Brown Memorial United Methodist Church 3.47

The well-known evangelist and circuit rider, Jesse Lee, who traveled the area on horseback, introduced Methodist preaching to the people of Clinton in 1794. In 1802, a class was formed with Jonathan Brown as its leader. For 45 years, the meetings were held in the Brown home on upper Main and in two schoolhouses. (One schoolhouse was located on Town House Hill, Bellsqueeze Road; the other was located part way up Gospel Hill, Bangor Road). In 1847, the Union Church was built on a lot across Church Street from the present United Methodist Church, with Congregationalists, Methodists, and Universalists meeting there. It was told by Miss Sarah E. Richardson that her father was present one evening at a Methodist prayer meeting that was held on the front steps of the Union Church. It was held on the steps because the Methodists arrived to find the Church doors locked. They were informed that they were holding too many meetings and were wearing out the carpets too fast. It was at that front-step prayer meeting that the Methodists decided to build their own church!
The present church building was completed and dedicated on September 27, 1866. The original building was much smaller than today's structure. Extensive remodeling was undertaken in 1884, when William W. Brown of Portland, son of Jonathan and Betsy Michaels Brown, expended nearly $3,000 in making improvements. The audience room (sanctuary) was cut in two, 12 feet were added, and a vestry was built that opened onto the sanctuary by means of upward sliding partitions of ground glass. Both rooms were beautifully finished in fresco, with a seating capacity of nearly 400. In the upper story of the vestry building, the ladies had a fine parlor, with a kitchen and cloak room. It was dedicated as Brown Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church in memory of the original class leader, Jonathan Brown, and his wife, Betsy. A beautiful stained-glass window was installed above the pulpit in their memory. In 1893, the present parsonage was built. In 1937, the old barn was torn down, and a new garage was built at the Parsonage. In 1977-78, the inside of the parsonage was completely renovated and insulated, and a new furnace and combination windows were installed. The United Methodist Women paid for the new windows and papered the rooms. A new chimney was built in 1980 at the parsonage. Major structural repairs were made to the foundation and basement floor in 1992, and a new drainage system, a new oil tank, and a new hot water heater were installed. The fellowship hall was built in 2001, and has been enjoyed by the whole community. This is a church with open hearts, open minds and open doors.