Emmanuel Methodist Episcopal Church records

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.).

Emmanuel Methodist Episcopal Church in the Fairmount neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, started as a mission of the Spring Garden Street Church. Founded in 1875, the congregation built a church building designed by Hewitt Brothers at 25th and Brown Streets in 1881. The church was discontinued in 1985.

This collection consists primarily of membership and vital records, such as baptisms, marriages, and deaths, 1875-1984. There is also one minute book, 1894-1934; issues of "The Emmanuel Observer" newsletter, 1893-1916; 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.

Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church: Nineteenth Street Methodist Episcopal Church records, 1860-1938.

Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church: Spring Garden Street United Methodist Church records.

Publisher

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.

Finding aids 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

Creator

Emmanuel Methodist Episcopal Church (25th and Brown Streets, Philadelphia, Pa.)

Subject

City churches

Methodism

Methodists

Organization

Emmanuel Methodist Episcopal Church (25th and Brown Streets, Philadelphia, Pa.)

United Methodist Church (U.S.)

Place

Philadelphia (Pa.)

Language

English