MSS 231 Methodist Episcopal Church Papers

              K I S T O R Y ~ b LbJ L
Methodlsr Episcopal Church
( Ohio) Records
3/ 4 cubic foot
Preliminary inventory
Collection Synopsis
Provenance: The Ohio Historical Society acquired the Methodist
Episcopal Church ( Ohio) records at various times between 1937
and 1947. Kay Weisman processed the collection in October 1979.
Property rights: The Ohio ~ istorical Society owns the property
rights to this collection.
Copyrights: Copyrights to this collection have not been dedicated
to the public. Consideration of the requirementsf copyright is
the responsibility of the author and publisher.
Access: This collection is open under the rules and regulations
of the Ohio Historical Society.
Citation: Researchers are requested to cite collection name,
collection number, and the Ohio Historical Society in all footnote
and bibliographic references.
Transfer: Nine plat maps of Wapaughkannetta, Hog Creek, and
Lewistown reservations ca. 1830 were transferred to the audiovisual
department.
Related material: Auditor of State. Land Grant Records. Volume
19. U. S. Surveys. Records of Field Notes of Reserves, etc. Ohio.
One roll of microfilm available in the state archives.
Organizational sketch: The Methodist Episcopal Church is governed
by a series of quarterly, annual, and general conferences. The
quarterly conference meets in the local charge or on the circuit
with the district superintendent presiding. It fixes the salary
of the pastor, sets the budget, elects the church officers, and
sends delegates to the annual conference. Annual conferences cover
defined geographical areas, ordain and admit ministers to the
ministry, vote on constitutional questions, supervise pensions and
relief, and elect delegates to the general conference. The annual
conference is also responsible for determining the character,
qualifications, and general fitness of ministers for their work.
It receives reports and testimonials on the character and actions
of preachers, and may hold trials of preachers or laymen. The
general conference meets quadrennially and is the lawmaking body
of the church; the bishops preside and the work of the conference
is done largely throuqh committees.
The Ohio Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church was
organized in 1812, chiefly out of the former Western Conference.
After the first session of the Ohio Conference at Chillicothe in
1812, the Conference included six districts, each subdivided into
five to twenty circuits. Itinerant ministers, who received one-year
appointments at the Annual Conference, rode the roughly drawn
circuits preaching, holding classes and " love feasts," and selling
books, tracts, and newspapers. . .
OBI0 HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1982 Velnlii Avenue. Coiumbui, Ohio 43211- 2497 pn: 614.297.2303 in: 614.247.2411
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