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Trinity United Methodist Church records

Notifications

Held at: Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church [Contact Us]235 N. Fourth Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19106

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Call Number:
17
Repository:
Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church
Extent:
3.25 linear feet
Language:
English
Date:
1924-2001 (inclusive)
Creator:
Trinity United Methodist Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Abstract:
Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church was formalized as a congregation and broke ground on a church building at Castor Avenue and Tyson Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1927. Trinity United Methodist Church was discontinued in 2001. The Trinity United Methodist Church records, 1924-2001, include board minutes, Quarterly and Charge Conference records, trustee minutes, property-related records, worship bulletins, anniversary booklets and historical documents, photographs, membership and vital records (directories, marriages, baptisms, funerals), and various other documents.

Methodism is a protestant Christian faith based in the teachings of John Wesley (1703-1791), who preached "practical divinity," emphasis on Christian living, and putting faith and love into action. The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1784 in Baltimore, Maryland with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as its first bishops and held its first general conference in 1792. In May of 1939, the Methodist Episcopal Church; the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; and the Methodist Protestant Church united to form the Methodist Church (U.S.). In 1946 the Church of the United Brethren in Christ (New constitution) and the Evangelical Church united to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church. In 1968 the Methodist Church (U.S.) and the Evangelical United Brethren Church united, forming the United Methodist Church (U.S.).

Trinity United Methodist Church, located at Castor Avenue and Tyson Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania traces its beginnings to the Christian Association of Sandiford, a nondenominational church that was established in 1917 and affiliated with the Methodist Church in 1923. In 1927, it formally became Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church and broke ground on a new church building. Around this same time, Trinity was designated the successor to the recently closed Twentieth Street Methodist Church, and Twentieth Street Church's pastor, Dr. Samuel K. McConnell, became Trinity's first ordained pastor. Trinity United Methodist Church was discontinued in 2001.

This collection includes board minutes (1935-1997), Quarterly and Charge Conference records, trustee minutes (1925-1981), property-related records, worship bulletins, anniversary booklets and historical documents, photographs, membership and vital records (directories, marriages, baptisms, funerals), and various other documents. A folder-level inventory for the collection is available.

Some church records at the Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church, particularly membership and vital records, are available in digital form through Ancestry.com or on microfilm at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and/or the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania.

The Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church is the repository for records of member churches when they close.

Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2012-2014 as part of a project conducted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to make better known and more accessible the largely hidden collections of small, primarily volunteer run repositories in the Philadelphia area. The Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories (HCI-PSAR) was funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

This is a preliminary finding aid. No physical processing, rehousing, reorganizing, or folder listing was accomplished during the HCI-PSAR project.

In some cases, more detailed inventories or finding aids may be available on-site at the repository where this collection is held; please contact Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church directly for more information.

Twentieth Street Methodist Church records can be found in the Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church: Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church closed churches records

Organization
Subject
Place

Publisher
Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church
Finding Aid Author
Finding aid prepared by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories using data provided by the Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church
Sponsor
This preliminary finding aid was created as part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories. The HCI-PSAR project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Access Restrictions

Contact Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church for information about accessing this collection.

Collection Inventory

Register of Members, 1928-1942.
Box 1 Folder 1
Letters of Transfer, 1995-1999.
Box 1 Folder 2
Baptism Records, 1991-2000.
Box 1 Folder 3
Confirmation Information sheets, 1995-2000.
Box 1 Folder 4
Marriage Information Sheet, 1996.
Box 1 Folder 5
Official Board Minutes, 1935-1937.
Box 2 Folder 1
Minutes of Congregational Meetings, Quarterly Conference, Official Board, 1935-1940.
Box 2 Folder 2
Official Board Minutes, 1940-1949.
Box 2 Folder 3
Official Board Minutes, 1950-1954.
Box 2 Folder 4
Official Board Minutes, 1954-1955.
Box 2 Folder 5
Official Board Minutes, 1955-1957.
Box 2 Folder 6
Official Board Minutes, 1957-1959.
Box 2 Folder 7
Official Board Minutes, 1959-1961.
Box 2 Folder 8
Official Board Minutes, 1961-1964.
Box 2 Folder 9
Official Board Minutes, 1964-1968.
Box 2 Folder 10
Administrative Board Minutes, 1968-1973.
Box 3 Folder 1
Administrative Board Minutes, 1974-1976.
Box 3 Folder 2
Administrative Board Minutes, 1976-1980.
Box 3 Folder 3
Administrative Board Minutes, 1980-1982.
Box 3 Folder 4
Administrative Board, Charge Conference Minutes, 1981-1984.
Box 3 Folder 5
Administrative Board, Charge Conference Minutes, 1988-1989.
Box 3 Folder 6
Administrative Board Minutes, 1989-1990.
Box 3 Folder 7
Administrative Board Minutes, 1991-1992.
Box 4 Folder 1
Administrative Board Minutes, 1992-1993.
Box 4 Folder 2
Administrative Board, Charge Conference Minutes, 1993-1994.
Box 4 Folder 3
Administrative Board Minutes, 1994-1997.
Box 4 Folder 4
Annual Budgets, 1970-1980.
Box 4 Folder 5
Council on Ministries Records, 1969-1971.
Box 4 Folder 6
Trustee Reports to Charge Conference, 1952, 1955.
Box 4 Folder 7
Reports to Annual Conference, 1995-1998.
Box 4 Folder 8
Pastor's Reports, 1942, 1952-1972, 1981.
Box 4 Folder 9
Administrative Board, Charge Conference Minutes, 1985-1987.
Box 4 Folder 10
Reports to Quarterly/Charge Conference, 1951-1971.
Box 5 Folder 1
Reports to Quarterly/Charge Conference, 1951-1971.
Box 5 Folder 2
Reports to Charge Conference, 1971-2000 (incomplete).
Box 5 Folder 3
Trustee Minutes, 1925-1935.
Box 5 Folder 4
Trustee Minutes, 1950-1957.
Box 5 Folder 5
Trustee Minutes, 1957-1968; Congregational Meeting, 1958.
Box 6 Folder 1
Trustee Minutes, 1980-1981.
Box 6 Folder 2
Charter, 1937.
Box 6 Folder 3
Property Documents, 1924-1927.
Box 6 Folder 4
Property Documents, 1936-1940.
Box 6 Folder 5
Property Documents, 1941.
Box 6 Folder 6
Parsonage, 1937.
Box 6 Folder 7
Blueprints, 1927-1939.
Box 7 Folder 1
Plan of Property, 1940-1941.
Box 7 Folder 2
Blueprints - Organ Chamber, 1946.
Box 7 Folder 3
Education Building, 1948-1951.
Box 7 Folder 4
Blueprints - Garage, 1953.
Box 7 Folder 5
Property Documents, 1956-1960.
Box 7 Folder 6
Church Reconstruction, 1959-1960.
Box 7 Folder 7
Floodlighting Plan, 1965.
Box 7 Folder 8
Consecration, Dedication Programs, 1960, 1963.
Box 7 Folder 9
Worship Bulletins, 1944, 1947, 1950, 1956, 1957, 1978, 1987.
Box 7 Folder 10
Historical documents, 1935-1990.
Box 7 Folder 11
Membership Directories, 1930, 1962, 1977, 1980, 1987, 1992.
Box 7 Folder 12
Anniversary Booklets, 1952, 1977, 1987, 1992.
Box 7 Folder 13
Photographs, 1939-1981.
Box 7 Folder 14
Membership 1951-1998. Marriages 1935-1999. Baptisms 1935-1997. Funerals 1935-2000.
Volume 1
History file.
File 1
History File Scope and Contents note

History 1963; 25th Anniversary 1947; Request for Information; Church History No. 17; History and Picture of Lot 1924-1939; Negative, Postcard and Picture of Church 1994, 2 Photos; Open Church Suggestions; Fellowship Prayer for Laymen; Postcard for Attendance; Service of Consecration 1960; Dedication 1963; Dedication Program 1963; Ribbon Book Marker; Senior Choir Attendance Report; Sunday School Roll Book 1957-1960; Sr. Choir Attendance Book 1956; Bulletin 1963; Bulletin 1964; 2001 newspaper article (Church Closing), (Hymn Editor)

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