Immigrants brought the Wesleyan Methodist organization of societies to America around 1760. Converts to Methodism began meeting in Richmond as a society in 1790, but were without their own house of worship, sometimes meeting in the open air at the foot of Church Hill. Among the places where they met were the Henrico Court House at 22nd and Main, the Virginia General Assembly building and the barn or storehouse of the Parrot family believed to have been located on Main Street between 24 th and 25 th Streets. This society was served by circuit riders, the first of whom is known to have served Richmond was John Easter in 1784. We do not have biographical profiles on these earliest circuit riders, but it is important to acknowledge who they most likely were as they contributed to the existence of Trinity United Methodist Church – the Mother Church of Methodism in Richmond.

PASTORAL APPOINTMENTS OF CIRCUIT RIDERS THAT WOULD HAVE INCLUDED RICHMOND, AS RECORDED IN 
“MINUTES OF ANNUAL CONFERENCE 1773 -1828, VOLUME 1.”

1784 JOHN EASTER – Richmond
1785 No assignment shown for Richmond (JEREMIAH MASTIN – Williamsburg)
1786 No assignment shown for Richmond (ANANIAS HUDSON – Hanover)
1787 No assignment shown for Richmond (HENRY VANOVER – Hanover)
1788 MATTHEW HARRIS - Richmond
1789` MATTHEW HARRIS and WHEELER GRISSON - Richmond
1790 BENNET MAXEY and JOHN HALLIDAY - Richmond
1791 JOHN CLARK - Richmond
1792 HENRY LEDBETTER - Richmond
1793 JOSIAH ASKEW – Richmond/Manchester
1794 GEORGE CLARK and JOHN KING - Richmond
1795 NATHANIEL NORWOOD and MOSES WILSON - Richmond
1796 SAMUEL COWLES and JOHN SIMMONS - Richmond
1797 JOSIAS RANDLE, WILLIAM WEST and ROBERT GAINES – Richmond/Burke
1798 RUFUS WILEY and JOSIAH COLE – Richmond
1799 SAMUEL COWLES and WILLIAM ADVANT - Richmond
FIRST CHURCH (METHODIST EPISCOPAL) – FIRST CHURCH BUILDING

Richmond was made a separate pastoral charge in May 1799, and the minister appointed to serve this new charge immediately went about erecting a church building at the NE corner of 19th and “F” (now Franklin) Streets. This charge was known as First Church, the predecessor to Trinity United Methodist Church, and began with a membership of 28 white members and 22 blacks.

Bishop Francis Asbury noted in his Journal for September 8, 1799, “I would have preached within the walls of our new house of worship at Richmond but the excessive rains we had prevented.” (Pell’s “100 Years of Richmond Methodism”)

This initial church building was destroyed by fire in 1848 after it was no longer in use by Trinity.

For the first 10 profiles in ministry, see the PDF below: