Church Anniversaries
The intention of the Commissions and the United Methodist Historical Society of Ohio (UMHSO) is to recognize the founding date of the church. However, we leave it up to the congregation to use the date they have been celebrating as their anniversary. We have found that some of the dates various churches use to celebrate anniversaries are:
1. first circuit rider in the community
2 first organized “class meeting”
3. year when the congregation first appears in conference/district records
4. dedication of the first church building
The date considered to be “the” starting date can also be affected by congregational name changes and mergers. If the congregation has had name(s) changes or mergers, it should go back to the earliest name or the earliest start date of the individual merged congregations. The church may want to recognize and celebrate the intermediate name changes, building anniversaries or mergers; but, the age of the congregation should go back to the earliest date (such as examples 1-4, above).
It is the consensus of the UMHSO Executive Committee that the local church should continue to use the date they have been celebrating.
East Ohio Conference - 2013 Church Anniversaries
Church of the Cross UMC (Wooster) -- Canal District -- 50th anniversary of building
Youngstown Centenary UMC -- Mahoning Valley District -- 95 years
West Ohio Conference - 2013 Church Anniversaries
First UMC of London -- Capitol Area South District -- 200 years
Mechanicsburg UMC -- Miami Valley District -- 200 years
Oxford UMC -- Ohio River Valley District -- 200 years
Wesley UMC (Bryan) -- Northwest Plains District -- 175 years
