Gateway Conference Celebrates 125th Anniversary

The 125th annual session of the Gateway (formerly Central Illinois) Conference was conducted earlier this summer at Greenville Free Methodist Church with Bishop Leslie Krober presiding. Twelve conference ministerial candidates were received; five pastors ordained as elders; and a number of special events held to celebrate the milestone.

Humble Beginnings
Early records indicate that in 1878 pastoral appointments were made to the Central Illinois and Belleville districts of the Illinois Conference. Then, on October 9, 1879, the new Central Illinois Conference — which included these districts — was launched at Waynesville, IL.

Family camp meetings have always played a vital role in the Free Methodist Church's ministry, and these pivotal events are liberally sprinkled throughout the history of the Gateway Conference. Records indicate that camp meetings were first held at Vermont, IL, in the early days of the conference, and the original tabernacle at Durley Camp was erected in 1901. Today, the Gateway Conference Retreat Center is located at the Durley Camp with additional conference camps located in Rushville and Cowden.

New Growth and a New Name

Almira (now Greenville) College (circa pre-1900).

In 1892, Free Methodist laymen of the Gateway Conference purchased Almira College, soon renaming it Greenville College. Today, Greenville (www.greenville.edu) is a four-year Christian liberal arts school with approximately 1,200 traditional undergraduate, adult degree-completion and graduate students. Greenville College is a member of the Association of Free Methodist Educational Institutions (AFMEI).

The first denominational general conference held in Gateway Conference territory was also in Greenville — in 1894. Greenville has since hosted the general conferences six times, the last time occurring in 1943.

The first Gateway Conference central office was also located in Greenville and opened in 1968 while Robert L. Smith was serving as superintendent. After 30 years in that location, a new conference office building was constructed and dedicated nearby on October 13, 1998, while David A. Rupert was superintendent.

Following the realignment of conferences in Missouri and Arkansas, four more churches in Missouri were merged into the conference, and in June 1996, its name was changed to the Gateway Conference.

A Grand Celebration
The Gateway Conference's 125th anniversary celebration was held June 5-7 (see photo below) and included a ministry fair with exhibits of pictures and other historical items that helped young and old relive the conference's story. Herbert H. and Mary Coates, Dan Pittman and other dedicated volunteers were instrumental in gathering and displaying the materials.

The conference's annual luncheon for retired pastors and spouses took place Friday in conjunction with the anniversary celebration. The event included a program planned by Robert and Kathy Goldsborough.

That evening, at a celebratory banquet organized by St. Louis-area pastors and their spouses, guests enjoyed a PowerPoint presentation about the conference prepared and presented by Greenville College professor Richard Beans and retired pastor Willard W. Frost.

A Saturday-morning session included a memorial service where Eva Marie Seifert and Veda Sheriff (both pastors' spouses) were memorialized, along with deceased conference laymen. Bishop Krober, Superintendent Dale Winslow and Marty Beans presented awards to conference Christian Life Club (CLC) members who were then honored at a closing luncheon.

The Gateway Conference is one of 31 annual conferences that comprise the Free Methodist Church of North America.

[Click the image below to see a larger photo of the 125th annual celebratory group.]