A Nice Guy Who Lost a Bet - Lancaster First UMC History

Recently, I received a very nice letter from an elderly gentleman who lives in Stockton, California. He doesn't have any connection to our church except through a postcard of our church that he found at an antique shop near his home. He was kind enough to send this to me.

[Back of Postcard]

The postcard was sent by a member of our church to Sadie Noll (Hall?) who was living in Philadelphia, PA. The postcards says,

Dear Sadie,

  We are all well. Hope you are the same. The lady wears her cap nearly every day. Will write soon. 

  Yetta (Correct Spelling?) Gravett

[Front of Postcard]

Since our church was first opened in 1907 (the cornerstone was placed in 1905) this picture could very well be the first professional photograph of our church building. Our church would have only been two years old when Yetta sent this postcard in the mail.

The elderly man from California who sent me this letter and postcard is what is even more impressive to me. Here is what he wrote regarding this old postcard that he found in the antique shop.

"Well, I gave $6 for it so if you want it for $7 or $8 or so why that's sure OK. Throw in a little postage if you want, too. My wife says if I hear form you, I will have to take her to lunch. I am eighty-six years old and still going strong. I like to call my little hobby "a re-distribution of happiness." Our world sure needs it. Thank you, and Godspeed in your work, and Happy Thanksgiving."

Today, I am preparing a mailing to this kind gentleman from California with some information about our church, a word of appreciation for taking the time to send the postcard to us, and yes, I'm including the $8 and postage.

He'll need that money since he lost the bet and now owes his wife a lunch.

Lancaster First UMC - Another Really Old Picture

A big thanks to Ted Unks, one of our long-time church members who provided us with yet another really old picture from our church's history. Ted believes that this picture is around the time our church began holding worship services at our present main building. His father is somewhere in this picture.

My guess is that this photo was probably taken during the winter of 1908. The picture of the world's largest men's bible class was taken in April, 1915.

Happy Anniversary Lancaster First UMC Main Building! - September 15, 1907

Today (September 15) marks the 107th anniversary of when our congregation held the first Sunday worship service in our main church building. It was also when the building was dedicated. Construction on the building began in 1905.

It's interesting that 100 years later, our congregation dedicated another building, our beautiful Crossroads facility on West Fair Avenue. We held a dedication for Crossroads in 2007.

Think back with me to 1907 to provide some needed historical context.

• Theodore Roosevelt was the President
• Hershey Park opened
• Taxis first begin running in New York City
• The automatic washer & dryer were introduced
• Pitcher, Walter Johnson won the first of his 416 career wins.
• Oklahoma became our 46th state
• The Apple iPocketWatch was first introduced (Just kidding!)

Our church decided to move to our present location because space was limited at the South High Street location. As a side note, the present day Sixth Avenue UMC had just built a new church in 1902 at the corner of Sixth and Garfield Avenues.

Our present church building was the location of the Stutson family residence. The church bought the lot for $5,333.33 and hired the John Rouser Company of Dayton as the General Contractor. Construction began early in 1905 and a cornerstone laying ceremony was held. Dr. Herbert Welch, President of Ohio Wesleyan University was the speaker. The church was finally completed by late summer of 1907.

In 1907, the church sold it's South High Street property to the Lancaster Masonic Bodies for $6,000 and used the proceeds from this sale to make the first payment on the new church building.

The last worship service at the South High Street location was held on Sunday, September 8. The following Sunday (September 15) our church worshipped for the first time in our present day building.

The sermon on that day was delivered by Dr. Thomas C. Iliff of Denver. The pastor of our church at the time was Charles C. Elson. The last dollar to insure the payment of the debt was announced allowing for the formal dedication of the church building to occur just before midnight on September 15!

The total cost of the church building including the pipe organ was $80,210.70. The first baptism in the new church was Elizabeth Stutson, the infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Willis Stutson. Assuming this was the same Stutson family from which the church bought the lot, this probably made the first baptism in the new church building even more special.

Eight years after the first worship service in the new building, our church celebrated another key event in our history. In 1915, we won the world's largest men's bible class. Our historic photo from April 18 of that year shows 1,316 men standing in front of what was then, Lancaster High School. Today, it is known as the Stanbery campus of Lancaster City Schools. The men had walked from the church to that location so that a large panoramic photo could be taken. For more on this historic photo, you can view the video here.

The first highlight is in how dedicated the church members were to financially support their new church building.

As I reflect on our 1907 dedication anniversary of our main church building, there are a couple of highlights that stand out for me. The first highlight is in how dedicated the church members were to financially support their new church building. Their dedication service on September 15, 1907 lasted until midnight when the final dollar to cover the cost of the building was pledged. Imagine the joy of the congregation in that moment. I look forward to a similar time of joy in 2016, the target date to pay off our Crossroads building loan. What a great day that will be!

The other highlight for me is how it seems like history sometimes repeats itself. When the church members dedicated our present church building back in 1907, it's pretty special to think that 100 years later, we would be doing the same thing for our new Crossroads facility. The reason for these buildings remains the same. They are meant to help us share God's love with the people in our community. 

Happy 107th main church building anniversary!

World's Largest Men's Bible Class - 1915 (Lancaster Methodist Episcopal Church, Lancaster, Ohio)

[Historic photo of World's Largest Men's Bible Class - 1915, Lancaster, Ohio]
*Click picture to enlarge*

Our church is preparing to celebrate the centennial anniversary of having the world's largest men's bible class in 1915. There are 1,316 men in this photo! The photo above is proudly displayed in room #26 and also in the Work Center of our church. At the time of this photo, our church was known as First Methodist Episcopal Church.

To commemorate this incredible event, our church will be gathering for a combined worship service on Sunday, September 7, 10:00 am at our Crossroads facility, 2095 W. Fair Avenue. During this service, we will show a video segment about this historical achievement.

Following the worship service, we will have a group picture of our congregation (male & female.) This picture will be used as the front cover display for our new church pictorial directory.

Remember to join us for a combined worship service at our Crossroads facility on Sunday, September 7, 10:00 am.

Here is the schedule:
10:00 am - Combined Worship Service
11:30 am - Congregation Group Photo
11:45 am - Covered Dish Meal & Games

SPECIAL NOTE: There will be no services held at our main church building that day.

Other September 7 Details:

• We will provide nursery care from 9:30 am to noon that day. We have a wonderful nursery at Crossroads!
• Bring a covered dish to share for our meal together (bring coolers as needed & disposable containers if possible.) Meat, beverages, and place settings will be provided.
• Games & activities for children will begin after our church photo.
• Consider car pooling to save on our parking spaces! We will also provide shuttle service from our main building to Crossroads at 9:00 & 9:30 am and back to the church at noon and 1:00 pm.

Which Is the True Independence Day?

I posted this on July 2nd last year as well.

Which date do you think is the true Independence Day?

The contestants are...

July 2 - The day when the Continental Congress voted to declare complete independence from British rule.

July 4 - The day when the formal wording of the declaration was approved. (The signing didn't happen until August.)

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Video Update on the Shroud of Turin - CNN

For an article describing the Shroud of Turin, I recommend one of Dr. Ben Witherington's recent posts on his web blog. Dr. Withingerton is a New Testament scholar at Asubury Theological Seminary.

Happy 207th Birthday, Ohio! (March 1, 1803)

Since today is the anniversary of when Ohio was officially admitted into the Union, I thought it would be helpful to provide information about Ohio and religion courtesy of research from the Pew Forum which appears at the bottom of my post.

Yesterday, Lancaster First UMC also began a spring new member class and for this first session, we focused on the history of the church and more specifically, the history of Methodism.

In 1773, seven years after the first official Methodist small group formed in America, there were 1,160 Methodists served by 10 preachers in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

By 1816, the number of Methodists had grown to 214,000. The primary reason Methodism experienced an incredible explosion of growth during this time period was due to our frontier friendly system of being able to establish Methodist class meetings and new Methodist congregations through Methodist circuit riding preachers who didn't stay in one place for too long but instead kept following the western expansion of our country.

We can see the fruits of this era of growth by all of the United Methodist churches in the West Ohio Conference that have been celebrating their bicentennial over the past few years.

Over the last forty years, United Methodism has been experiencing a decline from 11 million in 1968 to under 8 million today. And guess what church growth consultants are saying today about what United Methodists should do in order to reach more people for Jesus Christ? Start new worship services and new congregations to reach new populations of people with the good news of Jesus Christ. This is an example of where it would be good for history to repeat itself.

Religion (2008 Pew Research)
According to a Pew Forum poll, as of 2008, 76% of Ohioans identified as Christian.[81] Specifically, 26% of Ohio's population identified as Evangelical Protestant, 22% identified as Mainline Protestant, and 21% identified as Roman Catholic.[81] In addition, 17% of the population is unaffiliated with any religious body.[81] There are also small minorities of Jehovah's Witnesses (1%), Jews (1%), Muslims (1%), Hindus (<0.5%),>

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President Lincoln & the Methodists

On this Presidents' Day, United Methodists might be interested to know of the connection between our denomination and Abraham Lincoln.

One of the most famous 18th century Methodist preachers was Peter Cartwright, who was appointed as a pastor of my present congregation, Lancaster First UMC in the early 1800's. Like Lincoln, Cartwright was a true child of the frontier who in his own words was able to "turn in and split rails, go to the harvest field, reap, cradle, mow, plow, or dig."

In 1846, Cartwright ran against Abraham Lincoln for a seat in the US House of Representatives. Lincoln was concerned that Cartwright would win, knowing that the large Methodist population would favor his opponent. The Methodist preacher used the Methodist support to his advantage by branding Lincoln a Deist, because of Lincoln's criticism of organized religion.

To counter this perception, Lincoln attended one of Cartwright's many evangelistic rallies and when he refused to respond to an invitation by Cartwright for conversion, Lincoln offered these words to the crowd:

"I came here as a respectful listener. I did not know that I was to be singled out by Brother Cartwright. I believe in treating religious matters with due solemnity. I admit that the questions propounded by Brother Cartwright are of great importance. I did not feel called upon to answer as the rest did. Brother Cartwright asks me directly where I am going. I desire to reply with equal directness: I am going to Congress."

Lincoln made good on his prediction and won the 1846 election serving in the US House for one term. Later, Cartwright publicly supported Abraham Lincoln in his political offices.

During his presidency, Lincoln shared his appreciation for the work and ministry of the Methodists:

"It is no fault in others that the Methodist Church sends more soldiers to the field, more nurses to the hospitals, and more prayers to heaven than any. God bless the Methodist Church! Bless all the churches! and blessed by God, who in this our great trial giveth us the churches."

There is so much more that can be shared about Abraham Lincoln and the Methodists. For more information, Matthew May, historian and archivist for the Detroit Conference of the UMC, has this excellent article, "Lincoln & the Methodists."

Early Methodism & Colonial American History

Here's a very informative article regarding the beginnings of Methodism in America and our influence upon the formation of our nation's history.

The reporter emphasizes one of the key reasons for the success of Methodism especially in the formative years when we became an official denomination here in America in 1784.

The key? We highlighted two aspects of the good news of the faith in our preaching and witnessing:

1) God's free gift of grace extended to every single person (as opposed to a theology which states that God's grace is available to some and not to others.)

2) Human free will in which God invites us to receive or not receive God's free gift of grace made possible by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (as opposed to a theology that says people have no role in receiving or not receiving God's grace.)

As a personal reflection on this article, when I was in the 6th grade, my home pastor took our confirmation class to Lovely Lane Chapel in Baltimore, Maryland, the place where we became an official denomination on Christmas Eve, 1784.

Proper Dating of United Methodist Church Bicentennials

This is an historical marker in front of Moore's Chapel located in southern, Ohio indicating that it was on this site that the first Methodist Episcopal Church building (a log cabin) was built in Ohio and the Northwest Territory in 1800.

I took the above picture of this marker during my visit to Moore's Chapel as part of last week's annual sermon planning retreat.

There's some "splitting of hairs" with Methodist history as to the oldest Methodist church since this is referring to the first Methodist church building and not to the first Methodist congregation or class meeting. I believe that distinction belongs to Francis McCormick in Milford, Ohio.

Those of you who are Ohio Methodist history buffs can sort this all out!

This does raise a question regarding the proper dating for church bicentennials. I would say that the official beginning of a congregation is when it became an organized "society" which is a specific early Methodist term rather than when a church structure was built. The only problem is that it's often easier to date a building than to find a date for a decision to become a society.

Just think how many West Ohio United Methodist churches have or will be celebrating their bicentennials! I wonder how many of our conference churches have celebrated this milestone already.

Lancaster First UMC in Lancaster, Ohio will be celebrating a bicentennial in 2012.

Learning Something New Every Day!

During my recent sermon planning retreat in Adam's county, a friend of mine and I spent an afternoon sight seeing Moore's Chapel United Methodist Church, located in Blue Creek, Ohio.

Moore's Chapel is named after Rev. Joseph Moore who organized the congregation as early as 1796. The historical distinction is that this church is on the site of the first Methodist Episcopal Church building in Ohio and the Northwest Territory dating back to 1800.

With so many United Methodist church buildings scattered throughout Ohio today, it was humbling to think that this was the location of where the very first one was built! The original building was a log cabin. An estimated guess is that there are probably about 1,500 to 1,800 UM churches in Ohio today.

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We toured the two room church which continues to be a place of worship and fellowship for the Moore's Chapel congregation.

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Before the sermon planning retreat, I never heard of Moore's Chapel UMC and it's historical distinction and I've been a pastor in the West Ohio Conference for the past twenty-four years! There's something new to learn every single day.

Which is the True Independence Day?

Which date do you think is the true Independence Day?

The contestants are...

July 2 - The day when the Continental Congress voted to declare complete independence from British rule.

July 4 - The day when the formal wording of the declaration was approved. (The signing didn't happen until August.)

2,000 Years in 2 Days!

We had our annual confirmation retreat this weekend at Camp Wesley, one of our United Methodist camps just north of Bellefontaine, Ohio. Confirmation consists of youth (mostly 7th graders) who are preparing to become full members of the church this April.

The purpose of the confirmation retreat is to help the youth, their adult mentors, and the confirmation program leaders (including me) to get to know each other and to learn about church history and Methodist history.

This means that we have to cover the highlights of 2,000 years of church history in 24 hours. Imagine trying to cover all of this without being boring! Amazingly, with a little creativity, and with the presence of the Holy Spirit, we were able to hear about the ups and downs of the history of Christianity and to hear about what makes United Methodism unique and helpful in our relationship with Jesus Christ.

In addition to our church history presentations, the special worship services during the retreat are also really meaningful. For the last worship time together, we celebrated the Sacrament of Holy Communion, and gave thanks to God for our deeper relationships with Christ and with each other.

What I think is special about the annual confirmation retreat is that the confirmands have the opportunity to get to know the pastors and the adults as real people.

Enjoy the brief video interview I had with two of our ten confirmands, Chris Beckelheimer and Amy Wilkinson. It's difficult to hear their responses, so listen carefully.

Happy Birthday Xenia: Trinity Methodist Church!

On this day, 145 years ago, Xenia: Trinity Methodist Church was born. Trinity was an offshoot of Xenia: First Methodist which traces its beginning to 1808 here in Xenia, Ohio.

Ironically, these two churches with histories already intertwined merged to become "Faith Community United Methodist" and worshipped for the first time at our present Country Club Drive location in 1972. We have been here ever since, "Sharing Faith and Building Community."

Since this is Faith Community's bicentennial year, it's only fitting that we pause on this 145th birthday anniversary of Trinity Methodist and give thanks to God for the faithful people who have gone before us.

In my eight years as pastor of Faith Community, many members of the church will slip into the conversation that they were from the Trinity church. God bless them for how they are grateful for their previous congregation that is now part of Faith Community.

Happy Reformation Day!

On the Eve of All Saints, Day, October 31, 1517, Augustinian Father Doctor Martin Luther, professor of Scripture at the University of Wittenberg, Germany posted an invitation to debate on the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral. The invitation to debate contained ninety-five points, or theses, concerning the sale of indulgences. Luther chose this date for posting his theses because the coming holy day (All Saints' Day) would bring many of the community to services, ensuring that his statements would receive wide exposure.

We celebrated Reformation Sunday last Sunday (October 26) in church and sang the great Martin Luther hymn, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" in thanksgiving for the influence of the 15th and 16th century reformers, including Martin Luther.

One caution regarding Reformation Day however - The United Methodist Church has both a Protestant as well as a Catholic heritage. Protestant in the sense that we have inherited the influence of the Reformation from our Anglican Church heritage and Catholic in the sense that the Anglican Church was also steeped in the rich Catholic heritage dating all the way back to the 3rd century in England. Modern day United Methodists tend to forget that the Anglican Church from which we were born through John Wesley, himself an Anglican Priest, has both a Protestant and a Catholic flavor to it. Part of our forgetfulness is due to the American Methodists becoming their own denomination in 1784 and some distancing from our Anglican roots over the past 200 years.

This distancing from our Anglican roots is regretful since both the Protestant and Catholic heritage offer a rich diversity of theology and practice. For example, we don't only emphasize the importance of the Bible (Protestant), but we also want to celebrate the importance of the Sacraments (Catholic).

Reformation Day Prayer:
Almighty God, gracious Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon your faithful people. Keep them steadfast in your Word, protect and comfort them in all temptations, defend them against all their enemies, and bestow on the Church your saving peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord,who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.