Founded in 1836, the church was a pioneer of African-American Methodism in Washington, D.C., and of social history through
abolition,
Emancipation,
Reconstruction, and the
Civil Rights movement. It is the city's oldest African-American church to remain on its original site. The current building was designed by
Clarence Lowell Handing and built in 1915–1916 in the English Gothic Revival architectural style. In the 1920s, the building had alterations by African American architect,
William Wilson Cooke. In December 2020, the congregation's
Black Lives Matter banner was burned during an event for President
Donald Trump, an action the congregation's senior pastor described as "reminiscent of
cross burnings". In January 2021,
Enrique Tarrio, chairman of the
Proud Boys, was arrested in relation to the incident. On July 15, 2021, the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced Asbury United Church as one of 40 sites and organizations to receive $3 million in grants from the
African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. The grant is to be used for repairs to the church’s wood windows and bell tower masonry, as well as repointing and cleaning of its stone facade. ==References==