Behind the pageant of worship and celebrations, a church has business to conduct.
In the early 20th century, many congregations were growing as the population increased and more citizens were employed in urban areas.
Finding a site, designing an edifice, contracting for work, continuing to meet church payrolls and fund the costs of general operations – required the skills of planners and fund-raisers.
In many congregations (of many denominations) this work was shared with a Board of Trustees (or Vestry, Elders, or Parish Council).
This bit of correspondence communicates the completion of a project at Fourth Avenue Methodist Church of Louisville, KY.
Louisville, the historic city on the Ohio River in north-central Kentucky, is the largest city and the commercial and cultural center of the State.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisville,_Kentucky
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In July of 1908, the Board of Church Extension in Louisville received a postcard from S. O. Snyder.
Mr. Snyder is identified as a Trustee of the Fourth Avenue Methodist Church.
Addressed as “Gents”, the Board is informed that the church will pay in full the “Note and Interest” this month.
I assume that the Board of Church Extension assisted growing congregations in funding their building projects.
The postcard does not indicate if the Board had extended credit or had guaranteed the repayment of borrowed funds.
In any event, Fourth Avenue Methodist had met its repayment obligations.
The postcard was printed and sold by the US Postal Service; the stamp bears the likeness of President William McKinley who was assassinated in 1901.
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Fourth Avenue Methodist Church (then, Fourth Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church), is a National Historic Place – as an outstanding example of Neo-Gothic Revival ecclesiastical architecture,
The imposing building on St, Catherine Street, was constructed from 1900-1902 – which must have been the occasion of the congregation’s indebtedness.
https://www.fourthavenue.us/our-history
