First, some history of the United Methodist Church

1703 - John Wesley born, fifteenth child of Susanna and Rev. Samuel Wesley, a priest in England's Anglican Church.

While John attends Christ Church College in Oxford, he organizes a "Holy Club" which devotes certain time segments of the day to different devotional methods. Classmates make fun of his highly-structured system and coin the word "methodist" in derision. John accepts the name in good fun.

1735 - John Wesley, now an Anglican priest, and his brother Charles travel to America briefly as missionaries.

1738 - John Wesley becomes disillusioned with Anglicanism. Influenced by the faith of his Moravian friends, Wesley begins to preach a new message - based on the Biblical words "You must be born again". He preaches that being good "churchmen" is not enough - action and service to a living God is required; a radical concept for the complacent Anglicans. He gains followers and is banned from preaching in the Anglican churches. The Methodist movement spreads.

1766 - Methodist meetings begin in the United States in New York, Maryland, and Virginia.

1768 - The first Methodist Church in America is dedicated: Wesley Chapel on John Street in New York City.

1771 - Francis Asbury comes to the US from England.

1773 - First Methodist conference held in the US.

1784 - Thomas Coke, under authority from John Wesley, formally organized the Methodist Episcopal Church in America.

1791 - John Wesley dies peacefully at age 88, having organized a new church movement, delivered some 400,000 sermons, most of which extant, and donating $150,000 to charitable causes.

Some history of the Berwick United Methodist Church

The Berwick United Methodist Church is the town's oldest standing building, dating back to 1876; in fact, the building is actually even older, having been built originally in 1838 at Mathew's Mills and later moved and expanded at its present location.

1810 - Methodists began holding meetings in Cranberry Meadow section of town. Berwick became part of the Norway Plains circuit (later to become the Rochester circuit).

1820 - The Missouri Compromise is passed by the US legislature. Under its terms, slave and free states are to be added in equal number to the Union. On March 15, 1820 Massachusetts splits into two states: the new one, Maine, enters the Union as the 23rd state - a free state. Berwick is no longer in Massachusetts. The following year, Missouri will enter the union as a slave state.

1830 - Berwick and South Berwick become a full time appointment of the Maine Annual Conference.

1837 - The first church building, exact location unknown, is destroyed by fire.

1838 - A second church building is constructed at Mathew's Mills. The site is now 37 Cranberry Meadow Road, across from Noble Middle School, next to an abandoned section of state Route 9. (The state of Maine straightened out route 9 in the 1940's, abandoning this dogleg section, as well as several other meandering sections between Berwick and North Berwick.) A home was built on the site in 2003.

1839 - The new church building is dedicated, and a formal society is formed.

1876 - The building is moved to its present location (37 School Street), and then expanded.

1877 - The building is dedicated.

1902, April 16-21: Maine Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church meets here.

1910 - The church's centennial year was marked by two fires, only several days apart. Not much is known about the origin of the first fire, other than it was relatively minor. The second fire started when a workman's torch was upset during repairs from the first fire, and this fire was much more extensive. The organ was damaged beyond repair. A new Hook & Hastings tracker organ was purchased and installed. Evidence of the fires is still clearly visible in the attic over the sanctuary, where many of the original rafters show extensive charring.

1963 - Irvin Koelker is appointed pastor.

1965 - The education building is constructed.

1968 - The church name changes. "United" is inserted into "The Berwick Methodist Church" to reflect the merger of the The Methodist Church and The Evangelical United Brethren into The United Methodist Church.

1971 - Roy Moody is appointed pastor.

1976 - Al Doran is appointed pastor. Roy Moody retires.

1979 - James Daniels, Jr. is appointed pastor. Al Doran retires.

1983 - Clergy couple Rev. Andrew and Shirley Buehl are appointed in a dual role: They co-pastor the Berwick charge and the Sanford/West Kennebunk charge. The Buehls would be the last pastors to live in the parsonage at 33 School Street. James Daniels, Jr., is appointed to serve as a military chaplain.

A different building is purchased for use as a parsonage. The former Spence home at 8 Wilson Street placed the parsonage adjacent to the church, and allowed access to a long-isolated piece of church property, which now serves as the parking lot. The former parsonage is purchased by Prime Tanning.

1989 - Rev. Joan-Anne Westfall, a citizen of Canada, is appointed to her first pastorate. She is the first pastor to live in the parsonage at 8 Wilson St.

1998 - Rev. Christopher Chanbae Lee, a citizen of Korea, is appointed pastor. Joan-Anne Westfall is appointed to Camden.

2001 - Dr. Peggy Dunn, a Quaker, is appointed interim pastor.