Zoar United Methodist Church Records, 1841-1984

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Creator

Zoar United Methodist Church

Location

Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division

Extent

• 12 microfilm reels.

Scope/Contents Notes

The records of Zoar United Methodist Church are divided into four series: Delaware Conference; Delaware-Philadelphia District; Zoar United Methodist Church; and St. John's Church, Spring Lake, New Jersey. The Zoar Methodist Church series, largest of the four, is divided into seven subseries: history, vital records, organizational records, pastors, financial, legal, and bulletins and miscellaneous printed material.

The Delaware-Conference series contains minutes dating from the original organizational meeting in 1864 to 1889. The growth of the conference is documented in annual statistics, records of personnel changes, and reports of committees including temperance, freedmen's aid, Sunday schools, and missions. Other material in this series includes membership rolls, reports and minutes of laymen'sconferences and associations, and records of disciplinary proceedings against clergymen. The dissolution of the Delaware Conference of the Central Jurisdiction and its merger into other geographic conferences is documented by minutes, resolutions, and other supporting material of itscentennial meeting in 1964.

The Delaware Conference Philadelphia District series includes financial reports and memoranda concerning meetings and other routine administrative matters.

The Zoar United Methodist Church series (1841-1986) includes background research material for the histories ofthe church. The vital records material is sparse. Of special interest is a membership survey conducted in 1957 concerning the background of the members and their opinions of church life. The survey draws a portrait of a working class membership, many born in the South, who ask for specific changes in the church. The Organizational Records subseries contains minutes and reports of the Official Board and Board of Trustees, and records of various church commissions and committees. The six commissions mandated by the Methodist Church are ChristianSocial Concerns, Education, Membership and Evangelization,Music, and Stewardship and Finance. The committees serve traditional functions such as community outreach, women's programs, and building campaigns. The Pastors subseries focuses primarily on Reverend Joshua Licorish's administration and includes notes for sermons and history projects, and copies of annotated financial reports. Additional material in this series includes financial matter containing lists of individual contributors and amounts as well as ledgers detailing receipts and disbursements. The legal subseries includes deeds and mortgages for church property dating from 1841 and from different properties. Printed material encompasses Zoar Church bulletins, calendars of activities and new clippings.

The St. John's Church series documents the activities ofthis summer parish in Spring Lake, New Jersey and consistsof correspondence regarding repairs, invoices for summer festivities, legal documents, and news clippings.

Biographical/Historical Notes

Zoar United Methodist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,the oldest African-American congregation within the UnitedMethodist Church, was founded in 1794 by eighteen free African-American men and women. The founders had separatedthemselves from the white-dominated St. George's MethodistEpiscopal Church, which administered Zoar and supplied itspastors; in 1835 Zoar's first African-American pastor was appointed.

A series of conferences of Colored Local Preachers held at Zoar in the 1850's and 1860's resulted in the creation of the Delaware Annual Conference by the 1864 General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Delaware Conference was comprised of twenty-one African-American Methodist churches from Philadelphia, New Jersey,Delaware, and Maryland. Its creation allowed for the ordination of local preachers and travelling elders and gave African-American congregations greater control over their own affairs. All African-American conferences were organized into the Central Jurisdiction with the 1939 reorganization of the Methodist Church. The Central Jurisdiction existed until the mid 1960's when it was dissolved into the mainstream geographical structure of the Methodist Church with Zoar joining the Philadelphia Conference of the Northeast Jurisdiction. Reverend Joshua E. Licorish served as pastor of Zoar from 1957 to 1981 andplayed a role in urban renewal and civil rights issues in Philadelphia during the 1950's and 1960's. During Licorish's administration, the membership of Zoar numberedaround 900.

The trustees of Zoar also acted as trustees for the St. John's Methodist Church of Spring Lake, New Jersey. The Church, founded in 1887 and open only during the summer, served members who were employed at the resort hotels of Spring Lake or as domestics for summer residents.

Controlled Access Terms

• Licorish, Joshua E., 1911-1987.
• Zoar United Methodist Church (Philadelphia, Pa.) -- History.
• United Methodist Church (U.S.). Delaware Conference.
• United Methodist Church (U.S.). Delaware Conference. Philadelphia District.
• St. John's Methodist Church (Spring Lake, N.J.)
• African American Methodists.
• African Americans -- Religion.
• African American clergy.
• African American churches -- Pensylvania -- Philadelphia.

Additional Creator Name

• Preservation of the Black Religious Heritage Project funded by the Lilly Endowment.