Earlier today I posted a question about the Methodist Episcopal Church. I was asked to post the answer. I received many good answers each a little different. I received an excellent site regarding the United Methodist Church. In following a link on that site, I was led to a listing of states which leads to repositories holding Methodist records. Individuals can contact those repositories and receive genealogical information. Below is the site I found and immediately below is the message containing the other answers I received. http://www.gcah.org/Conference/umcdirectory.htm 6 Aug 1999 08:56:21 -0700 (PDT) Resent-From: GEN-NYS-L@rootsweb.com Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1999 11:56:27 -0400 From: C M Strong <cmstrong@mindspring.com> To: GEN-NYS-L@rootsweb.com Hi Marla (Brent?) and other interested folks! I too had relatives that were members of the Methodist Episopal Church, so your post whetted my curiosity. Following Kelvin's good suggestion, I found this delightful little paragraph at: http://www.umc.org/abouttheumc/history/ "The United Methodist Church is the result of the 1939 merger of three Methodist bodies (Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal South and Methodist Protestant churches), and a 1968 union of the Evangelical United Brethren and The Methodist churches." So there we have it then! If you do figure out how to access any past church records, please pass that information on to me either personally or through this list, or both! Thanks! Marsha Strong Gainesville, FL Subject: Re: Methodist Episcopal Church Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1999 11:01:20 -0400 From: Albert and Betty Thomas <agthomas@ma.ultranet.com> I'm sure you will get better answers, but here's mine. They are all seperate churches. I don't know the history behind it , but at some point, SOME of the Methodist and Episcopal churches decided to combine- hence Methodist Episcopal. Betty Subject: Re: Methodist Episcopal Church Date: Fri, 6 Aug 99 11:20:37 -0400 From: "Kelvin L. Kean" <kelvin@voicenet.com> To: "Brent Larson" <blarson@ubtanet.com>, <GEN-NYS-L@rootsweb.com> I'm no historian of American protestant churches, but, if memory serves me correctly, the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized shortly after the Revolution and experienced healthy growth until shortly before WWII when it reunited with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the Methodist Protestant Church to become the Methodist Church, the name by which it's known today. I'm sure there are others on the list with more knowledge of the history and the church probably maintains a website that give a more detailed but capsule history of the church. Incidentally, there is no current connection between the Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, but both have their roots in the Pre-Revolutionary Anglican Church of England; John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, was, in fact, an ordained Anglican minister. Best regards, Kelvin Kean Elverson, Pennsylvania Subject: Re: Methodist Episcopal Church Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 11:59:42 -0400 From: "Eileen Roddy" <eileen@tir.com> Organization: Compaq To: "Brent Larson" <blarson@ubtanet.com> References: 1 I am a member of the United Methodist Church. It was first known as the Methodist Church, was later known as the Methodist Episcopal Church, and today is the United Methodist Church. Sorry I am not up on my church history so cannot explain these changes in name. There is no connection with the Episcopal Church. Eileen Roddy What is now the Methodist Church was at one time the Methodist Episcopal Church. No connection to the Episcopal Church. Because of a rift concerning slavery, the church divide into theM methodist Episcopal Church North and the Methodist Episcopal Church South. At some point( I think late 1930s or early 40s) there was a reunifacation of the two branches and the churches were then called United Methodist Churches . Barbara boh@Albany.Net Excellent job everyone. This list is great! Thanks! Marla