www.AsburyUMCPA.org

 

Asbury United Methodist Church was built amidst a great economic and population boom in he Uniontown area.  The population of Fayette County increased from 110,400 in 1890 to 167,500 in 1900 (a 52% increase) and to 188,100 in 1920 (another 12% increase).  Immigrants came from Great Britain and Eastern Europe to provide the labor for the mushrooming coal and coke industry.  "Coal was King" in Fayette County.  The coal was convert into coke in the area's bee hive ovens and shipped to Pittsburgh for the making of steel the 28,000 bee hive ovens in Fayette Country made the entire night sky glow with an awesome fiery orange.  Uniontown was surrounded by a "ring of fire" from the Oliver, Continental an Leith ovens.  (The beginning of the end of this coke-making business in this area came in 1918 when US Steel opened the mammoth coke and by-products plant in Clariton).  Uniontown itself had a least two dozen millionaires in 1915.

Amidst this boom, the First Presbyterian Church (now Trinity) completed a magnificent new building in 1986.  This grand building on the corner of Morgantown and West Fayette Streets included almost priceless Tiffany stained glass windows.  Clearly the impressive construction of First Presbyterian Church played an important part in spurring the Methodists to build their own new building with its own Tiffany window masterpieces.  The Methodists were growing their third building on Morgan Street (now Zep's Video).  Land was purchased for a new building in 1910 and construction was begun in 1913.

The ever-present leader of our church is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  The Cross, symbolizing the victory of God's love over the powers of sin and death, is at the center of our worship altar.  The open bible on the pulpit signifies the centrality of the scripture as we proclaim the gospel and seek God's will in our complex times.  In all that we do we seek to glorify and praise God and to express God's love as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.