History of the United Methodist Church of Wellsboro

The history of our church and Methodism in Tioga County can be traced back to the circuit riding preachers of the Genesee Conference, organized in 1810.

By 1822 Wellsboro, not much more than a village at the time, became part of the Tioga Circuit and later was a circuit of its own. The circuit included Lawrenceville, Pine Creek, Delmar and Dartt Settlement. Meetings were held at various times in the Log Courthouse, a school, and the Academy (the Knights of Columbus hall).

In 1834, Articles of Incorporation were drawn and signed to establish "The Methodist Episcopal Church in Wellsborough". Meetings were still held in various places while by 1840 plans were made for a church building.

The first church building was located at 7 Main Street and was a simple, neat church finished very plainly inside. It was dedicated on May 21, 1842 being the second church building in the borough at the time. During this period of time, many revivals were held in the area and the church grew with the addition of new members. By 1867 the church needed repairs and improvements, which were completed in November. The evening of the first Sunday service held after the work was done, the church was discovered in flames and it burned to the ground. The people worshiped in the Courthouse for the next two years while a new brick church was built.

During the winter after the fire a protracted revival was held that swept the town for a period of 14 weeks, resulting in more conversions for the Lord. A building fund was begun and through the next two years a substantial Gothic structure was erected at the corner of Main and Queen Streets (the site of our present church). It was dedicated on November 17, 1869, exactly two years to the day after the fire. The two years of church building were years of great toil and had to be years of great faith and exertion on the part of the people. They remembered that "unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it."

Between 1882-85 a parsonage was built next to the church, which remained until 1974 when it was razed. Unfortunately, due to construction defects the church was determined to be unsafe for use in 1900. It was torn down in 1904 and a new church of yellow brick and Hummelstown sandstone was begun.

The present church building was dedicated on October 1, 1905. Much was favorably written at the time about the appointments and architecture of this fine building. The auditorium is especially beautiful with the large stained glass windows depicting Christ as the Good Shepherd and Christ as a boy conversing with scholars in the Temple. Even though we can be truly thankful for this building, it is the work that is done in it and comes out of it that the congregation is most concerned with.

In 1939, Methodists were joined as one when the Methodist Episcopal Church, North, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the Methodist Protestant Church stood as one in Kansas City to become The Methodist Church. We became that day the "First Methodist Church of Wellsboro, Pa."

In 1960 a new educational wing was built on to the church, which to this day is used for many educational and church functions.
1968 was the year that the merger of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church took place. The merged church adopted a new name to reflect the two former identities, and on October 8, 1968 our local church became the "United Methodist Church of Wellsboro"

Since then, our focus has been and continues to be on building community, missions and making Disciples for Jesus Christ.