Discover Worcester County - Feel The Spirit: Churches
St. Martin's
Methodist Church
Showell |
Worcester County has a strong history of resistance to slavery. Common to many places on the Eastern Shore, there are numerous claims by Worcester County homeowners as to their property being used as a stop along the "Underground Railroad." Several of the white churches, whether of Methodist, Episcopal, Baptist or Presbyterian faith, provided a slave gallery for a segregated worship service. The gallery at Beaver Dam Presbyterian Church south of the Pocomoke City and the gallery in St. Martin's Church have strong oral traditions as seating for African-Americans.
St. Paul's Church, Berlin |
Germantown, located east of Berlin, is the site of the New Bethel Methodist Church, distinguished as one of the oldest African-American congregations. Tracing its organization back to 1855 by a group of free families, the New Bethel Methodists were formerly members of the Stevenson Methodist Episcopal Church in Berlin.
Ebenezer United
Methodist Church
Snow Hill |
With a strong presence of Methodist anti-slavery teachings in the area by the late 18th century, and the nearby location of the abolitionist leaders in northern Delaware and Philadelphia, fugitive slaves made their way north through this region from the lower Eastern Shore counties of Maryland and Virginia. The dense and natural cover provided by the Pocomoke River and its tributaries, stretching well into Sussex County, surely aided numerous slaves in their clandestine journey north to refuge in Wilmington, Delaware and Philadelphia.
A principal focus for each African-American community was the organization and construction of a church. Due to Methodism's strong stance against slavery, the newly formed congregations were largely of the Methodist faith, but a few Baptist groups were established as well. The churches built to house these new congregations were erected in the Gothic Revival style, which was widely popular during the second half of the 19th century.
Pullett's Chapel, Whaleyville |
Pullett's Chapel at Whaleyville, erected in 1892, is one of the oldest and best preserved examples in Worcester County with its intact tower and pointed arch colored glass windows. Numerous other churches, such as the New Bethel Church in Germantown, St. Paul's in Berlin, Ebenezer Church in Snow Hill or St. John's in Pocomoke City, were erected during the first decades of the 20th century. St. Paul's, erected in 1915-16 on the east side of Berlin, is perhaps the most impressive due to its large size and brick construction.
Rev. Dr. Charles Albert Tindley
(from a painting by Patrick Henry) |
One of Worcester County's most famous native sons is the Rev. Dr. Charles Albert Tindley, who was born in Berlin around 1855. He overcame slavery and poverty in his determination to educate himself for the ministry. Tindley founded one of the largest African-American Methodist congregations in Philadelphia. The Tindley Temple United Methodist Church was named in his honor.
Tindley was also a noted songwriter and composer of gospel hymns, and is recognized as one of several founding fathers of American gospel music. His hymnal, "Songs of Paradise," is still in use in Worcester County, and five of his hymns appear in the revised Methodist hymnal used worldwide. One of his most beloved songs includes the popular anthem for the Civil Rights Movement, "We Shall Overcome." Tindley Chapel Day is celebrated in Pocomoke City at the Mt. Zion United Methodist Church.
Copywriting by Paul Touart
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