Mission Statement

Our Mission

Out of our love for Jesus Christ our mission is to develop disciples who will relate through inclusive fellowship, reach out through word and deed, and build a relationship with God.

Find

Include

Relate

Serve

Teach

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In 1788, just twelve years after the Declaration of Independence was signed and four years after the organization of the Methodist Church in America, The Huntingdon Circuit was formed. Nine years later the Circuit was added to preaching locations with Seely Bunn being assigned as the first pastor..

The first indoor services were held at the home of Beckie (Mary) Tanner’s home, believed to have been located at 309 Penn Street. By 1797 the congregation had moved to a warehouse, owned by James Saxton, near the foot of the present day Fifth Street by the Juniata River.

In 1801, Dr. William Smith, Provost of the University of Pennsylvania deeded to the congregation a lot of ground located at the corner of Church and Bath (now Fifth) Streets. The first “Methodist Meeting House” was built on this site in 1802. The log and frame structure was enlarged twice as the congregation grew over the next fifty years.

In 1856 the old wooden church was razed and a new, two story brick building was erected on the site. (This building still stands today on the opposite corner of the rear church parking lot. It once housed the J.B. Kuntz company, but is now vacant.)

In 1875 a chapel was erected in West Huntingdon on Fifteenth Street. As the sister congregation grew it was necessary to tear down the original building and construct a larger, brick building. Changes and additions have been made over the years to this building but, it is still in use today.

By 1893 the lot of ground at the corner of Fifth and Mifflin Street (our present location) was purchased and work began the next year to erect a new, stone church building. This building was completed in 1895. On March 18, 1910 a devastating fire destroyed the building and its contents. Undaunted, the congregation vowed to rebuild and two years later work was completed. Since that time additions and changes have been made to our facilities to accommodate growth and new and changing ministries.

Today our church facilities stand to serve our congregation. They provide facilities for congregational and community activities in addition to worship and Christian education. As new ministries begin and others expand we continually seek ways to adapt what God has blessed us with in order to be effective stewards and meet today’s challenges.