What we are doing TODAY is far more important than dwelling on the past, but it is helpful to remember the “cloud of witnesses” who preceded us. Knowing where we’ve been can help light to path forward to where God is calling us.
Buildings and Names
What we now know as the Pitman United Methodist Church grew out of the Camp Meetings which were held in the Pitman Grove every summer. As more and more visitors opted to remain in Pitman throughout the year, the town grew and a church was needed. In 1885, the “Pitman Grove Methodist Episcopal Church” was founded. The first building was located on the Northeast corner of Laurel and Cedar Aves. In 1895 ground was broken for a new church building on the corner of Broadway and Holly. The “Methodist Episcopal Church” became the “Methodist Church” and later the “United Methodist Church”.
In 2003, an electrical fire destroyed our building that was in the center of town (actually, it was “lot 1 block 1”!). In 2007 construction was completed on our new building, located on the corner of Broadway and Lambs Road.
For more details, check out the article that was written for a news Blog called Pitman Online. It was published several years ago, but does a great job at detailing PUMC’s history. Click the below button to view this article:
People
But the church isn’t a building. It’s the people who serve and love Jesus; who fan each other’s faith into eternal love that continually glorifies our God. Over the years, many people have been part of PUMC. One way to learn something about those people is the following quiz. Don’t worry- nobody will see your grade! And, it’s multiple choice!
Try the quiz as many times as you want; the questions come from a larger pool, and the questions you’ll see (5) will be randomly selected from this pool.
This quiz digs out some old pictures and some current pictures of the pastors and leaders of our church. If you’re an old time PUMC’er, you might enjoy the memories. If you’re new to PUMC, you’ll have the chance to learn a bit about our history.
To start the quiz, click the “Next” button. Click the “switches” to select your answer. Once you’ve made your selection, you’ll see the correct answer and an explanation. Click the “Next” button again to advance to the next question.
Enjoy!
Results
You got them all correct!
Not quite. But keep trying.
#1. The person pictured above served in our church between 1952 to 1977. Who replaced him in 1977?
Sue Crispin replaced Charles Ware as our organist / music director in 1977. Mr. Ware served in that role from 1952 until 1977.
#2. Rev. Clete Kramer (pictured above) served as our Associate Pastor. Who was the Senior Pastor that he served with?
Rev. Champ Goldy
Rev. Champion Goldy served as our Senior Pastor from 1964 until 1968. An avid track and field athlete, he died in 2016 at the age of 99. He served in many churches after his time in Pitman, including a long tenure at the Haddonfield UMC.
#3. Who served as our Senior Pastor before Rev. Jim Bolton?
Rev. Larry Potts served as our Senior Pastor from 2007 until 2014.
#4. Which of the clergy pictured below never served as one of our pastors?
Rev. Glenn Conaway, longtime pastor of the Mullica Hill (Trinity) UMC became our District Superintendent on 2017.
#5. When this photo was taken, what two positions did these people hold?
PUMC Lay Leader, Conference Lay Leader
Pictured are Larry Bakely (PUMC Lay Leader) and Rosa Williams (Greater NJ Annual Conference Lay Leader).
For the Quiz of the week, visit the “Bible Quiz” page (it’s under the “News” menu). The quiz changes every Sunday.
Or, click this button:
+ + + + +
For more articles about the history of PUMC, click the following button:
PUMC History
