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Atglen 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
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.).
The first Methodist preaching in what was then known as the Penningtonville (now Atglen) area of southwest Chester County, Pennsylvania can be traced to 1833 and the construction of Andrews Meeting House on Ridge Road east of Cochranville Road. In 1850, at a Quarterly Conference meeting of Cochranville Circuit, A. M. Kemble proposed a new church building. In 1853, Penningtonville Methodist Episcopal Church was organized and the cornerstone of the building was laid; the structure was completed and the basement dedicated the following year. In 1876, when the village of Penningtonville became the Borough of Atglen, the church changed its name to Atglen Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1997, Asbury Community United Methodist Church was established from a merger of Atglen and Gap United Methodist churches. The new congregation met in the Atglen church building until Asbury Community United Methodist Church was discontinued in 2002. Remaining congregants and assets merged with Grace United Methodist Church of nearby Coatesville to establish Faith Community United Methodist Church in Parkesburg (Chester County), a congregation which is still active as of 2014.
Bibliography:
"Records of Atglen UMC (ME, M): Historical Summary." Item viewed in Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church collection of closed church records, 1801-2007, Series I.
This collection consists primarily of trustee minutes (1932-1995) and membership and vital records such as baptisms, marriages, and deaths, (1920-1987), with a small amount of board minutes, annual budgets, cemetery records, newspaper clippings, church history, and a building sketch. 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
- Atglen United Methodist Church (Atglen, Pa.)
- Gap United Methodist Church (Gap, Pa.)
- United Methodist Church (U.S.)
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.