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By Melissa Lauber
UMCONNECTION STAFF

Forty years ago, the racially-segregated Washington Conference of The Methodist Church was disbanded. While hailed as a move to end discrimination, some believe this move forced African Americans to sacrifice a portion of their unique heritage and identity.

On Oct. 20-21, a Washington Conference celebration and reunion will be held at the Waterfront Marriott Hotel in Baltimore. The event will include a variety of experiences that allow participants to reflect upon the history of the Washington Conference and envision the future its descendants might embrace.

This event, now in the planning stages, is being pulled together by an ad hoc committee of many former members of the Washington Conference. It is being chaired by the Rev. Eugene Matthews, superintendent of the Baltimore West District, and Barbara Ricks Thompson, the former director of the General Commission on Religion and Race.

Reflection and envisioning are two themes that will gbwc_superusere the committee.

'To not know one?s foundation and history is to have no compass to direct one into the future,' said retired Bishop Forrest C. Stith, who also serves on the planning committee. 'It behooves persons of color, of all colors, to know the real history of our church. That is why the story of the former Washington Conference is crucial to tell and remember.'

The Washington Conference was created in 1865 as the church?s second Negro Mission conference. Delaware was the first.

The founding of the conference coincided dramatically with the end of slavery.

In his address to that conference, Bishop Levi Scott wrote: '?the day on which the first Annual Conference of Colored Preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church ever held in the State of Maryland closes is the day on which the dominion of Slavery ceases. Ninety thousand of your brethren lie down, with the manacles of slavery upon them, but when the midnight hour shall strike ? these thousands shall rise to the dignity of free men.'

The 101-year history of the Washington Conference is a rich and varied one. It includes the founding of Morgan College, which was taken over by the state of Maryland, and the creation of the N.M. Carroll Home for the Aged in Baltimore.

During its existence, which will be highlighted during the anniversary event in October, the Washington Conference grew from having a little over 8,000 members in 19 churches to more than 42,759 members in 311 churches.

Twenty-nine of these pastors are still alive; 20 live inside current conference boundaries.

Many of these pastors are expected to attend the celebration and reunion event at Sharp Street Memorial UMC, which will include a worship experience featuring Communion and a memorial service on Friday evening; a plenary speaker and workshops Saturday morning at the Marriott Hotel; a recognition banquet-style luncheon and a closing worship experience that focuses on how the past informs the future.

The event will be held the same weekend the Northeast Jurisdiction?s Black Methodists for Church Renewal (BMCR) group meets in Baltimore.

Many of its activities are expected to be interwoven with the Washington Conference reunion and celebration.

For more information, contact the Rev. Eugene Matthews at (410) 309-3442.

Historic documents, photos sought

It is crucial that we not forget our history, the historical philosopher, George Santayana, once said. Those who do not heed the lessons of history are doomed to repeat its mistakes.

Most folks don?t know that:

?In the first meeting houses of Strawbridge and Epworth House there were African-Americans present.

?In the Christmas Conference of 1784 there were African American lay preachers present, including Harry Hosier and Richard Allen.

?Morgan State College was founded in the basement of Sharp Street UMC.

?Descendants of the Dove slave ship are members of Asbury UMC in Washington, D.C.

?Many African-American churches founded the first and only burial grounds for people of color.

?One of the oldest churches in the Baltimore-Washington Conference was St. Paul?s in Oxon Hill, in existence as one of the first meeting houses in the Maryland area.

Many churches have their stories to tell. We hope they will send them and bring them to the Washington Conference Reunion. We need pictures, artifacts, old documents. We will even provide a permanent and safe setting for them as we prepare for the inauguration of the African American Methodist Heritage Center.

-- BISHOP FORREST C. STITH