened its doors to provide space for classrooms for 
the fleeing and newly freed slaves. Operated under the auspices of 
various freedmen's aid societies, schools and classes helped provide 
the basic education needed if former slaves were to survive 
emancipation. These programs continued through the early 1870's.
  Asbury's leadership remained in the hands of whites until the time of 
the emancipation. The Washington Annual Conference was founded in 1864. 
Asbury's role and leadership as a black congregation was firmly 
established with the appointment of the first black pastor, Rev. James 
Harper. Asbury experienced its greatest growth during the 
Reconstruction era. New organizations and programs were added and by 
the 1880's the Sunday school and choir received frequent mention in the 
press. This growth was accompanied by both missionary efforts and 
doctrinal disputes which led to the formation of other congregations 
that separated from the main body. These were Wesley African Methodist 
Episcopal Zion in 1847, Simpson Methodist Episcopal in 1875, and 
Peoples Congregational in 1891.
  Mr. Speaker, with the dynamic leadership of ministers, Rev. J.W.E. 
Bowen, Rev. I.L. Thomas, and Rev. Matthew Clair, Sr., Asbury added new 
programs, expanded its services, and built a new edifice. By 1915, with 
a membership of over 1,000 the structure built in 1866 could no longer 
contain the church body. Under the leadership of Reverend Clair, the 
old building was replaced with a two story structure of Gothic design.
  By the early decades of the 20th century, with its emphasis on social 
justice, enlightened efforts on behalf of the race and a range of 
programs for the education and social improvements of its youth, Asbury 
was attracting Washington, DC's most prominent citizens. The press 
described it as the ``National Church of Negro Modernism.''
  Mr. Speaker, the heritage and traditions that shaped Asbury's 
illustrious history continue to inspire its current membership. Asbury 
has established programs for the hungry from the soup kitchen of the 
1930's to its food pantry in the 1980's. Its activities for transients 
and the homeless includes regularly scheduled breakfast and an outreach 
center which distributes clothing and personal items. It has operated 
the Asbury Federal Credit Union since the 1950's and the educational 
building, which houses the Child Development Center, was completed in 
1973. Asbury Dwellings contains 147 apartments for senior citizens and 
handicapped individuals. The church once operated community centers in 
Washington, DC and supported a church and school in Sierra Leone, West 
Africa. Asbury now provides support to Africa University in Zimbabwe 
and to TransAfrica.
  Asbury was placed in the DC Inventory of Historic Sites in 1984 and 
was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 1, 
1986. During its 150th anniversary, an endowment was established to 
support programs in education, outreach, history, and heritage. A 
history center was established to collect, preserve and disseminate 
Asbury's history.
  Mr. Speaker, the leadership of pastors such as Bishop Matthew W. 
Clair and the Reverends Robert Moten Williams, James D. Foy, Frank L. 
Williams, and Joshua Hutchins and the commitment of the membership are 
very much in evidence today. This legacy continues under Asbury's 
present senior minister, Dr. Eugene Matthews who was appointed in 1992. 
Asbury's members now number 1,700 and routinely extends itself into the 
community-at-large. The church supports the programs of the Washington 
Interfaith Network [WIN] and the Holy Boldness activities envisioned by 
Bishop Felton E. May of the Baltimore-Washington Conference. Asbury is 
also a leader in the United Methodist community with its emphasis on 
Discipleship Bible Study, Convenant Discipleship, and class leader 
programs.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that this body join me in saluting the Asbury 
United Methodist Church on the occasion of its 11th annual homecoming, 
``Nurturing, Outreaching and Witnessing Into the Twenty First 
Century.'' I am proud to recount Asbury's rich history and to emphasize 
its role in this community since its inception in the 1800's.

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