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Christ Methodist Episcopal 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
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.).
In 1850, the first Methodist services in the Mantua neighborhood of West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania were held in the home of William Smitheman. A church building at 38th and Wallace Streets was opened in 1852, and the following year the church was recognized by the Philadelphia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church as Mantua Methodist Episcopal Church. The church moved a few blocks away to a new building, at 38th and Mount Vernon Streets, and in 1857 was renamed Thirty-Eighth Street Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1868, the church moved once more, this time to 38th and Hamilton Streets. It was briefly known as Heiskell Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church before the name was changed, yet again, to Christ Methodist Episcopal Church in 1869. The church was discontinued in 1968.
Bibliography:
Pennsylvania Society of New York. Year Book of the Pennsylvania Society of New York. 1903. Accessed August 25, 2014. http://books.google.com/books?id=uR0UAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA100.
The collection consists of membership records, 1853-1867, 1855-1859, 1870-1881, 1870-1910, 1909-1925, 1924-1966; marriages, 1854-1867, 1871-1881, 1870-1881, 1870-1910, 1910-1925, 1924-1952; baptisms, 1853-1867, 1874-1881, 1875-1881, 1870-1909, 1910-1925, 1927-1968; Quarterly Conference records, 1890-1905; minute books, 1868-1935; and various assorted financial, property, and other records. 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.
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
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Contact Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church for information about accessing this collection.
Collection Inventory
Request for Information; Charters of Incorporation 1808 and 1868; Name Change 1870; Feb. 1979 bulletin; 50th Anniversary directory 1852-1902; 75th Anniversary directory 1852-1927; 93rd Anniversary history