Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1920-03-17
OLD Mt. ZION CHURCH
A PLEA re BRING AZ HISTORIC
EDIFICE CT COUNTY INTO
IRIS 0NN AGAIN


50 readily manifested in those days Of
I pious thought and action, determined
! TO acquire the land and build meet
I ing house. wherein their faith could be
F gloriaea. by public worship.
Records are obscure as to the names
Of those who attended the first meet
ing. but we know that Robert Carr.
Benjamin Welch. Busherd Marriott
and Samuel Carr. as a Board Of Trus-
tees. bought the land. and erected
+ frame building. which as the member
( ship grew in numbers and strength.
was succeeded by the present majestic
I Brick Building. known throughout
southern Anne Arundel county as old
Ut Zion. name fraught with sacred
associations TO all'who have known the
old church and its membership, and
who witnessed its growth and progress
and its gradual decline, to its present
state OF diiapidation and neglect.
II was during the passionate Of Heze-
lsiah Best and T. ID. Gwen, that this
Church was finally completed and
Henry Slicer was the first messenger
of Cod. to ascend the long fight OF
steps leading to the pulpit. and preach
/ ed the sermon of dedication.
As the years passed the old Church
became a mecca of Methodism. Gifted
men of God preached from the pulpit,
/ and the congregation came from far
and near. Lines Of students marched
down from THE West River Classical
Institute" and sat together in the high
I backed benches.
There was no organ. but the raftefs
rang with the singing Of the old Metho-
dist hymns, Shall We Gather at the
River" and There is Rest for the
Weary and How Tedious and Taste
less the Hour" and others, locally
known as mt. Zion Hymns
And even now, some weary man or
woman. upon hearing these tunes, is
carried back to the days Of youth and
faith and to the old Church, with its
huge windows, upon which the droning
wasps lived out their little day, to the
ffeseoed walls, the old clock, which
hung beneath the gallery; the stove
pipes which seemed to climb to dizzy
( heights; the huge bible, resting on its
red velvet pillow, the baskets which
were used for collections; and then the
voice of the preacher seems to reach us
again.
For how many hundreds OF them
have preached from that pulpit, some
<of them young men; and these their
first sermons; some of them gallant
warriors of Methodism; Thomas Sew
all, Bernard Nadel, Thomas Myers,
John Lanahan and Gaarge iIildt, who
lies buried almost in the shadows of
the church.
A great event of the year was the
~All Day Meeting" which was held iii
summer, when the yard was bright
with golden buttercups. TheIb the Pre-
siding Elder came. and other preachers
beside. After the morning service,
table cloths were spread under the
oaks and .chestnuts, and families met
together for feast After the dinner,
an old fashioned Experience meeting
was held between the morning and af-
ternoon- services. and prayer and song
broke out upon the summer air.
And then in later years, came the
chiidren's Days Services when the en-,
tire countryside appeared in gala at
tire, and the children of their day,
tgladdened their parents and friends
with their pieces and their songs.
And so the old Church is filed with
associations. Young men and women
haxe been married there. Many have
been converted there And how many
Of our loved ones have rested before
that altar. while the minister read the
solemn Burial of the Dead.
One by one they have come, little
children. young mothers, young men in
the flush of manhood. and aged persons
who were glad to lay their burdens
/ down. Many who have gone for away,
have been brought home to be buriea
and have rested peacefully in the cid
/ Church Many who had worshiped
! there. and were founders of the faith.
The Rev. James e. Houseweart, Benja-
min Welch, Gassaway Winterson. John
Chew. John Wesley Wayson, Francis
Marion Byrd. and hundreds of other
Saints, who from their labors rest
And now the time has come when
/ Mt. Zion must come into its own again.
/ The present Pastor has done every
! thing to awaken an interest The Cir
cuit has been divided A number Of
+ bright, intelligent young people are
among its congregation. Is there not
in the hearts of those who follow in
the,faith some sentiment and leye, the
fruits of which will mean that this
Church will stand for years, as a
monument TO those who have aided in
its restoration?
VINO will help2