Baltimore First Free Methodist

Today I visited Baltimore First Free Methodist, a church from 1907 tucked away between the row houses on Keswick. I did have to wonder what the "free" meant since there are other Methodist churches in Hampden. I was told that the Free Methodists broke apart from the others in 1860 because Methodist churches were charging rent for their pews and because the Free Methodists didn't support slavery. Ironically, today the Free Methodists are more conservative.

Here's the scoop:

Location: 3441 Keswick Ave.

Time: 10:30 a.m. The 9:30 on the sign actually is for bible study, which is held downstairs. Originally, I came early and was confused until I picked up a bulletin.

Leader: Pastor Loren Edwards, a middle-aged man who seemed to hold his enthusiasm back a little more than he might have wanted to. Very kind, and if he mispronounced hyperbole, it can only be said that most of his audience probably had no idea (as an English teacher I winced).
I do have a feeling he's a little more conservative than he lets on--he mentioned praying for his granddaughter to meet better friends, friends who were Christian, and didn't say anything about either Jesus hanging out with local prostitutes and tax collectors or the ability to witness through word and action, even and especially to people who aren't Christian.

Congregation: There were 21 people there, many of whom arrived late. Almost a third of the congregation was under 50, a feat for the neighborhood. I was greeted by quite a few people during different parts of the service.

The congregation will be helping to remodel the Fellowship Hall next month.

Interior: Although the worship space had been very warm at 9:30, it had been cooled for the service. Pews were comfortable, and while the decorations were sparse, two simple stained glass windows with diamond shapes brought in a little light and color.

Presentation: Things were a little off of the order I'm used to. Both offerings and greetings preceded the sermon.

People were encouraged to come up the altar to pray during different times, and a woman was annointed by a blessing from the pastor and the hands of other parisioners to take blessings to her grandson in the hospital. A little more hands-on then some churches.

A few fun activities and groups were mentioned, such as Kidz Club and the ministry to local Chinese restaurant workers held the last Sunday of each month at 10:30 p.m., when they can actually come. This impressed me--it makes for a long Sunday.

Sermon: The sermon seemed a little unorganized and spent more time on the whole message, not on historical context. Smatterings of Matthew 5-7 were hit on in seemingly spontaneous order in a "People Power" message about Christians and the Golden Rule. The one historical point made was that Confucius also had a version of the Golden Rule before Jesus.
The usual humor and jokes made an old message fresh and fun.

Music: The traditional hymns were sung from the hymnals and a cappela; newer songs were presented on Power Point and accompanied by a single guitar. Surprisingly, the harmony of the small congregation was quite good.

I approved of the song leader stopping the guitarist when we got off on a new song so that the verse could be started again. It saved that awkward rush that one can get trying to finish the song without admitting that there were issues.

Overall atmosphere: People seemed genuinely interested in why I was there and respected that I had already found a church I wanted to attend--and still wanted to talk, something one can't say about all parisioners. The congregation and pastor continually work to make the church work for multiple generations. I wouldn't be surprised if it survived long after some of the other churches in Hampden dwindled; it is the attitude, not the building, that's important.