On a cold day in January 2024, Rochelle Bush walked up the steps of Salem Chapel, British Methodist Episcopal church in St Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Bush, the owner and primary tour guide of Tubman Tours Canada and Salem Chapel’s historian, moved quickly through the church pointing out the history, which spans generations back to when the building was built centuries ago.
The church’s roots stretch to about 1788 when Black people, many of whom were seeking freedom from slavery in the US, began to settle in the St Catharines area. Along with their hopes, dreams and plans for the future, these settlers, many of whom were followers of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, and Richard Allen, a founder of the African Methodist Episcopal church, brought their religions with them.
