Union Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church of the West River Circuit predated the Emancipation Proclamation. Records indicate that Union Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church was established before 1826.
The very first reference to Union Church as recorded in the minutes of the Quarterly Conference of the West River Circuit was recorded on May 19, 1838. Other dates at which time Union was mentioned were Junie 6, 1840, and August 8, 1847. At the August meeting persons in attendance were listed. They were as follows: Thomas Crandall, John Wayson, James Wayson, James B., Gilbert Nowell and William Crandall. It can be assumed from the names that these persons were white. The name of John Randall was listed and specified “colored”. He was the only colored name listed. The rest were white. Records of that time point to the fact that in some cases whites and colored attended church together. References have been read regarding the “colored people” sitting in the balconies of the churches but that information has not been affirmed at this point.
Churches included in the West River Circuit were Chews, Union Chapel, Mt. Zion, the colored church in the Swamp, and the colored church at Friendship.
In the minutes of February 26, 1853, reference was made of the “Colored Classes” being held at Union. The last Quarterly Conference recorded as being held for the West River Circuit was on February 7, 1857, held at Mt. Zion. At the Quarterly Conference held on October 1, 1857, the names of two colored exhorters were listed. They were Enoch Peters and Washington Carter. The new name of the circuit was not clarified.
An evaluation of the buildings on the circuit was recorded at the February 7, 1860 meeting. They are listed below:
- Chews $700
- The Colored Church in the Swamp $700
- Union Chapel $200
- The Colored Church at Friendship $500
- Mt. Zion $5000.00
The last reference made to Union the minutes read was on November 14, 1863. Evidently, the division of the congregation into a white church and a colored church was eminent. The white congregation organized McKendree Church. The colored congregation kept the name Union and became Union Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church.
In the year 1864, the Washington Conference was born and all of the colored churches in the vicinity, who were of the Methodist faith, near and far, became members of the Washington Conference. Thus, Union Chapel became a member of the South Baltimore District of the Washington Conference.
December 24, 1879, under the pastorship of Reverend M. Gier, Thomas L. Hall and Charles N. Hall deeded land to Union Chapel. Trustees listed were: William Randall, Richard Evans, Bedford Magruder, Stephan Johnson and John Riggs.
In 1882, the first and only black church in McKendree, Maryland, was built. At this time, McKendree, Maryland, covered a large area in Lothian and down towards Bristol area. This church was a big church with two aisles. Three rows of pews and brown outside covering.
Union Chapel was incorporated on November 17, 1894 under Reverend Samuel Brown and trustees as follows: Richard Evans, Robert Hall, L.G. Holt, Frederick Hall, Samuel Gross, Philip Jackson and Lewis Griffith.
Under the pastorship of Reverend Douglass C. Bowman, Union Chapel was rebuilt in 1966 because of the relocation and improvement of Route 258. McKendree Road was put in between the church and cemetery. The new church was a smaller version of the old church. At that time, Union had a mortgage. Trustees in attendance were: Elijah Jacks, Emory Jones, Charles Sellman, Joseph Powell, Matthew Jones, Phillip Creek and John Cleveland.
The church and cemetery share the same land plat. The cemetery is comprised of former church members, friends and relatives. Under the Pastorship of Reverend Stella Tay, an investigation of Union’s cemetery was done by Grave Concerns in December 2009. Grave Concerns says that the cemetery is almost filled to capacity especially in the front half. There is evidence that some of these individuals served in World War 1, II and the Korean War.
In 1968, Union Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church became Union United Methodist Church.