About Us - St. Paul's United Methodist Church

About Us

St Paul’s is firstly a member of the world-wide family of people called Christians. With other Christians we declare the essential oneness of the church in Jesus Christ. In the historic creeds of the church we confess one holy, universal, and apostolic church, into which we are initiated by Baptism and nurtured through the Means of Grace, among which, Holy Communion takes a special and honored place. With all Christians everywhere, we are called to a life of service and witness. Yet within this family, we have a special allegiance to the United Methodist Church, a family that has about 8.5 million members here in the United States of America. 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. We welcome to our fellowship all persons, regardless of race, color, national origin, status, or economic condition. Denominational practices and standards are set by General Conferences that meet once every four years. Delegates to that conference are elected by clergy and lay representatives from local churches gathered in various regional (annual) conferences.

But our family connections go beyond our shores to the one million members of the world Methodist family outside the United States of America (Africa, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and elsewhere), whose work and witness like ours, have been shaped by the witness of John and Charles Wesley.

John and Charles were pioneers of the Methodist movement, a small group which though at first ridiculed because of its evangelical zeal and methodical habits, became the catalyst for revival in England. Methodism then spread like wild fire to many countries across the world. For more on our denominational heritage and United Methodist polity, visit the denomination’s official web site www.umc.org.

Throughout its 150 years history, St. Paul’s has kept faith with the city of Lancaster, changing location on a few occasions, but remaining always within a one mile radius of the area that is today the heart of downtown Lancaster.

The earliest records indicate that St. Paul’s started as an outreach Sabbath School of the Second Methodist Episcopal Church in October, 1849, and was located on German Street (now Farnum Street east of South Queen Street.

With the sale of the Chapel on German Street in early 1855, temporary quarters were found in the Trinity Lutheran Church’s school room on Duke Street. Thereafter, a building was erected for the congregation’s worship. The “Plank Church” as this structure came to be called, was located on South Queen Street. The South Queen Street location was home for St. Paul’s for another sixty years, as the members worshiped in their building which was dedicated on December 20, 1860.

The ground breaking for the present church took place on December 2, 1913. The building was designed by C. Emlen Urban, a local architect who drew the plans of many notable late 19th and early 20th century buildings in Lancaster. In its exterior as well as its interior design, it is an architectural showpiece.

At the juncture of the celebration of one hundred and fifty years of witness in the city, and the start of its’ 151st year in ministry, it is evident that new realities present St. Paul’s with new and exciting challenges. Like most of Lancaster city, the South east quadrant of the city has witnessed a remarkable growth of the Latino community. Enrolment statistics show that the neighborhood schools have a predominantly Latino population. Furthermore, home ownership in the Latino community has also increased. Additionally, though much of the Afro-American constituency has gravitated towards Baptist and Pentecostal churches, there is a growing community of persons from Ghana, Uganda, the Caribbean and elsewhere scattered in our neighborhood, many of whom have no church affiliation. The challenge before us is to know Christ and make him known in what is now a truly multi-cultural environment. Our vision is that of a church embracing diversity in worship, study, and cultural traditions but celebrating unity in Christ in service and witness.

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