Methodism has had many faces through the centuries

This postcard mailed in 1937 shows how Epworth Methodist Episcopal Church in Rehoboth Beach looked at its Baltimore Avenue location in the early 20th century. Over the centuries there have been Methodist Episcopal churches and then schisms that led to Methodist Episcopal churches and Methodist Protestant churches. At the same time, African Methodist Episcopal churches proliferated. Eventually, the Methodist Episcopal and most Methodist Protestant churches combined under the United Methodist Church banner. Now another schism appears imminent, driven by a majority vote last year by delegates of the united church to prohibit homosexual clergy and the performance of homosexual weddings by recognized clergy.