Early Black Methodists in United Methodist History
By: Rev. Bonnie McCubbin
Director of Museums and Pilgrimage
February is Black History Month and each week, Archives and History will introduce you to an underrepresented or overlooked Black Methodist in our history. Early Methodists were anti-slavery. Over time, we were segregated by race, only to join back together again in 1939. Today, we continue this journey as we seek to become anti-racist in our ministry. Check back each week in February to learn more.
Week 1: Mary (Annie) Sweitzer
The earliest Methodists in America could be found in what is now Carroll County, Maryland, along Pipe’s Creek, as early as about 1761 (the exact date is unknown), under the leadership of Robert and Elizabeth Strawbridge. They formed class meetings to encourage accountability and faithful Christian living among the members.
Early minutes of class meetings and religious societies document the presence of Black members. The log meetinghouse, the first building built expressly for Methodist worship in America, was built on Sam’s Creek, not far from the first class meeting site. The Strawbridge Shrine Association keeps alive this history, and tells the story of enslaved persons, Mary Sweitzer and Jacob Toogood, who were members of Strawbridge’s First Class Meeting and attended worship in the Log Meetinghouse. Next week will feature Jacob Toogood.
Mary Sweitzer is frequently listed in our history as “Annie Sweitzer.” This is the same person. Annie is a modification of “Aunt Sweitzer,” an honorific used for Mary. There is little record of Mary (Annie) Sweitzer's history. She met with the class at the John Evans House as an equal member of the class, despite being of African descent and enslaved. Her name appears in the class lists.
This class was a covenant group that not only met together to study the Word of God, but also to hold one another accountable for their faith lived out in daily life. Members of the class were required to be present regularly. If a member missed more than 2 meetings, they were expelled from the class. Mary was a full member of this group of Christians discerning God’s calling in their lives, so she must have attended regularly.
Additional Resources:
“Methodist History: Slave Welcomed as Church Member.” United Methodist Communications, 2015.
Strawbridge Shrine Association: To learn more about the early class meetings, mini-pilgrimages to The Strawbridge Shrine can be arranged April-October, by contacting the Curator at www.strawbridgeshrine.org.
Week 2: Jacob Toogood
Coming February 9
Week 3: Harry Hoosier
Coming February 16
Week 4: Frederick Douglass
Coming February 23
Rev. Bonnie McCubbin serves co-vocationally as the Director of Museums & Pilgrimage/Conference Archivist for the Baltimore-Washington Conference and as Pastor of Historic Old Otterbein UMC (Baltimore, MD). Her new book, I Love to Tell the Story: A Pilgrimage Towards Racial Justice in The United Methodist Church (Tehom Center, 2026), focuses on Black history in the denomination and the dissolution of the racially-segregated Central Jurisdiction.