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Saint Paul's United Methodist Church (Harahan, La.) records

 Collection
Identifier: LACUMC-2018-012

Scope and Contents

This collection documents the activities of Saint Paul's United Methodist Church (Harahan, La.). It includes membership records, administrative records, committee records, historical records, electronic records, audiovisual material, and scrapbooks.

The administrative records include charge conference records, audit records, trustee records, insurance records, legal records, and property records. Administrative records from the 2010s also include material from APEX Ministries United Methodist Church (New Orleans, La.). Charge conference records from the 2010s include material from APEX Ministries United Methodist Church (New Orleans, La.) and Hartzell United Methodist Church (New Orleans, La.).

The committee records include material from the congregation’s Women’s Society of Christian Service and United Methodist Women.

The historical records include church histories, bulletins, directories, photographs, and printed items. Photographic slides (1967-1986) appear to have been compiled for a church history celebration in 1987.

The electronic records were originally stored on a Toshiba external hard drive, which is included with the collection. After surveying these records, the most useful ones created by the Saint Paul's congregation have been transferred to the archives' network-attached storage. These electronic records include membership records, administrative records, committee records, bulletins, and photographs.

The audiovisual material include compact disc recordings of worship services. Also included are videocassettes of church events.

Most scrapbooks document the general activities of the congregation. These include church bulletins, photographs, architectural drawings, and Sunday school records. The scrapbook from 1965-1991 also includes material from Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church (New Orleans, La.). Additional scrapbooks document the congregation’s United Methodist Women.

Dates

  • 1941 - 2017

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Physical rights are retained by the Centenary College of Louisiana Archives and Special Collections. Copyright is retained in accordance with U.S. copyright laws.

Biographical / Historical

Saint Paul’s United Methodist Church was located at 6500 Jefferson Highway, Harahan, Louisiana.

A group of Methodists met on October 24, 1941 to form a new church. An organizational meeting was held at the Harahan City Hall. The charter for the Harahan Methodist Church was validated on November 9, 1941. Rev. Karl Tooke, pastor at Munholland, became the first pastor. Due to the war, building materials were hard to come by. The congregation met in the city hall for about 3 years. Using materials from a building damaged by fire, the first church was built and was dedicated on November 10, 1945. The first full-time pastor was Rev. Robert Jamieson.

A new sanctuary was built in 1952 and the old one was demolished. The congregation of 50 persons met at the Harahan Recreation Center during construction. An educational building was constructed in 1954. The name was changed to St. Paul's Methodist Church that year. In 1956, the parsonage was moved from 663 Grove St. to 128 Magnolia Blvd. In 1976, a new parsonage was acquired at 59 Donelon Dr. in Harahan. A new sanctuary was completed in 1961. The 1952 sanctuary is being used as the Fellowship Hall.

Saint Paul’s United Methodist Church was discontinued and abandoned in 2017.

Source: Timothy Hebert, “The Historical Register of the Louisiana Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church,” (Louisiana: Louisiana Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, 2004), page NO-65.

Extent

11 Linear Feet

1.15 Gigabytes (1.15 gigabytes = 2,264 files = 307 folders)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

Arranged in seven series:

Series 1. Membership records, 1942-2016

Series 2. Administrative records, 1945-2017

Series 3. Committee records, 1946-2016

Series 4. Historical records, 1941-2016

Series 5. Electronic records, 2006-2017

Series 6. Audiovisual material, 1984-2015

Series 7. Scrapbooks, 1941-2013

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Collection was transferred to the Louisiana Conference Office (Baton Rouge, La.), then transferred to archives by Wybra Price (Shreveport District Superintendent) in February 2018 (accession number 2018-012).

A second accession was transfered by the New Orleans District Office in March 2021 (accession number 2021-007).

Title
Finding Aid to Saint Paul's United Methodist Church (Harahan, La.) records
Author
Beth Vogler and Chris Brown
Date
2025
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Centenary College of Louisiana Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
2911 Centenary Blvd.
Shreveport LA 71104 US
(318) 869-5462