Perspective of Time
Time does change things. But not all things.
For example, take a look at the front page of these minutes:
Not the West Virginia Conference………the Western Virginia Conference
Not the United Methodist Church…..The Methodist Episcopal Church
Buckhannon (established January 15, 1816) is still Buckhannon
Upshur County (very newly established on March 26, 1851) is still Upshur County
Virginia
Although this was 165 years ago, we can recognize both the gracious welcome offered by the people who lived in this town and the appreciation of the group of Methodist Episcopal Church leaders. The minutes include their thanks:
First Time — But Not The Last
The next time that the Methodist Episcopal Conference met in Buckhannon, it was October 1, 1884. By this time they were meeting in Buckhannon, West Virginia.
In those days, the meeting place moved around a good bit to places like Wheeling, Clarksburg, Parkersburg, Charleston, Huntington, Weston, and Fairmont.
- The Methodist Episcopal Conference met again in Buckhannon in 1884, 1895, 1913, 1926, and 1935.
- The year 1939 The Methodist Episcopal Church, The Methodist Protestant Church, and The Methodist Episcopal Church South reunited to become The Methodist Church.
- In 1953 the newly reunited Methodist church met in Buckhannon. From 1955 until today the Annual Conference has met at West Virginia Wesleyan College
- In 1968 The Methodist Church united with The Evangelical United Brethren Church to become The United Methodist Church.
Dreamers and Giants
Many of these meetings throughout the 1800s included the work of creating a new school — which we now know as West Virginia Wesleyan College.
In fact, these were the original Dreamers.
It was their dream of having a school in the area where both boys and girls could receive a quality education, and where the values of their faith would be part of the fabric of that school.
Giants were among them. People who worked tirelessly to make that dream a reality. It would take decades of that hard work before the doors would open in 1890.
The school has been supported by the prayers and the hard work of giants in the West(ern) Virginia Conference ever since. And new giants have been formed there as well. Many leaders of the Conference were educated and inspired at the college, and many have gone on to leadership positions throughout the church and the world.
From 1955-1967, the Conference met in Atkinson Chapel, and thereafter in Wesley Chapel. They are the direct descendents of those who met so long ago, but have certainly kept up with the times.
Meeting At WVWC In 2019
The people of Buckhannon once again welcomed the conference June 13-16, 2019. The campus was transformed into meeting spaces, the dining center provided many meals. There were salad luncheons and barbecue dinners offered at the Upshur Parish House. There was a baked steak dinner at Chapel Hill United Methodist, which also gave the conference attendees the opportunity to support the Buckhannon Choral Society.
Mayor David McCauley wrote a letter of welcome, and rolled out the red carpet.
There was worship and fellowship. There were business sessions and reports. There were big screens all around the sanctary so that everyone would be able to see. During the business meetings, the voting was done with electronic voting machines for the first time. Some who could not be present “attended” by way of live streaming online, skyped in to receive an award, and communicated throughout through text messaging. Those original conference-goers would have been amazed.
Much was different — a lot was the same.
What a wonderful piece of history!