The Bethesda Meeting House (BMH) is a historic

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

complex located at Bethesda, Montgomery County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

, USA. Its name became the namesake of the entire surrounding community in the 1870s. It is situated on

Maryland Route 355 Maryland Route 355 (MD 355) is a north–south road in western central Maryland in the United States. The southern terminus of the route, Wisconsin Avenue, is located in the Bethesda CDP, at the Washington, D.C. border. It co ...

(known as

Rockville Pike Rockville may refer to: Places Australia *Rockville, Queensland, a suburb in the city of Toowoomba Canada * Rockville, Nova Scotia * Rockville, Ontario, a community in Northeastern Ontario Iceland * Rockville Air Station (Iceland), a ...

at this point) just inside the Capital Beltway.

Description

The BMH property includes the 1850

meeting house A meeting house (meetinghouse, meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes public meetings take place. Terminology Nonconformist Protestant denominations distinguish between a * church, which is a body of people who believe in Ch ...

itself, the mid-late 19th century

parsonage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...

to the south, and the associated

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...

. The church is a large, wood-frame structure built in the

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

"temple" form, although it features Gothic-style windows throughout. To the south of the church is a two-story frame Victorian parsonage built on a

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly describe ...

plan, with some Queen Anne-style embellishments.

History

The church was constructed on the foundation of an 1820 Presbyterian church which burned down in 1849. It served as the Bethesda Presbyterian Church from 1850 until 1925 when the congregation decided to erect a new church on Wilson Lane, farther south in Bethesda. When the church moved to its new location in 1925, the trustees sold the building and of land to Mrs. May Fitch Kelley. The Presbyterian congregation, however, retained ownership of the cemetery. Mrs. Kelley lived in the church building for many years. In 1945, the property was sold to a French Algerian

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

group called the Missionaries of Africa, commonly known as the

White Fathers , image = Cardinal Lavigerie.jpg , caption = Charles Lavigerie , abbreviation = M.Afr. , nickname = White Fathers , formation = , founder = Archbishop Charles-Martial Allem ...

. In the 1950s, the property was transferred again, this time to the trustees of the Temple Hill

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

Church.

Legacy

* The community of Bethesda was named in 1871 by the postmaster, Robert Franck, after the BMH. After nearly 10 years of lobbying efforts, Rev. Edward Henry Cumpston (pastor of BMH) convinced Mr. Franck to change the name of the post office from "Darcy's Store" to "Bethesda" in 1871. * The BMH was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1977.

References

Citations

Other sources

* ''The Spirit of Captain John'', by Eugene and Edythe Clark, Carlton Press, New York, NY, 1970 * ''Old Bethesda by Dorce Germaine Holman and Not So Old'', by Gertrude D. Bradley, Franklin Press, Gaithersburg, MD, 1956 * ''Bethesda: A Social History'', by William M Offutt, The Innovation Game, Bethesda, MD, 1995

External links

*, including photo in 1974, at Maryland Historical Trust website
Bethesda Meeting House
history of Bethesda Meeting House at allBethesda.com
Bethesda Presbyterian Church
{{National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Churches completed in 1850 Greek Revival church buildings in Maryland Queen Anne architecture in Maryland Buildings and structures in Bethesda, Maryland Churches in Montgomery County, Maryland Presbyterian churches in Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Maryland