(Below, we learn from a helpful Church Archivist, that the postcard relates to a congregation in Whittier, California.)
The Free Methodist Church, one branch of the Methodist tradition, was founded in 1860 after conflicts arose over Methodist Church polity and practices in New York State.
The movement that became the “Free Methodist Church” was strongly abolitionist, opposed the practice of paid choirs and musicians in worship, opposed the “renting” of pews to finance congregations, demanded greater lay representation in Church governance, and (especially) promoted the practices associated with the “Holiness Movement”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Methodist_Church
Eventually headquartered in Indianapolis, the Free Methodists operated several publishing houses and founded several seminaries.
Despite some fracturing into smaller reform movements, the Free Methodists now number more than 60,000 members in the US and more than one and a half million members worldwide.
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The face of the postcard is a charming drawing of a seated child constructing a tower of wooden blocks.
Beside the child is the printed form which describes the planned event.
The form is addressed to “Dear Baby” who is invited with his/her mother to the “Cradle Roll Party” on Sunday at 10:30.
The Free Methodist congtrgation is found at 201 South Comstock – which must be a street or avenue.
We have seen other postcard stories related to the “Cradle Roll” – congregational programs to celebrate and incorporate new members of the Church community and their families.
“Welcome, Baby Marcellus”, “Elmira Jean is Three”, “Arthur is Two”
This postcard invitation was not mailed, so I embarked on a quest to discover the location of the event.
The website of the Free Methodist Church (above) has a link to historical archives of the denomination.
Marston Memorial Historical Center & Free Methodist Archives
I sent scans of the postcard to that site, and a helpful archivist (working from home due to blizzard conditions in Indianapolis) indicated that she believed the information could be found.
Indeed, the next day, I received a scanned page of a Free Methodist Church Directory of 1938.
Within the Southern California Conference, the Rev. R. E. Cochrane was listed as the pastor of the Free Methodist Church in Whittier California.
The address is noted as “207 South Comstock”, which might be a parsonage near the Church (the invitation locates the church at 201 South Comstock”).
It is a great delight to learn information that adds depth and context to these postcard images!
One hopes that the unnamed baby and the new mother were able to attend the Cradle Day event, and that they found warmth and welcome in the congregation.
