A Diamond on the Diamond: The Multifaceted History of Stone United Methodist Church, 1968–2021

By Armendia P. Dixon

What an amazing journey it has been!

A celebration marking the hundredth anniversary of the dedication of the imposing stone structure overlooking the southern end of Diamond Park in the city of Meadville, Pennsylvania, kicked off on Sunday, March 31, 1968.

Marking the occasion, a volume detailing the early years of the Methodist Church in Meadville was produced, putting access to the history of the congregation in easily accessible form.

The current volume has been designed to apply that tradition of one-stop accessibility to the subsequent half century. To bring that dream to fruition, a devoted group has devoted countless hours to researching and compiling the years 1968 to 2021.

Continuing to build on the kind of firm foundation that grows from an awareness of where Stone United Methodist Church has been, its move into the always unknown future is underway.

Greetings, reader!

Thank you for joining us in a look back at the past fifty-plus years of the ministry of Stone United Methodist Church. My heartfelt thanks to Dr. Armendia Pierce Dixon for compiling the material and writing the text. Her attention to detail and faithful accounting of events has been invaluable. Thanks also to those who have given of their time, resources, energy, and expertise over these past decades to make possible the ministry you read about in these pages.

Honoring our past with confidence, we look to the future while embracing our mission statement: Compelled by God's love, Stone UMC is an inclusive community of faith, meeting people where they are, connecting them with Christ and one another, helping them live as disciples of Jesus Christ.

To God be the glory.

--Rev. Sarah Daniels Roncolato

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9781685176778

Book preview

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A Diamond on the Diamond

The Multifaceted History of Stone United Methodist Church, 1968aEUR"2021

Armendia P. Dixon, PhD

ISBN 978-1-68517-676-1 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-68517-677-8 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Armendia P. Dixon, PhD

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

A Diamond on the Diamond

The Multifaceted History of Stone United Methodist Church

1968–2021

Introduction

Genealogy of Stone United Methodist Church

1968—centennial celebration

Stone Church presents drama to celebrate Meadville bicentennial

1988

Celebration of our 150th anniversary on July 29, 2018

Strong relationships

Wesbury United Methodist Community

Social issues

Children, youth, and adult programming

Music

Technology impacts the church

References

. 1959. Report on Racial Integration in Meadville: The Commission on Christian Social Relations of Stone Methodist Church Subcommittee on Social and Economic Relations. Meadville, Pennsylvania: Stone Methodist Church.

Appendix I

Names of Pastors, Associate Pastors, and Church Officials

Ministers of our church from 1825 to 2020

Associate pastors of Old Stone Church

Old Stone Methodist Church

Directory of Official 1967–68

Ministers Related to the Quarterly Conference

Trustee Boards

Stone United Methodist Church

2010 Officers

2014 lay leadership

2015 lay leadership

2016 lay leadership

2017 lay leadership

2018 lay leadership

Stone United Methodist Church

2018 lay leadership

Appendix II

Centennial Committee (March 31, 1960)

Trivia Quizzes 1, 2, and 3 by Christine Lorraine

Centennial committees

From the program on Sunday, March 31, 1968

Stone Church History

Trivia Quiz 1

Answers

Scoring

Trivia Quiz 2

Answers

Scoring

Quiz 3

Answers

Scoring

About the Author

To Mrs. Patricia Pat Ruth Mullen Lafferty, a member of Stone United Methodist Church for seventy-nine years.

Pat Lafferty was born on June 12, 1930, the daughter of Lloyd Herman Mullen Sr. and Viola Mary Siegrist Mullen in Clearfield, Pennsylvania. She has three sisters—Connie Durish, Donna Mullen, and June Peterson—and two brothers, the late Charlie Mullen and the late Buck Mullen. Along with four of her siblings, she was baptized on April 1, 1937, by Rev. O. G. Shindledecker at the Hamlin Chapel in Coons Corners, Pennsylvania.

As a child, Pat and her five siblings went to Sunday school at Stone United Methodist Church where she became a member June 14, 1942. As a teenager, she occasionally played the piano in Miller Parlor for ladies' Sunday school classes and sang in the choir. Later, under her leadership, the crib room for babies was set up on the main floor of the church, and then she spearheaded the toddler room on second floor. She served on the finance committee, hospitality committee, assisted with children's church, and volunteered in the soup kitchen for twenty-two years.

The family moved from Coons Corners and the Saegertown areas to Rogers Ferry Road in Meadville, Pennsylvania, where she attended elementary school in Fredericksburg and Kerrtown. Her high school days were spent at the Meadville High School (at that time on the Diamond) where she graduated in 1948. Following high school graduation, she enrolled in the nurses training program at Meadville City Hospital, becoming a registered nurse in 1951. She worked at Meadville City Hospital (now Meadville Medical Center) for thirty-three years.

Pat married J. Roland Pete Lafferty November 3, 1951. They had two children, Cindy (John) Karns and Jeff (Brenda) Lafferty. Jeff passed away in 2004. Pat has three grandchildren—Christopher (Dawn) Karns, Heather (Nick) Basko, and Garrett (Meagan) Lafferty—and three great-grandchildren: Nathan, Carter, and Alaina Karns.

Together, Pat and Pete were active members of the Ark Society. Pete passed away in 2005.

Over the years, Pat has kept a scrapbook of many activities that have impacted the lives of church members and her family. She cherishes the many happy years spent at Stone United Methodist Church. We cherish her kind words, smile, inspiration, dedication, love for the church, and love for her family.

—Cindy and John Karns

In memory of my mother, Mrs. Denothras Pickens Pierce.

Denothras Pickens Pierce was born in Bay Springs, Mississippi, August 12, 1909. She passed away in January 2008 while with her daughter, Mrs. Demathrause Pierce Perry, MSW; her husband, Command Sergeant Major Joshua Perry (Ret.); and her daughter, Dr. Tonya Perry in Huntsville, Alabama.

She married Rev. Lou Edward Pierce in