McBride Church
Camden County, Camden County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Mc Bride Church. Methodist since 1792. Begun as Anglican c. 1733. Visited by bishops Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke. Building erected 1837; remodeled 1882. 2 1/2 mi. E.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
McBride Church traces its roots to an Anglican congregation founded around 1733 and became Methodist in 1792 as that faith swept the American backcountry. It was visited by Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke, the pioneering bishops who organized American Methodism after the Revolution. The present building was erected in 1837 and remodeled in 1882, standing about two and a half miles east.
Why it matters
The church's shift from Anglican to Methodist mirrors the great religious awakening that reshaped American faith, and visits by Asbury and Coke tie this rural congregation to the founding of a national denomination.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
McBride Church stands in the quiet, low-lying country of Camden County, in northeastern North Carolina — a rural landscape of farms and waterways near the Albemarle Sound. Its roots reach back to about 1733, deep in the colonial period, when the Church of England was the established faith across much of the American South.
In those early decades, an Anglican congregation in a place like this would have been part of the official religious structure of the colony, tied to the Crown as well as to the parish. Church and colonial government were closely bound, and worship followed the forms of the established English church.
The American Revolution changed all of that. With independence, the Anglican establishment collapsed in the new United States, and the religious landscape opened to a wave of energetic, fast-growing denominations. By 1792, as the inscription records, this congregation had become Methodist — part of a sweeping transformation of American faith in the young republic.
People & events
The heart of this marker's story is a change of identity: a congregation that began as Anglican around 1733 and became Methodist in 1792. That shift was no small matter. It mirrored the way Methodism surged through the American backcountry in the years after the Revolution, carried by traveling preachers into rural communities like this one.
The marker names two towering figures of that movement: Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke, remembered as the pioneering bishops who organized American Methodism into a distinct church after independence. Asbury in particular became legendary for his tireless travels on horseback across the young nation, visiting far-flung congregations most leaders never reached.
That such men visited this rural Camden County church ties a modest country congregation directly to the founding leadership of a national denomination. The building the marker points to was erected in 1837 and remodeled in 1882 — a reminder that congregations endure by rebuilding, generation after generation, on ground first consecrated long before.
Its place in the American story
The story of McBride Church is, in miniature, the story of how American religion remade itself after independence. The old established church lost its official standing, and in its place rose voluntary, revival-driven denominations that spread through personal conviction and relentless outreach rather than government support.
Methodism became one of the great engines of that transformation. Through circuit-riding preachers and organizing bishops, it reached ordinary people in the countryside on a scale few institutions could match, and it grew into one of the largest faiths in the nation. A single congregation's move from Anglican to Methodist captures that vast national shift in a single place.
The visits of Asbury and Coke give the site a further layer of significance. They connect this rural church to the very moment American Methodism was being organized as an independent body — a founding chapter in the religious history of the United States, playing out on a country road in North Carolina.
If you visit
The marker directs you about two and a half miles east to the church itself, set in the rural landscape of Camden County. Expect a peaceful, unhurried setting — the kind of country where a congregation could gather for nearly three centuries.
When you reach the building, remember that its 1837 walls and 1882 remodeling represent only the latest chapter of a much older story of worship on this ground. Look at it as a living link in a long chain rather than a single fixed moment.
If you're exploring the Albemarle region, this stop rewards travelers curious about how faith took root in early America. Give yourself a moment to imagine a traveling bishop arriving on horseback to a congregation like this one — and how much of the nation's religious life was built exactly this way, one country church at a time.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Food & drink
- Masala Bay Grill13.7 mi away · 1972 Caratoke Highway, Moyock, NC
Places to stay
- In law suite14.3 mi away · 3528 Baum Road, Virginia Beach
Places data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hours and details change — call ahead.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Francis Asbury
- · Thomas Coke
Themes & tags
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