In 1759 a German-speaking farmer named Martin Boehm (1725-1812) was chosen by lot to be a minister among the Society of Mennonites. Boehm was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to German Mennonite immigrants. He married Eve Steiner in 1753; together they had eight children.
Boehm felt unqualified to preach. After struggling with feelings of inadequacy, he had a vivid personal experience of God’s love, which empowered him not only to preach at his church, but all over eastern Pennsylvania. Among his listeners were such leading Methodists as Francis Asbury and Robert Strawbridge. A class of Methodists began meeting in the Boehm house and barn in 1775, the beginnings of Boehm’s United Methodist Church.
In 1767 a “great meeting” was held in a barn owned by Isaac Long in Lancaster County. There Boehm preached to a large crowd that included Philip William Otterbein. Otterbein was so affected by Boehm’s words that he came forward after the service and greeted Boehm with the words “Wir sind Bruder” (“We are brothers”).
Together the two men preached to German-speaking settlers all over eastern Pennsylvania. In 1800, their followers organized themselves as the United Brethren in Christ, so named in recollection of Otterbein’s words. Boehm and Otterbein were the first bishops of this new church.
In 1968, the Evangelical United Brethren in Christ Church (EUB) and The Methodist Church merged to become The United Methodist Church. In many churches that were formerly EUB, you can find stained glass windows with portraits of Boehm and Otterbein.
Martin’s inspired preaching did not sit well with some of his Mennonite brethren, who were used to a more conservative worship and kept to themselves. Despite warnings from his fellow bishops, Martin did not change and was excommunicated.
From the 1780s on, Boehm’s calling took him from his farm most of the time. He eventually sold most of his property to his sons. In 1791, Boehm deeded a plot of family land to the Methodists of the area (the United Brethren Church had not yet been formed).
The deed stated that the land was given “in trust to and for the use of the Religious Society of Protestants… called Methodists, for the purpose of erecting churches, meeting Houses and Houses of Religious Worship and School Houses and burying grounds for the said religious Society called Methodists.”
A church was built in 1791 and named Boehm’s Chapel; Martin Boehm’s son Jacob was an influential leader, and several branches of the family were active members. Son Henry (1775-1875), the youngest Boehm son, became a circuit rider, riding for five years with Bishop Francis Asbury. It was Asbury who preached Martin’s funeral in the Chapel.
In June of 2016, on one of the greatest days in the history of the Chapel, Mennonite bishops attended the 225th anniversary of the Chapel and announced the reinstatement of Martin Boehm as a bishop emeritus of the local Mennonite Conference. The Rev. Peggy Johnson, bishop of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the UMC, accepted the apology given by the local Mennonite bishops. During the celebration, Bishop Johnson also sent out a symbolic circuit rider garbed in period clothes and riding a horse. An inscription was added to the stone of Martin and Eve to show Martin’s acceptance back into the fold.
Boehm’s Chapel is the oldest existing structure built for Methodist worship in Pennsylvania.
Points of interest at this Heritage Landmark: In 1991, the chapel was reconstructed to its 1791 condition. The building is 32 x 40 feet with thick limestone walls. It has a balcony on three sides, a high pulpit and wide board floors. It has been referred to as the Limestone Cathedral.
The chapel sits on a hill overlooking the Boehm homestead. Martin Boehm and his wife Eve Steiner are buried in the adjacent cemetery.
The chapel’s preservation and interpretation is supported by the Boehm’s Chapel Society, P.O. Box 272, Willow Street, PA 17584-0272. The Society is a registered nonprofit in Pennsylvania.
Parking is available at nearby Boehm’s United Methodist Church. The Chapel’s Auxiliary building, the Tying Shed, was built in 2016 near the Chapel. It houses Methodist artifacts, and also has restrooms.
Special events: The Boehm’s Chapel Heritage Celebration is held annually on the fourth Sunday in June.
This includes the annual meeting of the Boehm’s Chapel Society and a special worship service. Starting in the 1990s, an annual Apple Festival was held in October on the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend. The festival centered around the making of apple butter the old-fashioned way, in copper kettles over open fires, as directed by Society member James McCullough. The festivals were not held during the COVID 19 epidemic. A smaller festival, organized by Boehm’s UMC started up again in 2022, also on the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend. The Boehm’s Chapel Society began making apple butter again for the event, which includes tours of the Chapel and Tying Shed by Society members.
Area attractions: Boehm’s Chapel is in the heart of “Pennsylvania Dutch Country” with its many tourist attractions. Lancaster is just to the north and Philadelphia is a short drive to the east. Other Heritage Landmarks in the annual conference are Albright Chapel, Isaac Long’s Barn, St. George’s United Methodist Church, Simpson House “Olde Main Building”, and Mother African Zoar United Methodist Church.
To visit: To arrange a visit, contact the Boehm’s Chapel Society, P.O. Box 272, Willow Street, PA 17584-0272, or by email at boehmschapel2@gmail.com. The Society also hosts weddings in the Chapel.
Location: Within the boundaries of the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference, in Lancaster County. The community of Willow Street is just southeast of Lancaster; the Chapel is one mile south of the village of Willow Street, behind Boehm’s United Methodist Church.
Food and lodging: There are restaurants and motels in Lancaster and at Willow Valley, Willow Street.
Directions: From Route 272 southbound turn right onto Baumgardner Road. Go one block and turn left onto Boehm Road. Go about 1/4 mile to Boehm UM Church. The Chapel is behind Boehm’s UM Church.
For further information, contact: Executive Director, P. O. Box 272, Willow Street, PA 17584; 717-872-4133; E-mail: boehmschapel@gmail.com.
Website: http://www.boehmschapel.org
To learn more about United Methodist church history in this area:
St. George’s Church, 235 N. 4th St., Philadelphia, PA 19106; 215-925-7788.
Abram W. Sangrey, Martin Boehm: Pioneer Preacher in the Christian Faith and Practice… (Ephrata, PA: Science Press, 1976).
Abram W. Sangrey, The Temple of Limestone: A History of Boehm’s Chapel, 1791-1991 (Lancaster, PA: by the author, 1991).