The Church Built with Firewood.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was formed in Baltimore in 1784. In 1810, the Genesee Conference was organized in Lyons, New York. Included were most of New York State, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, part of New Jersey and all of Canada.
After a funeral service in July of 1849, where the Reverend Havens had to be brought over from Lancaster, he spoke with the settlers in the Elma area about the need for religious guidance and offered to ride over every other Sunday afternoon, when the roads were passable for an informal service. The original group that met with Reverend Havens were George Standardt, Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Briggs, Florina Briggs, and Mrs. William Standardt.
The group met in a schoolhouse and Reverend Havens made contact with the Lancaster Presbyterian minister who agreed to hold services on alternate Sundays, so from the start, the ministry was ecumenical. Most people attended every Sunday regardless of who was pastor.
Reverend Havens came only a few times. By September, 1849, Reverend Chauncey Baker came from Lancaster, continuing the ministry in Elma, as did the preachers who followed him. The group of worshipers formed into a "class", somewhat like a church school. They sang hymns, studied the Bible and asked questions, but had little formal doctrine.
In 1851, Cyrenus Wilbor began the Community Sunday school class, which met in the schoolhouse before the regular service class.
In 1853, the group decided they would like to affiliate with the Genesee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church and made the application. The request was confirmed on December 23, 1853, which is the official beginning of the church.
By 1859, the need for a church building was deemed necessary to accommodate all those interested in attending services. Mr. & Mrs. Joseph B. Briggs offered land provided some way could be devised to finance a structure. At that time, much like the rest of the country, parishioners had little money. Most of buying power was by barter.
The only source for heat and power during the mid 1800's was wood. A plan was devised to barter the plentiful wood located throughout Elma in exchange for materials that could not be supplied locally. Nearly everyone owning land in Elma Village signed up to provide lumber, stone, labor or cordwood when called upon. Everything not used in the construction of the church was bartered in Buffalo.
Construction began in 1859 and was completed in 1860. Rev. Glezen Fillmore was the first Methodist Minister to come to Buffalo in 1808 and was given the privilege of dedicating the church on February 9, 1860. He was 70 years old.
The Presbyterians continued to meet every other Sunday afternoon in the new building until 1873. The Methodist Episcopal Church join the Evangelical United Brethren Church in 1968 and became the United Methodist Church, the title we use today.
In 2003, a booklet was published entitled, The Church Built With Firewood, giving greater details about the church and it's development.
After a funeral service in July of 1849, where the Reverend Havens had to be brought over from Lancaster, he spoke with the settlers in the Elma area about the need for religious guidance and offered to ride over every other Sunday afternoon, when the roads were passable for an informal service. The original group that met with Reverend Havens were George Standardt, Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Briggs, Florina Briggs, and Mrs. William Standardt.
The group met in a schoolhouse and Reverend Havens made contact with the Lancaster Presbyterian minister who agreed to hold services on alternate Sundays, so from the start, the ministry was ecumenical. Most people attended every Sunday regardless of who was pastor.
Reverend Havens came only a few times. By September, 1849, Reverend Chauncey Baker came from Lancaster, continuing the ministry in Elma, as did the preachers who followed him. The group of worshipers formed into a "class", somewhat like a church school. They sang hymns, studied the Bible and asked questions, but had little formal doctrine.
In 1851, Cyrenus Wilbor began the Community Sunday school class, which met in the schoolhouse before the regular service class.
In 1853, the group decided they would like to affiliate with the Genesee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church and made the application. The request was confirmed on December 23, 1853, which is the official beginning of the church.
By 1859, the need for a church building was deemed necessary to accommodate all those interested in attending services. Mr. & Mrs. Joseph B. Briggs offered land provided some way could be devised to finance a structure. At that time, much like the rest of the country, parishioners had little money. Most of buying power was by barter.
The only source for heat and power during the mid 1800's was wood. A plan was devised to barter the plentiful wood located throughout Elma in exchange for materials that could not be supplied locally. Nearly everyone owning land in Elma Village signed up to provide lumber, stone, labor or cordwood when called upon. Everything not used in the construction of the church was bartered in Buffalo.
Construction began in 1859 and was completed in 1860. Rev. Glezen Fillmore was the first Methodist Minister to come to Buffalo in 1808 and was given the privilege of dedicating the church on February 9, 1860. He was 70 years old.
The Presbyterians continued to meet every other Sunday afternoon in the new building until 1873. The Methodist Episcopal Church join the Evangelical United Brethren Church in 1968 and became the United Methodist Church, the title we use today.
In 2003, a booklet was published entitled, The Church Built With Firewood, giving greater details about the church and it's development.