Church of the Covenant Methodist 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.).

Salem Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1835. It was located at Salem and 13th Streets, then was rebuilt at Lombard and Juniper Streets in 1841. It merged with Western Methodist Episcopal Church (founded in 1834; located on 20th Street below Walnut Street) to form Methodist Episcopal Church of the Covenant in 1894, located at 18th and Spruce Streets. Church of the Covenant Methodist Church was discontinued in 1945.

In 1954, the Church of the Covenant building was remodeled for the use of Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel, a recently organized Jewish congregation. Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel still uses this building as of 2014.

Most of this collection is records from Salem Methodist Episcopal Church, but smaller amounts of material from its successor, Church of the Covenant, and Western Methodist Episcopal Church, with which it merged, are also present. The Salem Methodist Episcopal Church records include: church registers, 1835-1895; class records, 1835-1851; First Leaders minutes, 1834-1895; trustees minutes, 1835-1893; Quarterly Conference records, 1835-1876; member and probationer records, 1835-1876; and a sale agreement, 1841. Later records from the Church of the Covenant consist of trustees minutes, 1893-1941; Quarterly Conference minutes, 1876-1913; and a membership register (members, marriages, baptisms), 1895-1945. There are also two volumes from Western Methodist Episcopal Church with members (1835-1882), marriages (1834-1865, 1865-1882), and baptisms (1834-1865, 1865-1881). A small amount of records relating to Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel, which now uses the former Church of the Covenant building, are also present in the collection. 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.

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

Church of the Covenant Methodist Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Subject

City churches

Methodism

Methodists

Organization

Church of the Covenant Methodist Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Salem M.E. Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)

United Methodist Church (U.S.)

Western Methodist Episcopal Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Place

Philadelphia (Pa.)

Language

English