Mission
St. John's is a Christ-centered church, strong in faith with strength drawn from Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father; Saint John's is a generous and compassionate union of Christians reaching out to all of God's children to heal and make them whole through the Word of God, and to bring them into the fold as disciples for Jesus Christ. Our hope and constant prayer is to continue to share the gifts of the Holy Spirit working with, in, and through us.
The first Methodist services in Charlestown were held in a large brick house that stood where the Methodist Parsonage is now. The house had belonged to John Ross Key, father of Francis Scott Key, author of the Star Spangled Banner. John Ross Key sold the house to Nathaniel Ramsey, colonel in the revolutionary War. The town bought the house from his heirs and established the first church, which was shared by both Methodist and Presbyterian congregations.
Four years after the organization of the Methodist Society in Charlestown, a small wooden frame church building was built. This church was occupied by the Methodists until 1856 when the congregation moved into the newly built brick church.
It is reported that many of the men from this vicinity, who served in the Civil War, upon discharge contributed their mustering-out pay for completion of the church.