Spy Profile: Scott’s United Methodist Church

Scott’s Church in Trappe has the unique history of starting as a Friends Meeting House before the building, and the land was donated to its founders in 1869. The Friends moved on to Easton while the church itself morphed into the United Methodist denomination. Even rarer was that Scott’s was to place an extraordinary emphasis on having services based on gospel music as its spiritual foundation, bringing to the forefront the vital role that music played in the nearly African-American community.

Those are just of a few tidbits that Rev. Dartanyon L. Hines, the pastor of Scott’s, shared with the Spy last weekend during a chat with Zoom. Joining him in the discussion was loyal church member and leader Daphan Smith, whose thirty years with the Trappe church has given her a special appreciation for its historical role as well as the profound impact it currently has in the community with its food pantry and after school program.

And like all churches of this age and heritage, Scott’s faces ongoing challenges in keeping the building maintained at a time when the COVID crisis has seriously curtailed personal donations and fundraising events. At the moment, their greatest need to about $30,000 to fix the church’s roof before the storms of winter arrive.

This video is approximately five minutes in length. For more information about Scott’s Church, or to make a donation to their roof project, please go here.