Home  Herald's Trumpet  Sermon Topics  Choir Notes  Nursery School  

UMW   Calendar Page   Special Events Links   Map

HISTORY OF DRAVOSBURG UMC

Several attempts to organize a Methodist church in Dravosburg dates from 1892.  Brother W. T. Fenton felt there was a real need and believed the time was ripe for its organization.  The case was brought before Rev. Dr. James Mecham, Presiding Elder of the Washington District of the Pittsburgh Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  He sent Rev. James Williams of West Elizabeth to look over the town and report.

Upon the recommendation of Rev. Williams, Bishop Charles L. Fowler, presiding over the Annual Conference held in  Johnstown, appoint M. Blaine Lytle of Peter’s Creek to organize the church in 1898.  He preached his first sermon on October 8, 1899.  The congregation was chartered on October 31, 1899 with 27 members present.  The congregation worshipped in the German Lutheran Church until 1901.  In February, 1900, a revival of unusual power broke out and almost 100 souls professed conversion and nearly all of them joined the church.  The Lutheran brethren complained that “the Methodists sang so loud that they were sure to crack the plaster on the walls.”

From 1901 to 1902 they met in a clapboard building built by the members of the church.  They called it the “Tabernacle.”  The dedicatory sermon was preached by Rev. Don S. Colt, D.D., pastor of the North Avenue M.E. Church.  Services were held in this building for two years until a new building was completed in 1902.

The lot of that building were bought in 1901 from the George Lysle estate, the heirs, by a generous contribution, making the purchase possible.  On June 22, 1902, the church was formally dedicated by Bishop John W. Hamilton, D.D. L.L.D.  From its inception this movement has enjoyed a steady and healthy growth.

That building remained in use until the present building was built.  On November 5, 1962 the congregation moved into the present building which is located on the site of the former Methodist Home for the Aged of the Pittsburgh Conference known then as Hamilton House.

In 1921 a parsonage was purchased for $6,000.  In 1966 the church purchased the current parsonage which was next door to the old parsonage.  The new parsonage was 100 years old in 2003.

There have been 27 pastors who have served this congregation since the beginning.

Name                                     Started                                  Ended

Marshall B. Lytle                             1899                                      1904

George Emmor Brenneman             1904                                      1908

George M. Dougherty                      1908                                      1910

Thomas Morgan Dunkle                  1910                                      1911

Waitman Thomas Hartley                1911                                      1912

John S. Allison, Jr.                           1912                                      1915

Samuel H. Greenlee                          1915                                      1917

Joseph William Garland                   1917                                      1919

Charles T. Murdock                         1919                                      1920

Charles William Oresek                   1920                                      1924

Charles Wesley Hoover                    1924                                      1927

Taylor H. Carson                              1927                                      1929

Roy Curtis Ehreheart                       1929                                      1931

Francis Emmer Kearns                    1931                                      1932

Adam A. Nagay                                 1932                                      1935

John William Black                          1935                                       1939

Ralph Greiner White                        1939                                       1942

Richard R. Griffiths                          1942                                       1946

William Egli Mays                            1946                                       1948

Henry F. Pollock                               1948                                       1951

Robert Porter Graham                     1951                                       1956

Paul Mecham Easter                        1956                                       1960

Raymond Dale Graham                    1960                                       1963, December

Donald Everett Bloomster                 1964, January                       1968

Wendell Eugene Paul                        1968                                       1976

James Frederick Bray*                     1976                                       2000

Edwin Justus Herald                          2000                                      Present

Timothy R. Williams **                     2006                                      2007

*Named Pastor Emeritus in 2002.

**Associate Pastor

®  The Cross and Flame is a registered trademark and the use is supervised by the General Council on Finance and Administration of The United Methodist Church. Permission to use the Cross and Flame must be obtained from the General Council on Finance and Administration of The United Methodist Church - Legal Department, 1200 Davis Street, Evanston, IL 60201.

The space for this web site has been the General Board of Global Ministries,

The United Methodist Church. 

The content of these home pages is the responsibility of Angie Williams, Webmaster