The First Methodist Meeting House in Maine The Readfield meeting House Most everyone in Franklin County who has traveled to Augusta has passed this church located beside Rt. 17 in Readfield. Wes and I biked in this area today and saw the plaque on a stone in front of the church and stopped to look at it. I had no idea this church was as old as it is, and was the first Methodist church built in Maine. Here is what I found out about it. “On September 19, 1793 a tall, handsome missionary from Virginia named Jesse Lee preached the first Methodist sermon ever delivered in Readfield, at the home of Nathaniel Whittier. Plans were already in the making for the building of a town house on the common lot deeded from James Bowdoin. The earliest musters were held on this common lot, and this is where an accident occured that killed Freeman Luce and caused Andrew Mace to lose both hands. Within two years of Rev. Lee's sermon, the first Methodist Meeting House in the state was built on this site in East Readfield” With regard to Musters at this location This church was built just 30 years after the end of the French and Indian war. In earlier times colonists had adopted the English militia system which obligated all males, between the ages of 16 and 60, to participate in the defense of the community. The early colonial militia drilled once a week and provided guard details each evening to sound the alarm in case of attack. The location of this church located high on a hill would have given lookouts a good vantage point to see trouble and raise the alarm.