The Methodist Preacher, Jesse Lee, first preached in Stratford on July 4, 1789. On May 19, 1790, Mr. Lee and the Rev. Daniel Smith, formed the first Methodist Class in Stratford. From this class came the Methodist Society of Stratford. Bishop Francis Asbury, the father of American Methodism, preached here in 1791, 1794, and 1795. Four houses of worship have been built and occupied in Stratford by ten generations of Methodists. The gospel has been preached by sixty-eight itinerating circuit preachers and fifty-two stationed pastors. Children have grown to adulthood and adults have grown old in the faith. Christian influences have been exerted in the community, in the nation and world-wide. A long and honorable line of servants of God have worked, worshipped, taught, prayed, and loved in this place. The Stratford Methodist Society has served God in this place for over two hundred years. A complete history of the church can be found in the book entitled In This Place, A History of the United Methodist Church, Stratford, CT, 1790-1990, by J. Oliver Carson.