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Bethel Methodist
Church
CHARLESTON
John and Charles Wesley, the founders of
Methodism, visited Charles Town frequently during 1735-6.
George Whitefield, another famous English Methodist, conducted
meetings in South Carolina between 1738 and 1770.
The
oldest Methodist congregation in Charleston is that of the
Trinity Church, but the building is of recent date. The first
church was erected in 1787, and within it the first Methodist
Conference in South Carolina was held the same
year.
Bethel Methodist Church organization dates to
1850, but the building was dedicated in 1853. It stands on the
site where Wesley once preached and the pulpit from which he
preached is still in use. The first Bethel Church, known as
"Old Bethel", was moved from the site and is now used by a
Negro congregation.
BY
HAZEL CROWSON SELLERS
South Carolina Churches
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