Church in D.C., United States
Foundry United Methodist Church
is a historic congregation of the
United Methodist Church
, located on
16th Street NW
,
Washington, D.C.
, and founded in 1814.
History
[
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]
Foundry Church built in 1866
Henry Foxall
, the prominent owner of the Columbia Foundry (besides the church, also namesake of the
Foundry Branch
), contributed the land and funds for the construction of the first
church
in 1814. By tradition, he made the contribution in gratitude for divine intervention after a thunderstorm prevented British soldiers from destroying the foundry during the
Burning of Washington
.
[1]
Foxall, who later served as mayor of
Georgetown
, was an associate of
Francis Asbury
, the founder of American Methodism, and became a lay preacher himself.
A simple brick church was constructed at 14th and G Streets, Northwest, and Stephen G. Roszel became its first preacher, in 1815. The name "Foundry Chapel" was first used in 1816, and the community became an independent charge in 1817.
[2]
President
Abraham Lincoln
attended a January 18, 1863 service at Foundry, where visiting Bishop Matthew Simpson, raising funds for missionary work, proposed that Lincoln be made a life director of the Methodist Missionary Society.
[2]
His successor
Andrew Johnson
is also known to have attended.
[3]
In 1877, President
Rutherford B. Hayes
became a member of the congregation, and he and his wife Lucy attended services regularly for the next four years.
Lucy Webb Hayes
was a devout Methodist and known for her support of the
temperance movement
, and later nicknamed "Lemonade Lucy" as she did not serve alcohol at White House events.
[3]
In June 1872, the church purchased land at 15th and R Streets NW, which was developed into the Fifteenth Street Methodist Church. Foundry and the Fifteenth Street church merged in 1903. Around this time, the church leaders sought to build a bigger church, and acquired the current parcel on 16th Street NW. The new church opened for worship on February 28, 1904, and was dedicated on April 10 of that year.
In 1924,
Frederick Brown Harris
was appointed pastor, a position he would have for more than 30 years, during which time he also served as the
Chaplain of the Senate
, and became the longest-serving holder of that title.
Sanctuary
Attendance reached an all-time high during
World War II
. Early in the American involvement in the war, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
and U.K. Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
attended a special interfaith service at Foundry on December 25, 1941.
J. Philip Wogaman
, previously of
Wesley Theological Seminary
, became senior minister in 1992. In 1993, Foundry welcomed President
Bill Clinton
and
Hillary Clinton
as members; the Clintons would attend services there about half the weekends they were in Washington.
[2]
On June 7, 1995, the church voted to become a "
Reconciling Ministry
" for
LGBTQIA+
members, an effort which continued under Wogaman's successor, Dean Snyder.
[4]
The church voted overwhelmingly in 2010 to allow same-sex marriages, placing it in conflict with the larger United Methodist Church.
[5]
In 2014, Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli became the first woman to serve as senior pastor.
[6]
Music
[
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]
Some of the pipes of the pipe organ.
Foundry is known for its strong music program, which includes a children's choir, contemporary choir, and the 55-voice Foundry Choir. The Foundry Choir was selected to lead the opening communion service of the 1984 UMC
General Conference
, marking the bicentennial of
Methodism
in America.
[7]
The
church organ
is a
Casavant
of 3,364 pipes and 60 ranks installed as part of the church's 1984 renovation.
[8]
A committee led by organist Eileen Guenther supervised its design and installation, choosing spots and voicing to reflect a focus on Classical and Romantic French literature.
[7]
Guenther gave its first performance in February 1985.
[8]
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Carter, Elliot (October 30, 2016),
Henry Foxall Was Washington's First Defense Contractor
, Architect of the Capitol
, retrieved
2019-03-30
- ^
a
b
c
Timeline
, Foundry United Methodist Church
, retrieved
2019-03-30
- ^
a
b
Many US presidents have Methodist ties
, United Methodist Church, February 15, 2019
, retrieved
January 17,
2020
- ^
Rosenstein, Peter (June 3, 2015),
"Foundry celebrates 20 years as reconciling ministry"
,
The Washington Blade
- ^
Brocklebank, Christopher (October 8, 2010),
"Washington DC Methodist Church approves same-sex marriages"
,
Pink News
, retrieved
January 17,
2020
- ^
"About Pastor Ginger"
.
www.foundryumc.com
.
- ^
a
b
Foundry United Methodist
, American Guild of Organists, District of Columbia Chapter
, retrieved
December 3,
2019
- ^
a
b
Mattos, Ed (February 25, 1985),
"Eileen Guenther"
,
The Washington Post
, retrieved
December 3,
2019
External links
[
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]