Our Early & More Recent Pastors
The names are listed in the order in which they served Whatcoat U.M.C. in Camden, Delaware. The names are from the History of Delaware, 1609-1888, Volume Two by Thos. J. Scharf and from the list of our ministers found in a history of Whatcoat U.M.C., Roots and Wings: Where We Have Been and Where We Pray God Will Take Us. The latter was based on the history compiled by Kay Powell, Whatcoat’s historian in 1976.
In our early history we evidently didn’t have a minister who pastored only our congregation, and previously the Woodside Church as well. There seems to have been teams of ministers who would alternate performing the rites of baptism, marriage and burial. That’s why you’ll see some ministers listed below in the same years of service.
According to Scharf, “The Camden church was supplied with ministers from the Dover Circuit until 1835, when it was formed into a separate circuit. The ministers who served the circuit in 1835-36 were John Henry, Thomas J. Quigley and W. C. Thomas.”
Scharf’s list begins in 1857, where Powell’s begins with 1863.
Ministers listed by both will appear with an *. Those mentioned by only Powell will appear with a +, and those mentioned only by Scharf will appear with a ~.
| Robert W. Todd ~ | 1857-58 | J. E. Smith ~ | 1857-58 |
| James E. Bryan ~ | 1857-58 | James Flannery ~ | 1859-60 |
| T. E. Skinner ~ | 1859 | _____ Bell ~ | 1860 |
| J. L. Houston ~ | 1861-62 | N. B. Durrell ~ | 1861 |
| J. D. Ayers ~ | 1862 | J. R. Merrill * | 1863 |
| W. T. Tull ~ | 1863 | _____ Jump ~ | 1864 |
| Ignatius T. Cooper + | 1864-65 | James Wescoat Hammersley * | 1865-67 |
| J. B. Merrit ~ | 1865 | John Downham ~ | 1866 |
| S. T. Gardner * | 1867-68 | G. W. Schreck ~ | 1867 |
| J. Owen Sypherd * | 1868-71 | James Conner ~ | 1869 |
| J. Wilson ~ | 1870 | _____ Smith ~ | 1870 |
| James E. Bryan ~ | 1871-72 | J. E. Willey ~ | 1871 |
| William Raughley ~ | 1872 | E. G. Irwin * | 1873-76 |
| A. M. Green ~ | 1873 | T. E. Terry ~ | 1874 |
| _____ McMichael ~ | 1875 | Henry H. Bodine * | 1876-77 |
| William T. Talbot * | 1877-79 | Charles Hill ~ | 1877 |
| E. L. Hubbard ~ | 1878 | Henry S. Thomson ~ | 1879 |
| E. C. Adkins ~ | 1879 | James Robinson [Powell has Jos] | 1879-81 |
| L. E. Andrew ~ | 1880 | James A. Brindle | 1882-84 |
| E. H. Hynson ~ | 1885-87 | Break in Time – Scharf stops here | |
| J. Thomas Price | 1917-20 | Charles W. Moore | 1920-22 |
| Joseph S. Eldridge | 1922-25 | John P. Outmen | 1925-29 |
| Daniel J. Givens | 1929-34 | Roscoe W. Campbell | 1934-36 |
| BJ Peters adds those below. | . | . | . |
| Charles Moyer | 1977-84(?) | Ken Valentine | 1984?-88? |
| James (Jim) Van Der Wall | 1988?-92? | James (Jim) Caldwell | 19__-__ |
| Jay Hurley | 19__-__ | James (Jim) Walz | ____-2006 |
| Curt Dotson | 2006-__ | . | . |
| More Names To Be Added Later | |||