McKendree United Methodist Church

The story of the McKendree United Methodist Church began long before the outbreak of the Civil War. Built in 1833, the church was dedicated by William McKendree, the first American-born Methodist Bishop. In addition to being a center for spiritual life in Nashville, the church hosted the inaugurations of several Tennessee governors, including Andrew Johnson, and the funeral of President James K. Polk in 1849. 

In June of 1850, delegates from nine Southern states met at McKendree for the Nashville Convention. The 176 attendees sought to address the renewed sectional crisis brought by the question of extending slavery into territories recently acquired in the Mexican War. The convention failed to produce a unified stance on the issue, but no doubt influenced the Compromise of 1850 passed later that year. The clash between slavery and freedom proved irreconcilable with the outbreak of the war in 1861, and Nashville was occupied by the Union forces by February of 1862. 

General Grant’s brother-in-law, M.J. Cramer, was appointed pastor of the church. Beginning in November of 1863, the Northern branch of the Methodist Church took control over church buildings throughout the South with backing from the War Department.On December 23, 1864, the Union Army began using McKendree Methodist Church as a hospital. On January 23, 1865, Governor Andrew Johnson returned the church to Southern clergy after confirming that Bishop Joshua Soule was loyal to the Union. 

Worship services did not resume until June 1865—a month after Lee’s surrender and Lincoln’s assassination. That same year, the Methodist Episcopal Church began a national movement to reunite the church, which had split with into northern and southern conventions over the issue of slavery in 1845. The Classical Revival-style building that stands here today was built in 1910, with a fifty foot extension to the façade added in 1966-67. For more information on McKendree UMC, refer to the Old Time Religion tour. 

Continue west on Church Street, then turn RIGHT on Sixth Avenue. Your next stop will be on your right, just before you get to Union Street.