Historic Jessops Church no longer has an active congregation and today an all-volunteer Board of Trustees manages our cemetery and historic sanctuary. Jessops Church is now available to host weddings, concerts, fundraisers and other special events. Christ is still proclaimed here with special community led, non-denominational services annually, such as our Christmas Eve celebration. Visit our webs
ite for details at JessopsChurch.org, or contact us via email at: [email protected] for rental information. Box 590, Sparks, Maryland 21152
(Brief History) Jessops Meeting House was founded in 1809. In 1811, John Gorsuch, Jr., owner of a tract of land overlooking what today has become Hunt Valley, deeded to our first Trustees the land on which we worship today. Soon the first house of worship of the congregation of Jessops Methodist Episcopal Church was erected. In 1854, our church was enlarged but then closed in the 1860’s for unknown reasons. It was reopened in 1887 following a dramatic restyling by renowned architect Benjamin Buck Owens of Baltimore. Jessops appears today much as it did in 1887. Charles Jessop was one of the most active of the original trustees in the establishment of the meeting house. Charles Jessop was born in Baltimore County Maryland in 1759. At about the age of twelve, he heard a Methodist man preach and began a life's journey in the Methodist Church. At the age of sixteen, he was bound out as an apprentice in a local millwright business. During the latter part of his apprenticeship, Charles was drafted and served in the Army of the United States during the Revolutionary War. He would become one of Baltimore County’s most prosperous citizens.
