HISTORY OF CAMPBELLTOWN METHODIST CHURCH and COMMUNITYPREFACE Several years ago | wrote my first short history of the Campbelltown United Methodist Church. Since that time | have updated this history twice. | thought | would never do it again; but here | am, with pressure from the old and the young. | have been fortunate in getting help from many good friends. May this book keep alive the wonderful memories and traditions that made our Parents, grandparents, and great grandparents such an enriching part of our lives | pray that this book will be a help to all who read it, and that it will create an interest in living a good life. This book is dedicated to all the members, past and present, in the Campbelltown Methodist Church in Campbelltown (Marlinton) West Virginia Hopefully yours in Christ, B. R. Gwin Marlinton, West Virginiaa eo ee HISTORY OF THE METHODIST CHURCH The lives and ministries of John Wesley (1703- 1791) and his brother, Charles, (1707-1788) mark the origin of their common roots. Both men, Church of England missionaries, came to the Colony of Georgia, arriving in March 1736. The first conference of the Methodist Preachers in the colonies was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1773 In 1784 the famous Christmas Conference was held at Lovely Lane Itwas at this meeting the movement became organized as the Methodist Episcopal Church in America. In 1800 the Church of the United Brethren in Christ was formed. In 1803 the Evangelical Association was formed. The two churches united with each other in 1946 and with the Methodist Church in 1968 to form the United Methodist Church. The history of the early churches and the history of the Campbelltown United Methodist Church is not the history of the mighty leaders, but ordinary people who allowed their commitment of Jesus Christ to flood their lives,