Churches

In the late 1840's an African-American congregation was established in Westernport, Maryland in the southwestern portion of Allegany County on the Potomac River. Known as the Brown Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1854 the group purchased a vacated Methodist church building on Front Street to serve the congregation. The Westernport Heritage Society indicates that the location was 109 Front Street.

Reverend Robert Meaker Powell, 1930 - 2003

The following is excerpted and edited from a lengthy obituary presented at a "Celebration of Life for Reverend Robert Meaker Powell, Retired." It was prepared for his funeral service held on December 13, 2003 at St. Philip's Episcopal Church, Annapolis, Maryland.
       

Reverend John Gloucester
(1776-1822)

Early records from Cumberland's First Presbyterian Church note the visit from one of America's historic African American religious figures, or possibly a family member, in 1820.

Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887), the famous abolitionist, clergyman, reformer, orator, and brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe who wrote, Uncle Tom's Cabin, preached at this church in 1866.

Holy Cross-St. Philip’s Episcopal Church Closing

The following article is from the May 27, 2014 edition of the Cumberland Times-News. It pertains to the closing of the St. Philip's Episcopal Church which is discussed elsewhere on this website:

Holy Cross - St. Philip’s Episcopal Church Closing
Congregation will hold last service June 15

CUMBERLAND — An Episcopal church with important historical roots in the community will be closing its doors next month.

This is the altar that served St. Philip's Church on South Smallwood Street. St. Philip's had begun as a "missionary enterprise" of the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in 1890. Black Episcopalians would regularly attend services at Emmanuel and be seated in what was historically known as the "slave balcony" (see the write-up on Samuel Semmes). When the balcony was removed during a renovation, Emmanuel held special services and Sunday school for its black congregants in the Parish Building which at that time was located at the corner of Washington and Greene Streets.

Saint Philip's Chapel
CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND
The Reverend G. Stanley Schwind, Vicar
Consecration of the Chapel by the
RIGHT REVEREND NOBLE C. POWELL, D. D.
Bishop of Maryland
The Sunday after Ascension Day, June 2, 1946 - 7 P. M.

ORDER OF SERVICE
The Bishop, accompanied by visiting clergy, proceeds to the vestry door and strikes upon it three times. The door is opened, the Bishop enters and pronounces the PEACE.
Psalm 24: Prayer Book p. 559 - The Bishop and Clergy
The Request for Consecration - Johnson M. Denson

The following history of St. Philip's Chapel was published in A History of Holy Cross Episcopal Church, Cumberland, Maryland, 1891-1991. It goes into detail surrounding the Smallwood Street site of St. Philip's. For instance, the initial chapel was originally a home, purchased in 1901 and remodeled to serve the needs of the congregation until the erection of a new, more adequate chapel in 1930. The final service is also precisely identified as being held on November 1, 1966. St. Philip's served as a center for worship, church, and community based activities until its closing:

St. Philip's Chapel and members of the congregation, 1924

Top left - Adults, left to right are Oscar Martin, Stanley Cooper, Billy Cooper, Elmore Gates, Horatio Ruffner, Beulah Burley (lived in Ridgeley, West Virginia), Clayton Denson, Mary Ann Long, Mrs. Dawson (the wife of Reverend Dawson), Clara Gates Jackson (daughter of Jane Gates), Lillian Lee Boston, George Dawson, and the Reverend Cornelius R. Dawson who served as St. Philip's Priest from 1922 to 1926.

The children, left to right, are Dana Armisted and Romaine Denson Franklin.

Converts honored at First Communion