{"id":12427,"date":"2016-05-09T16:09:28","date_gmt":"2016-05-09T23:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/?p=12427"},"modified":"2016-05-09T16:09:28","modified_gmt":"2016-05-09T23:09:28","slug":"2016-gc-to-consider-three-sites-for-heritage-landmarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/2016-gc-to-consider-three-sites-for-heritage-landmarks\/","title":{"rendered":"2016 GC to consider three sites for Heritage Landmarks"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Maggie Hillery<\/strong>
\nMay 9, 2016 (UMNS)<\/h4>\n
The rich history of\u00a0Methodism in the United States<\/a>\u00a0is exemplified in three sites that will go before the\u00a02016 General Conference<\/a>\u00a0as nominees for\u00a0Heritage Landmarks<\/a>.Two of those sites \u2014\u00a0Gulfside Assembly<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Pearl River United Methodist Church<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 are in Mississippi. The third \u2014\u00a0The United Methodist Building<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 is on Capitol Hill in the heart of the U.S. government. Together, they weave more than 350 years of Methodist ministry into their stories.<\/p>\n
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LEARN MORE ABOUT UNITED METHODIST HISTORY<\/h5>\n

The history of The United Methodist Church and the denominations that came together to create what is today\u2019s church is evident throughout the world.\u00a0The United Methodist Commission on Archives and History<\/a>\u00a0is the primary agency that works with the denomination worldwide to help preserve the history of centuries of service.<\/p>\n

Here are a few tips for learning more about United Methodist history:<\/p>\n

Seven sites every United Methodist should see<\/a><\/p>\n

A Traveler\u2019s Guide to the Heritage Landmarks of The United Methodist Church<\/a><\/p>\n

Register of Historic Sites<\/a><\/p>\n

The Story of Methodism in America<\/a><\/p>\n

The American Methodism Project<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

According to the\u00a0United Methodist Commission on Archives and History<\/a>, a \u201cHeritage Landmark is a structure or location specifically related to significant events, developments, or personalities in the overall history of The United Methodist Church or its antecedents.\u201d<\/p>\n

General Conference can only consider sites already designated as\u00a0United Methodist Historic Sites<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0Heritage Landmark designation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pearl River born in 1833<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The oldest of the 2016 nominees is Pearl River. From its\u00a0simple beginnings in 1833 as a school and church<\/a>\u00a0for its area, Pearl River became the\u00a0launching point for missionaries who ventured as far away as China and Japan<\/a>\u00a0and for generations of Methodist pastors throughout the world.<\/p>\n

Its history is intertwined with that of the\u00a0Lambuth family,<\/a>\u00a0which has been a part of the growth of Methodism and for which Lambuth University,\u00a0now the University of Memphis Lambuth,<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Lambuth Inn<\/a>\u00a0at\u00a0Lake Junaluska,<\/a>\u00a0North Carolina, are named.<\/p>\n

Pearl River Academy<\/a>\u00a0is on land near the old Natchez Trace in Madison County. The land first belonged to Native Americans of the Choctaw nation. When the Choctaw\u2019s land came into the hands of the white settlers, the site for Pearl River Academy in 1830 became a church, school and meeting place. It was deeded to Methodists in 1833.<\/p>\n

Pearl River began its lifelong relationship with the Lambuth family during the Civil War when members of the Lambuth family stayed in Madison County and attended Pearl River while on a respite from missionary work in China. The Lambuth family at this time already represented several generations of Methodist pastors and missionaries.<\/p>\n

When Nettie, one of the daughters of James William Lambuth, died during a stay in Madison County, she was buried in the Pearl River Cemetery. One of Nettie\u2019s brothers, Walter Russell, later became general secretary of the Board of Missions.\u00a0Lambuth was elected bishop by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1910.<\/p>\n

In 1900, Pearl River established a Lambuth Day celebration, which continues today.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the great missionary families in World Methodism is the Lambuth family of the Pearl River Methodist Church in Madison County, Mississippi. Five generations of missionaries have made outstanding contributions to world Methodism, spanning over 150 years. In addition to the family’s connection to the church and adjacent cemetery, the site has been a Methodist preaching place since the frontier days of the \u2018Old Southwest\u2019 having been established as a church, school and meetinghouse prior to 1830, deeded in 1833. It is located near the historic Natchez Trace, a main transportation artery from Nashville to Natchez in the 19th century and now a well-traveled Parkway of the U.S. National Park Service.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 From the application for Historic Landmark status.<\/p>\n

Gulfside Assembly began in 1923<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Gulfside Assembly\u2019s contributions served thousands before Hurricane Katrina in 2005 destroyed every building on its grounds.\u00a0Rebuilding to serve the future as it served the past<\/a>\u00a0is now front and center for the association that oversees the Waveland (Mississippi) site.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1923 by Bishop Robert E. Jones<\/a>, the first African-American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Gulfside Assembly began its life as a place where African Americans could gather in what was then a strictly segregated South and segregated Methodist Episcopal Church, South. During its lifetime, Gulfside served in many capacities as a training center, meeting place, planning center, overnight lodging for African Americans and a simple gathering place where African American and white citizens could come together.<\/p>\n

Thurgood Marshall, a NAACP lawyer who later became the first African-American justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and his associates used Gulfside to plan strategies for legal actions to end segregation at the University of Mississippi Law School.<\/p>\n

The great opera singer Leontyne Price, a Methodist and Mississippi native, sang to racially mixed audiences at Gulfside.<\/p>\n

A segregated jurisdiction for African-American Methodists ended in 1968 with the\u00a0merger of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church<\/a>. Gulfside was part of the Central Jurisdiction, a separate jurisdiction for African Americans before the merger.<\/p>\n

Gulfside had just opened the Norris Center, a $3-million facility named for\u00a0Bishop Alfred Norris,<\/a>\u00a0when Katrina hit. The hurricane destroyed the Norris Center, along with other buildings on the site, and the insurance money had to be used to pay debt.<\/p>\n

In March 2016, the Gulfside Association dedicated an open-air chapel to the\u00a0late Bishop Leontine T.C. Kelly<\/a>, the denomination\u2019s first female African-American bishop. The chapel is the first structure to go up on the site since Katrina\u2019s destruction in 2005.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are clear about one thing as a board and that is, haste will not resurrect what we have to do,\u201d\u00a0the Rev. Elijah Stansell of the Texas Annual Conference told that gathering.<\/a>\u00a0\u201cWe have a huge task before us. We are going to take it slow, and we’re going to work it meticulously. What we need from you are your fervent prayers and confidence in us that God is not finished with us yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGulfside is a proud part of the history of The United Methodist Church \u2013 a historic and heritage landmark and a present part of our history. Its existence is still a physical story of a checkered past in racial matters of a great denomination, but [also] a place that has provided dynamic and effective ministry for black people and the whole church throughout its history.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 From the application for Historic Landmark status.<\/p>\n

Since 1923, The United Methodist Building a center of activity<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Methodist Episcopal Bishop William F. McDowell first gave impetus<\/a>\u00a0to what is now The United Methodist Building when in 1920 he suggested a \u201cworthy building at the nation\u2019s capital\u201d for the Methodist Episcopal Church, which later became part of the Methodist Church. \u201cThe new building will make our church visible and multiply its power at this world’s center,\u201d McDowell said.<\/p>\n

The United Methodist Board of Church and Society<\/a>\u00a0now reflects on the near-century existence of the building serving \u201cas a witness at the center of government power to the church’s beliefs \u2014 a reminder that the church is concerned for people and all that affects them. Through its halls and in its offices have begun some of the most widespread justice movements of the 20th<\/sup>\u00a0century.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the building was dedicated Jan. 16, 1924, \u201cits purpose was emphasized as being that of a \u2018sentinel\u2019 and a supporter for social reform in the Capital; a voice for the religious community, a visible witness,\u201d the church and society board notes in its history of the building.<\/p>\n

As the building and its activities took roots in the capital, more space was acquired as major events of the 20th<\/sup>\u00a0century evolved from the Italian Renaissance-style building of Indiana limestone.<\/p>\n

The Board of Church and Society history notes the building has been witness and host to participants in major social justice issues including:<\/p>\n