Pitts Theology Library
Archives and Manuscripts Department

Methodist Protestant Church Georgia Conference
Records, 1830-1939

Historical Note

The Methodist Protestant Church was organized in November 1828 in response to growing controversy within the Methodist Episcopal Church surrounding the representation of lay members within church conferences. Members broke with the Methodist Episcopal Church over what they perceived as the unlimited exercise of power over church policies by the ministry, to the exclusion of lay members. Rejecting the notion of episcopal, or ministerial, control, the new church designated equal representation of ministerial and lay members for each conference, thereby assuring "the mutual rights of the ministry and the laity." Originally known as The Associated Methodist Churches, the later title was adopted in 1830 during the Second Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. Beginning with a national membership of 5,000 in 1830, membership reached 196,985 by 1939.

The Georgia District of the Methodist Protestant Church organized in July 1830 at the Salem Campground in Newton County. By 1853, there were 22 charges in the district with a membership of 3,162. In 1937, there were 28 charges with a membership of 2,198. The Methodist Protestant Church was responsible for the founding of Bowdon College, originally known as Bowdon Collegiate Institute, in 1856. The school was later incorporated in the State University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Georgia.

In 1939, the Methodist Protestant Church merged with the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South to form the Methodist Church. All congregations within the former Georgia District of the Methodist Protestant Church joined either the North or South Georgia Conference.

Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of handwritten and published conference minutes and one scrapbook of published material concerning the Women's Work organization.

Four volumes contain handwritten and published minutes for the Annual Conferences of the Georgia District of the Methodist Protestant Church: the 1st through the 21st, 1830-1850; the 22nd through the 36th, 1851-1866; the 62nd through the 100th, 1891-1929; and 103rd through the 108th, 1932-1937. There was no Annual Conference in 1865 due to the Civil War. Each volume contains information regarding membership and conference rolls; church leadership; committee membership and reports; character examinations for church offices; circuit boundaries and members; motions and dissents; obituaries of prominent church members; and financial and statistical reports. Also included are church procedures and policies such as rules of order, by laws, and constitutional amendments. Of interest to the researcher will be the membership statistics of each circuit or station broken down by race and obituaries written between 1861-1865, which provide information regarding the Civil War.

The last volume is a scrapbook concerning the Women's Work organization of the Methodist Protestant church from 1933-1939. It contains newspaper articles; meeting programs; correspondence; and miscellaneous ephemera. Also included are photographs of Cedar Grove and Clifton churches, ca. 1938-1939 and newspaper accounts of missionary work in Japan, ca. 1936.

Container Listing

Last Modified: November 25, 2015 (bcw)