REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED (see below). Registrants will receive the Zoom link in an email one hour before the talk begins.

Join us on the eve of the bicentennial of Asbury First United Methodist Church to hear about the rich history of this institution within the city of Rochester. From fires, to foreclosures, to faithful fellowship, this congregation has grown up with Rochester and reflects much of its rich cultural heritage and challenges.

Jim Farrington is a member of Asbury First and the head of its bicentennial archive project. Outside of church, he is the Head of Public Services at the Sibley Music Library at the Eastman School of Music. Prior to that position he was for twelve years the Music Librarian and Director of the World Music Archive at Wesleyan University. His publications include Audio and Video Equipment Basics for Libraries (Scarecrow/MLA, 2006), several articles in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and has been the book review editor for the Association for Recorded Sound Collections Journal since 2004. He plays trumpet in a wide variety of Rochester bands, including Nik and the Nice Guys and the Penfield Big Band.

Stephen Cady is the Senior Minister at Asbury First United Methodist Church, which is celebrating its bicentennial this year. He has served churches in Chicago, New Jersey, and New York and holds a BA from Ohio Wesleyan University, an Mdiv from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and a PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary. Stephen has been named a Timothy Scholar by the United Methodist Foundation for Evangelism, was twice the recipient of a Dempster Fellowship through the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry and is a John Wesley Fellow. In addition to his work at Asbury First, he currently serves as an adjunct faculty member at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School.