Item #1
Central
Pennsylvania United Methodists
Vote to Restore
Former Conference Name
The United Methodist Church includes
three distinct denominational traditions: the United Brethren Church, the
Evangelical Church, and the Methodist Church.
Within United Methodism, the Susquehanna Conference was created November
14, 1964, by the union of the Pennsylvania Conference of the former United
Brethren Church and the Central Pennsylvania Conference of the former
Evangelical Church. In 1968 that ecclesiastical
body became the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church.
On October 18, 1969, the Susquehanna
Conference of the United Methodist Church joined with other mid-state United
Methodist congregations to form the Central Pennsylvania Conference of the
United Methodist Church. The name of the
new conference and the date of the union were deliberately chosen to coordinate
with statewide efforts to reorganize the denomination's structure and ministry
in Pennsylvania. The previous week on
October 11, 1969, congregations to the west voted to join to form the Western
Pennsylvania Conference. The following
week on October 25, 1969, congregations to the east voted to join to form the
Eastern Pennsylvania Conference. In
addition to organizing the United Methodist Church for efficient ministry in
the state, this coordinated action provided more accurate and consistent
conference names in place of the ones that had been used in the past by the
United Methodist Church and its predecessors – such Allegheny, Eastern, Erie,
Genesee, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Susquehanna.
On June 4, 2009, the Central
Pennsylvania Conference voted overwhelmingly to recommend returning to the name
Susquehanna Conference. The change was
prompted by the addition to the conference of the Pennsylvania congregations of
the Wyoming Conference [named for the Wyoming Valley in northeastern
Pennsylvania]. While the Discipline
specifies that "Changes in the number, names, and boundaries of the annual
conferences and episcopal areas may be effected by the jurisdictional
conferences," annual conferences traditionally have been given the
authority to choose their own names. In
this instance, the Central Pennsylvania Conference chose to disregard a
recommendation against the name change by the Northeastern Jurisdiction
Commission on Archives and History.
Because the proposed name may not adequately identify the conference
within national and global contexts, the logo for the conference's letterhead
and website explains that the Susquehanna Conference is "A Pennsylvania
Conference of the United Methodist Church."
The name change ceremonially
occurred at the June 12, 2010, special session to unite the Pennsylvania
congregations of the former Wyoming Conference with the congregations of the
Central Pennsylvania Conference. That
session was held in Williamsport PA at the Cultural Arts Center and included
ordination of the candidates approved by the Central Pennsylvania Conference
and the Pennsylvania candidates approved by and under the guidelines of the
former Wyoming Conference.
While the 2008 Northeastern
Jurisdiction Conference had authorized the creation of a new conference, the
change from “Central Pennsylvania” to “Susquehanna” was a change in name only,
with the officers and structure of the Central Pennsylvania Conference
remaining in place and papers filed with the State of Pennsylvania for a change
in the name of the corporation and not the creation of a new corporation. Legally the name change occurred June 5, 2010. All tax-exempt numbers and other legal
identifications remained the same, with the name changed from the Central
Pennsylvania Conference to the Susquehanna Conference.
Item #2
A Brief History of the Susquehanna Conference
Archives
The conference archives have traditionally
operated with a minimum of conference fanfare or funding, and few people are
aware of the quantity and quality of the materials that are presently managed
by the archives. All of that is undergoing
change. In truth, the present “conference
archives” would be better called the “Susquehanna Conference United Methodist
Archives and Research Center.” With
offices on the third floor of the Lycoming College Library in Williamsport PA,
the facilities are typically staffed three days a week and the archivist
handles dozens of research requests from within the Conference and around the
nation.
While most of the requests come as follow-ups to
materials and information posted on the archives’ web site, lycoming.edu/umarch/, many scholars and researchers and students also
visit the archives in person. The main
room at the archives covers about 1000 square feet and houses 3 museum cases,
one for each of the predecessor denominations (Evangelical, Methodist, and
United Brethren). It also includes files
for open and closed churches, journals and historical materials from the 30+
predecessor conferences that have contributed congregations to the present
Conference, the most-often used research collections, tables for conducting
research, and the central office.
In addition to the main room, the archives occupy
space on the fourth floor of the Lycoming College Library that houses
lesser-used collections. The largest
space managed by the archives is currently off-campus in the Archives Annex at 4
West Fourth Street in downtown Williamsport, 2 blocks from Lycoming
College. This location contains
additional office space, boxes of materials and artifacts from 500+ closed
churches, minutes and records of conference boards and agencies dating back to
the 1800’s, most of the missionary collections, museum-type items and displays
that cannot be housed in the main room, and surplus materials.
The archives and the Conference Commission on
Archives and History have been faithful in their long-range planning for managing
their ever-increasing materials and equipment and expenses, including the
additional responsibilities involved in accepting items form the former Wyoming
Conference. The following paragraphs
summarize the history of the conference archives.
Originally, each of our primary predecessor
conferences maintained archives for the preservation of records and historical
items. The Central Pennsylvania
Conference of the Methodist Church kept such materials at the Methodist Book
Room in Harrisburg until 1909, when the items were transferred to Williamsport
Dickinson Seminary [now Lycoming College].
It also happened that Dickinson College’s Methodist affiliation, central
Carlisle location, and academic facilities made it an unofficial depository for
many conference and denominational items – and the library there was willing to
serve in that capacity. The Pennsylvania
Conference of the United Brethren Church kept its historical records and items
at the Quincy Home in Franklin County.
The Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Evangelical Church maintained
depositories in Union County at Central Oak Heights and in the Evangelical Room
of the Slifer House at the Lewisberry Home [now River
Woods].
This was the state of the various archives until
the 1960’s. In October 1962 the Central
Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Church moved its conference offices to
the United Church Center in Harrisburg and began using the basement storage
area there to house its financial and personnel records, as well as copies of
minutes and other materials from the conference boards and agencies. In 1968 Lycoming College opened its new
Academic Center, including the present Snowden Library, and the conference
archives received a room to share with the college archives.
Following the 1968 denominational merger that
produced the United Methodist Church, there was a desire to consolidate the
historical materials of the predecessor conferences – but the only appropriate
and secure conference-controlled options, the United Church Center and the
half-room at the Lycoming College Library, could not absorb the additional EUB
materials. The display cases from Quincy
were moved to Lycoming College and used in the main library for other purposes. The Evangelical Room at the Slifer House was pressed to the limit. Dickinson College in Carlisle again rose to
fill the gap, but this time with a more formal arrangement. That institution agreed to accept, catalog
and care for the EUB materials from Quincy and Central Oak Heights provided
they would stay there for 30 years – with financial penalty to the conference
should they be removed sooner. In
addition, many surplus and duplicate materials that merely needed to be stored
somewhere were placed in the unused upstairs rooms of the Newberry UMC in
Williamsport.
This was the situation in 1989 when the current
archivist took office. The following
developments have led to the present configuration noted above.
• In
1994 Lycoming College moved the college archives out of the shared facility and
allowed the conference archives use of the entire main room. The museum cases originally from Quincy were
moved into the main room. Approximately
$2000 worth of shelving was purchased for the space on the fourth floor – which
was dedicated to closed church materials, over-sized periodical collections,
and surplus materials.
• In
1995 the archives purchased a computer for use in the main room and donated it
to Lycoming College with a formal agreement for the college to make the
computer part of its network, service the computer, and periodically
replace/upgrade the computer according to normal college standards for
low-priority users. Note: This arrangement has worked exceptionally
well, and the archives web site and email are provided by the college. The printer and scanner were purchased
separately and are the property and responsibility of the archives.
• In
1997 water damage and lack of security at Newberry UMC necessitated moving the
materials stored there to Lycoming College.
• In
1998 Dickinson College was planning a major library expansion/remodeling and
released its entire Methodist/EUB collection to the conference archives without
penalty. This material was transferred
to Lycoming College.
• In
1999 the archives needed more space and received permission to purchase and
install a $1700 bank of shelving in the public area of the Lycoming College
Library adjacent to the main room, with the understanding that only uniformly
bound serial collections would be placed there.
• In
2001 the conference offices moved from the United Church Center in Harrisburg
to the new Conference Center in Mechanicsburg.
The conference archives had been promised storage space in the
Conference Center, but this did not happen.
While the financial and personnel records were moved to the Conference
Center, the historical records were moved to a storage area at Derry Street
UMC. Here those records were sorted and
re-boxed into approximately 80 cubic feet of archival containers.
• In
2002 Mission Central opened and the conference archives were given a storage
room. Approximately $2000 worth of
shelving was purchased for the room. The
materials from Derry Street UMC, the materials formerly at Newberry UMC,
surplus materials from Lycoming College, and all materials from post -1970
boards and agencies were moved to Mission Central.
• In
2007 more room was needed, and Lycoming College caged in 250 square feet of
space in a maintenance shed. The
shelving and closed church materials were moved from the fourth floor space to
the shed. Shelving given to Mission
Central was secured and placed in the fourth floor annex.
• In
2008 Mission Central asked the archives to vacate the storage room so that it
could be used for an office. The
shelving and materials there were boxed for temporary storage in Mission
Central’s main warehouse until another site could be found.
• In
2009 the archivist determined that the dust, lack of heat, and other problems
in the caged area of the maintenance shed rendered that facility inappropriate
for long-term archival storage. The
conference also determined it would be receiving a large amount records,
historical material, shelving, and other equipment from the former Wyoming
Conference. The Conference Commission on
Archives and History determined that an appropriate permanent site needed to be
secured for archival storage.
• In
2010 three rooms in the Becht Center, a former
elementary school purchased and remodeled by Faxon-Kenmar
UMC, were rented with the intention of the site becoming a permanent auxiliary
site to the main room in the Lycoming College Library. For a total expense of approximately $2000
plus many hours of donated labor and services, all the conference’s material
and shelving from Mission Central, the former Wyoming Conference archives in
Endicott NY, and the Lycoming College maintenance shed were moved to the Becht Center
• In 2013 Faxon-Kenmar UMC sold the Becht Center
to Pitter Patter Day Care. The
Commission on Archives and History negotiated a ten-year lease that included
the original three rooms plus the former library of the facility. The three original rooms housed the closed
church materials and the boxed minutes and records of conference boards and
agencies. The former library housed
lesser-used collections, display cases for artifacts, and tables for
researchers.
• In 2016, the Pitter Patter Day Care Closed, and the building was demolished
to make way for a small housing development.
The Trustees of the Susquehanna Conference entered into a “permanent”
relationship to rent (with first option to purchase) what is now known as the
Archives Annex at 4 W. Fourth Street.
This 4000 square facility was remodeled by conference work crews from
the conference using the previous shelving from the old Becht
Center (including the shelving from the old school library) and additional
purchased shelving.
While
no human can tell what the future hold for the archives, we trust that the God
who has thus far blessed this important ministry will continue so to do.