| Visitors encouraged to tour newly furnished Strawbridge Shrine by Melissa LauberUMConnection Staff Candlesticks, quilts, kettles, bridles and plows. At the Robert Strawbridge House in New Windsor, three centuries of everyday antiques were recently added to bring the house, and the faith it held, to life. Members of the Board of Directors of the Strawbridge Shrine Association, Inc., were treated to an unveiling of the now furnished home at their meeting April 26. Acquiring and placing the household objects, which span from the 1760s to 1900s, took two years, said  Board President Daniel Hartzler. The items were donated or purchased in a faith-filled shopping spree in area flea markets and antique shops. The restoration efforts totaled $20,111. It was a labor of love. We saw the vision, and although it required us to take a leap of faith, we had no doubt this was what the Lord wants done. Gods opened doors, Hartzler said. Several hundred tourists visit the Strawbridge Shrine each year, said the curator, the Rev. Charles Acker. They come to get a glimpse of the cradle of American Methodism and its first outrageous layman. Robert Strawbridge, whose home once stood on the 32-acre site, started the first Methodist Society in the United States in 1763 at his home in Sams Creek in Frederick County.  Strawbridge, who was never ordained, fervently preached the Gospel and served communion. He baptized Henry Maynard, the first Methodist baptism in the New World, in 1762.
He was taken to task for performing these ministries, but answered, Indeed, no other warrant than the Divine, the need itself is the grant. Strawbridges wife, Elizabeth, is credited with making the first American convert to Methodism in her kitchen. In 1940, the house they shared was named a national historic Methodist Shrine. The Strawbridge Shrine Association purchased it in 1973. In addition to the house, the Shrines board of directors is responsible for the John Evans House and a Log Meeting House replica, which also sits on the site. The Evans House was home to the first American Methodist class meeting from 1768 to 1809. It was relocated to the shrine in 1978. The Log Meeting House, erected in 1982 using logs from the colonial period, is touted as the first Methodist chapel in America. The board has plans to furnish the Evans House similar to the Strawbridge House, and is also looking at the possibility of developing a stand alone visitors center to take the place of the one that is now located in the curators home. To fund these future developments, the board recently completed a fund-raising effort. Hartzler gave $20,000 in memory of his parents, St. Pauls members Thelma and Byron Hartzler, who will be remembered on a panel attached to a six-foot granite statue of Robert Strawbridge. A $2,800 gift in memory of Mae and Rueben Morningstar will be acknowledged by an engraving in a 16-ton limestone rock at the entrance to the shrine. A bronze plaque on top of a restored concrete base recognizes a gift of $4,500 from Elizabeth Lantz deDisse and Ted deDisse in honor of the Lantz family. The directors are encouraging visitors to come to the shrine this spring and summer. Those who wish a tour of the newly-furnished house can contact Acker at (410) 635-2600 or
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