By George A. Turner

The history of Methodism in Bloomsburg basically begins with a circuit rider, Rev. Alem Brittain, appointed in 1831 to the Berwick circuit with Bloomsburg as one of his places to preach. In October of that same year he held services in a school house on the corner of Iron and Main Streets. Later, a small group of Methodists met in William Paul's wagon shop and the various homes of the different members. As they gradually increased in number, they decided to purchase a lot for $100 on the corner of Murray Avenue and Third Street and build the first Methodist church, a single story frame structure, at a cost of $540 in 1837. In this year, there were 547 Methodists on the Berwick circuit served by two ministers, James Sanks and George Guyer. By 1847, the Berwick circuit was divided to create the Bloomsburg circuit served by two ministers, G. H. Day and J. W. Elliott; membership for the circuit in 1849 was 615.

The congregation would continue to grow, and after twenty years there was a need for a larger church. The congregation decided to build a second church, a two storied brick structure, on the same lot of the first church, at a cost of $5,200. Dedicated on February 7, 1857, it became the largest church in the community at that time. The Bloomsburg Methodist Church in 1862 with a membership of 178 became a single appointed station with Rev. David C. John as the minister who served from 1862-1863. He was born on a farm near Catawissa on February 14, 1835. After he left Bloomsburg, he moved to Minnesota and served as the President of Mankato State Normal School and Hamline University at St. Paul.

In the early 1890s the church experienced a strong and sustained growth. Spiritually, things were happening -- it was the time when revivals were common. The evangelistic endeavors of Rev. William C. Ferguson in 1892 resulted in sixty converts joining the church. The District Superintendent's report noted that the whole church was in better spiritual condition than for many years. A year later he wrote again: "The church at Bloomsburg is growing in every way." At the end of Rev. Ferguson's pastorship, 1892-1894, the congregation increased from 316 to 641, a dynamic growth rate of 103% in three years.

With this kind of increase, the members now began to think about building a larger church to accommodate its current and projected future growth. Therefore, the trustees decided to purchase the vacant lot east of the church, 130 feet long by 78 feet wide along Third Street to the corner of Market Street, from Jacob Bomboy on May 24, 1892, for a cost of $4,000.

At this time in the Methodist church, pastors usually served only short appointments, either two to three years. In 1895 it was time for Bloomsburg to receive a new minister. A delegation from the church met with the Bishop requesting that Rev. Benjamin C. Conner be appointed to Bloomsburg. The Bishop at first was unsympathetic to the request; he indicated that Bloomsburg's salary was inadequate. Whereupon, the committee informed the Bishop that the church would pay a higher salary, $1,700, and if Rev. Conner were appointed to Bloomsburg, the congregation was prepared to build a new church. The Bishop accepted their promises, and Rev. Conner arrived in Bloomsburg in March 1895 as the new Methodist minister.

There was never any wavering on the commitment to build a new church. The trustees on September 9, 1895, appointed a building committee consisting of Clinton C. Peacock, James C. Brown, William Kocher, Lucas N. Moyer, and George W. Correll. They chose Thomas Lonsdale, a Philadelphia architect, to design the new church. The ground breaking ceremony occurred at four o'clock on Saturday afternoon, October 26, 1895, witnessed by a large crowd assembled at the corner of Third and Market Streets, consisting of church members and representatives from other churches. At the time there were some doubts in the community whether or not the Methodists could actually succeed in their plans for new church building. This uncertainty stemmed in part from two factors: a bad economy in which the country was just beginning to emerge from the 1893 depression, the worst economic downturn in the century; and the large size of the proposed church, a seating capacity nearly double the 1895 membership. There were skeptics who suggested that they were overly ambitious and predicted that the congregation could never pay for it, and that it would surely become an opera house.

Rev. C. H. Brandt, minister of the Reform Church, one of the speakers at the event, addressed this doubt about the new Methodist church project: "There is always in movements of this kind, a great deal of doubts and misgivings. Some questioning the feasibility and possibility of doing the work. You certainly deserve the congratulations of the entire community. Your church in the past has been doing a noble work in this place." Another minister, Rev. G. E. Weeks of the Baptist church declared: "We are glad when a substantial building is erected in our town, and much more so, in this building, as we recognize the fact that it is to be the house of God, and is being built for the advancement of His kingdom. I am glad to be present, and wish you abundant success from the start to the finish."

Two days after Christmas in 1895, the trustees awarded the construction contract for the new church to B. W. Jury at a cost of $39,850. The bid did not include windows, furnishings, light or heating fixtures. The final cost would ultimately come to $55,000.

Before demolishing the old brick church to make way for the new church, Rev. Conner held a series of evening services beginning in January 1896 which lasted for ten weeks. With many prayers and inspired sermons, the revival resulted in the conversion of 125 souls.

With the church's foundation in place and the walls beginning to rise, a special event in the building of the new church occurred on May 3, 1896, when the congregation and an outpouring of townspeople, gathered on the corner of Third and Markets at 3:30 in the afternoon to witness the laying of the cornerstone. Newspapers reported there were 2,000 present. It was a red letter day!

The cornerstone was a gift from C. E. Yorks, whose quarry above Central, near Elk Run, provided the stone for the church. Placed inside the cornerstone was a copper box containing the following items:

- Bible, gift of Rev. B. C. Conner and wife
- Hymnal of M. E. Church
- Church Discipline, 1892, the gift of Lloyd T. Sharpless and wife
- Minutes of the 1896 Central Pa. Conf., gift of Clinton C.Peacock
- First Class Book, 1832
- Frame church subscription book, December 17, 1836
- History of Methodism in Bloomsburg, by I. W. Hartman
- List of Official Members and Committees
- List of Sunday School Scholars
- Names of the members of the choir
- Junior League badge
- Photograph of the old church and tabernacle
- Christian Advocate
- Epworth Herald
- Pennsylvania Methodist
- Republican (Bloomsburg newspaper)
- Columbian (Bloomsburg newspaper)
- Sentinel (Bloomsburg newspaper)
- Catalogue of the Normal School
- Newspaper of the Normal School

It was certainly a notable day in the history our church. Members of that congregation in 1896 like Harry C. Hartman, Amelia Beagle, Emma Brobst. William J. Wertman, Hannah May Kinney, and Jacob F. Fetterman, must have thought what a foundation we are laying for the future of this church.

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