The present United Methodist Church formed from several earlier related congregations. Predecessor congregations of the United Methodist Church include:
| Methodist Episcopal Church | 1784–1939 | Methodist Episcopal Church, South | 1845–1939 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Methodist Protestant Church | 1828–1939 | Methodist Church | 1939–1968 |
| United Brethren in Christ | 1800–1946 | Evangelical Association | 1803–1922 |
| United Evangelical Church | 1894–1922 | Evangelical Church | 1923–1946 |
| Evangelical United Brethren | 1946–1968 | United Methodist Church | 1968–Present |
- Methodist Churches in St. Louis City and County
- Methodist Clergy in St. Louis
- Wives of Ministers of the St. Louis German Methodist Conference (births, deaths, and marriages)
Because Methodism was founded in the eighteenth century in England by John Wesley and former Anglicans, it has the same organizational structure of including bishops as the Anglican church. In America, Wesley’s assistant Francis Asbury organized the Methodist religion. Because there was a scarcity of clergy and Methodism was a newer religion, circuit riders (itinerant preachers) covered large routes on horseback to bring services into the frontier. Their heroic efforts made Methodism one of the largest Protestant denominations in the U.S. by the middle of the nineteenth century.
Until 2004, Missouri was divided into Missouri East and Missouri West Annual Conferences. The repository for the Missouri East Conference is the Western Historical Manuscript Collection at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. The repository for the Missouri West Conference is the Smiley Memorial Library at Central Methodist University in Fayette, Missouri. Central Methodist University also has an online clergy file. Other notable resources include the Historical Society of the United Methodist Church and the General Commission on Archives and History, which includes names and addresses of Missouri contacts and a searchable database of holdings.
Printed Methodist journals are also a useful resource. One Methodist newspaper is the Christian Advocate. Also, Missouri conferences publish the United Methodist Reporter in regional versions. For more than 100 years, Annual Conference Journals have been published, some as early as 1858. Check with Methodist repositories for extant copies.
(We thank StLGS volunteer Joyce Mercer for researching the original text for this denomination.)
Last Modified: 25-Jul-2026 14:27
