Elm Avenue Free Methodist Church

Although there was no minister to serve them, they decided to begin religious services in the hope that others of the same faith would join them. They began holding a series of cottage prayer meetings. From this they went on to engage a room upstairs on West State Street near the location of Porter’s Bakery Shop. (Porter’s Store and Bakery Shop was located on the north side of West State Street between Porter Way and North Water Avenue, several doors east of the intersection of West State and North Water.)   Their meetings were so well attended that Mr. Baker and Mr. Cowan were encouraged to start a Sunday School. The Sunday School began to grow and soon they were cramped for room and had to search for more suitable quarters. Upon inquiry they learned of a school house at the north end of Elm Avenue that was to he abandoned for school purposes. They were able to rent this building. Later it was purchased and became the center of their religious activities.   

The following excerpts from the minutes of Official Board meetings found among the church records indicate the approximate time the Society was formed, purchase of the school house, and removal of the schoolhouse-church to a new location.

October 1894

“Official Board met at the Charles Cowan home with their pastor, Rev. A. T. Sager presiding. Chief item of business, the election of a committee to confer with School Board Officials respective to buying the school building for a church. This was accomplished and services were continued in the building.”

April 8, 1895

“Official Board met at the Pastor’s home, with the pastor A. T. Sager presiding. Chief item of business the Pastor made a committee to arrange a record of the Sharon Society.”

Nov. 20, 1900

“Official Board met with Rev. Bean, the Dist. Elder in the chair. The church is separated from the Sharpsville Circuit and is called The Free Methodist Church of Sharon. Miss Kate Baldwin is the pastor.”

Nov. 23, 1901

“Official Board met with Rev. J. S. McGeary in the chair to elect a committee to sell or exchange the church property for something more satis­factory for a place of worship. Rev. A. J. Hill is the pastor.”

 Jan. 1902

“A Society meeting with Rev. A. J. Hill presiding to consider building a new parsonage. The cost not to exceed $1,000.

March 24, 1902

“A Society meeting called by Rev. A. J. Hill the pastor to arrange to change the location of the church.”

March 28, 1902

“Society met again to give the trustees authority to sell the church location.”

When organized, the Society became a part of a large circuit that included Mercer, Grove City, Bethel, Prospect, Charleston, and Sharpsville. This circuit was served by one pastor, who sometimes had an assistant. The Society was never quite sure when a preacher would arrive for services, but from time to time he would arrive, in horse and buggy, to preach for them. In the meantime, they carried on as before, with William Baker and Charles Cowan doing most of the preaching and occasionally having help from Sharpsville or New Castle or some other place. Philetus Frye would come occasionally from Sharpsville and Albert Crill and Charles Phipps from New Castle. These were always great occasions.

The charter members of the Society were: William Baker, Esther Baker, Charles Cowan, Mary Cowan, Joseph Ayers, Elizabeth Ayers, and Mary Organ.

It is interesting to note that one of the early preachers of this congregation, Rev. J. F. Broadhead, later became a missionary to the Zulus in Africa. At a later date when he returned on furlough from his mission station, he brought with him a native Zulu girl. Eight years out of heathendom she entered high school in Franklin, Pennsylvania. An unforgettable experience was when Mr. Broadhead addressed a large camp meeting at Dewey Park (a shadowy grove bordering Sharpsville). At that time he spoke to a large crowd of people, addressing them in the Zulu language, while Elizabeth, the Zulu girl, stood on the other side of the pulpit interpreting in the most beautiful English.

About the time when Rev. Alfred Hill was pastor there came into the Society a railroad engineer by the name of William Kolb. He and his wife became enthusiastic members and served faithfully throughout their lifetime. As a result of this conversion, another railroad man, who was a telegraph operator at that time, began coming to church and he, too, found the Lord. This was Alfred J. Beattie. He also became an enthusiastic member of the congregation. During the pastorate of
Rev. A. J. Hill, Mr. Beattie was elected to serve the Society as delegate to the Annual Conference. On September 4, 1902, he and Mr. William Kolb were elected to the Board of Trustees. Mr. Beattie was also elected Secretary of the Official Board at the same meeting. On September 10, 1902, he and Mr. Charles Cowan were elected class leaders. Mr. Beattie went on to become well known in Sharon and in the church a powerful minister of the gospel. 

A very notable feature of the early days of the Society was the Sunday School. The number of scholars greatly outnumbered the membership of the congregation. A number of young people from the community were given place in the work, and this aroused a lot of interest. One young lady in particular, Florence James, who had considerable artistic ability, would draw the lesson pictures for each Sunday on the blackboard, which spread completely across the front of the church. These pictures then served the purposes of review, until the lessons of the whole quarter had been studied.

The membership of the Society increased and they began to feel the need of a Minister of their own. At this time the Conference sent two maiden ladies to serve them—Kate Baldwin and May Brunner. Later they married Free Methodist preachers and served many other Societies of the Conference. These ladies laid particular emphasis upon house-to-house visitation. In the service they spent much time in prayer, so that this became a most attractive feature of the meetings. This brought about a marvelous spirit of fellowship in the community. These services were outstanding.

The coming of Rev. Alfred J. Hill was a great day for the Sharon Free Methodist Church and the beginning of better times in the Society. Under his leadership the membership increased and the Sunday School enlarged.

About this time the people began to feel the church would do better in a new location. The pastor, Mr. Hill, suggested a location further south on Elm Avenue near East State Street. Upon inquiry it was found that the residence at that location was for sale and the lot was large enough for the schoolhouse church. Accordingly (about 1902) the property was purchased and the church building was moved about four blocks to the new location at 116 Elm Avenue.

It was also during the pastorate of Rev. Alfred Hill that a group of Free Methodist people from the vicinity of Pittsburgh came to live in Sharon. The members of this group were Joseph R. Bell and his wife, his brother and wife, Arthur Tanner, Arby Tanner, and Lulu Tanner. Joseph Bell served as local Sunday School superintendent for many years and also served several terms as Conference Sunday School Secretary and as a member of the Sunday School Board of the denomination. Arby Tanner went into the ministry of the church at a later time and his sister, Lulu, went as a missionary to Liberia.

Eventually the old school-house building became inadequate to house the growth in church membership and Sunday School and to provide for the many activities of the congregation. It was decided to build a new church. Some property was acquired just back of the church and both parsonage and church buildings were moved to these locations. The parsonage was moved to 117 Rex Place and housed the ministers of the church for many years. Charles Cowan purchased the church building and had it moved to 131 Rex Place. At this location it served for the church services while the new church building was being erected. Afterwards it was converted into a dwelling and was the home of Charles Cowan and family for many years.

In later years, when the children of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cowan had married and left home, an exchange was worked out whereby the parsonage at 117 Rex Place became the home of Mr. and Mrs. Cowan and their home at 131 Rex Place was converted into a nice dwelling for the ministers of the church. To this day it still serves as the parsonage. The stair rail in that parsonage is the altar rail of the old school house church. What a story that rail could tell if it could talk.

About 1924, during the pastorate of Rev. H. L. Dibble, the church building was remodeled and enlarged to provide a new primary department and additional Sunday School rooms for older pupils and adults. The new addition being arranged so as to provide additional seating capacity for overflow meetings in the auditorium.

(Source: 150 Years of Methodism, The Story of the First Methodist Church, Sharon, PA, compiled by Roscoe C. Wilson, 1959 )