In Bellevue's tradition, its members worked tirelessly to reduce the $250,000 mortgage. The men served chicken barbecues, later changing to roast beef dinners for which they have become famous. The United Methodist Women's Organization put on bazaars, dinners, and numerous other fundraisers. Their projects have continued, enabling them to support the budget, parsonage upkeep, missions, and annual scholarships.

The busy church grew as Reverend Childs served. His thirteen-year tenure was the
longest of any of our pastors. He and his wife Ruth have a special place in the hearts of all who knew them. They, in turn, remained loyal supporters of Bellevue and its people.

Bellevue’s next pastor Reverend Robert Granger served capably, but briefly from 1968 to 1970 when he left for personal reasons.

During the pastorate of Reverend Warren Covell (1971-1977), Bellevue's focus shifted from growth and building to the social and political changes rapidly occurring. Reverend Covell and his wife Phyllis were well suited to lead the congregation during that period. The mandated desegregation of the public schools gave rise to a time of unrest. Community meetings were held at the church to provide a forum for concerns. Warren also worked with a team at Corcoran High School. Both actions helped to move individuals to a better understanding of racial issues and to create more positive attitudes.

Reverend Covell's primary interest, however, was the youth of the church. He led both the Junior and Senior High youth fellowships, involving the young people in many worthwhile service projects.

The formation of the Syracuse Area Interreligious Council (SAIC) marked the beginning of organized ecumenical steps. Warren and others of our membership were participants in the effort.

Phyllis Covell was a central figure in two major undertakings, the sponsoring of a
Laotian refugee family and the establishment of Bellevue's Nursery School –a non-profit project designed to serve the community.

In 1977 the Parsonage of Twin Hills Drive, which needed extensive and costly repairs was sold and a brick colonial at 210 Hancock Drive was purchased. The Garmin family who followed the Covell’s was the first family to enjoy it.

The Reverend Dr. Harold Garman was appointed in 1977. Reverend Garman was an
innovative and dedicated leader who was a goal setter for himself and for the church and had the ability to motivate others to achieve those goals. He used lay persons regularly as liturgists and had the Sunday worship service recorded for our shut ins. John Oberg, who delivered the tapes each week, provided a valued ministry. John's sudden death was felt deeply by all

Citywide ecumenical activities were supported. Joint choir presentations arranged by Helen Jenks, our organist/choir director for 10 years, occurred often.

A second Laotian refugee family was adopted under Jan Garmin’s leadership. Many
members were involved initially but Jan, Jean Oberg, and Jean and Fran Hall continued to support the large family for many years.

Noting that there had been a downward trend in Sunday School attendance from 1970 on, Hal was prompted to recommend the creation of a new staff position. Nancy Arnold was hired to work with the Sunday School. Nancy's warmth and personality process so effective that her role was broadened to include visiting newcomers to the area. Her efforts resulted in a steady growth in the Sunday School and in membership.

The major event during Reverend Garmin's tenure was the Mortgage Burning
Campaign. Organized by Bob and Ann Hoadley and their committee, it was the focus of much of the energies of the congregation from January of October in 1979. In Hal's words “It was a fantastic achievement”. The culminating event was the mortgage walk from Merchants Bank downtown to the church. On Sunday October 21 st , the $250,000 mortgage was burned and its ashes placed in a hollow in the pulpit rail. Once again, the people of Bellevue had toiled and sacrificed to rid themselves of debt. And it had been accomplished in only 15 years!

There were fun times….

The Sunday morning breakfast and jogging fellowship, family dinners with entertaining skits written and produced by Helen Jenks, and New Year's Eve parties at the Parsonage were highlights of the years.

and then there were sad times…

Bellevue was stunned by the sudden death of Harland (Hi) Morgan. “Hi”, often referred to as Mr. Bellevue, was a devout Christian who lived his faith and played a key role in every aspect of the church's life.

With Reverend Paul Gongloff as pastor (1981 to 1990) there was increased emphasis on theology, and the role of music in the worship service was broadened and efforts to understand and deal with mounting social concerns were intensified.
Many committed to the demanding Kerygma Bible study course that Paul offered;
others participated in weekly discussion of the Sunday text and our youth choir, the
Love Notes, under the direction of our talented organist choir director, Alice Dickerson. Hatt delighted the congregation with musical interpretation of many bible studies stories. Annual concerts performed by the choirs of Most Holy Rosary and Bellevue resulted in new friendships and strengthened the bond with the congregation that had once opposed us. An outdoor live creche which was organized by Walter Price became a traditional offering to the community for the Christmas season.

Confronting the many issues impacting society presented a difficult challenge. The
Commission on Mission and the Church and Society Committee combined to form the Christian Action Committee (CAC) so that they could respond more efficiently to local and global needs. Under the leadership of Nancy Gongloff, their teachers, and CAC, the adult, junior, and senior classes shared in discussions of racial tensions, aging, sexuality, and teenage pressures. Knowledgeable panelists addressed the problems of illegal drugs and the then-new disease AIDS.

Early in Paul's pastorate in 1982, one of Bellevue's faithful, Clesson Wavle was
honored. Clesson had served as financial secretary for thirty-five years. Two years later he was forced to retire because of ill health. We mourned the Clesson's death in 1991.

Also during this period, the congregation enthusiastically supported Jim Karin's decision to enter the ministry - a choice made earlier by two of Bellevue's former members, Roger Thompson and Gordon Williams.

The 90s began with change and uncertainty in the church. Paul's call to a new charge brought a talented interim pastor, Reverend Candace Lawrence, who served until October of 1990 when Reverend Juanita Bastion arrived.

1992 was greeted with enthusiasm in anticipation of the celebration of Bellevue's century of achievement. A joyous birthday party, Rev. Childs’ return to our pulpit and a tremendously acclaimed anniversary ball were cause for elation. But the news of
Juanita’s decision to leave to answer a call to pastoral caregiving cast a pall over the
congregation.

The appointment of Reverend Irving Hill as interim pastor proved to be a blessing.
Irving’s firm guidance, his warmth and humor lifted our spirits and restored our
confidence. We continued our celebration!

We welcomed Reverend Voigt D. Archer and his wife Beverly in July of 92 as we
continued to embrace Bellevue's past. A delightful banquet on the 14th of October and the visit one week later from our newly elected Bishop Hae-Jong Kim, brought us closer to our centennial observance.

Reverend Voigt Archer with his wife Bev and his side served the church with distinction as pastor from 1992 to 1999. Our Sunday School, choirs, and youth groups were strong and well attended. On September 7, 1998, around 1:00 am, the Labor Day Storm hit Syracuse with straight line winds, rain and lighting. One of the top windows of the front of the church was blown out leaving glass spread all over the altar and choir loft area of the church and destroyed the console part of the church organ. After much clean up and replacement of the window it was decided that the church altar area be remodeled and to purchase a new electronic organ.

In July 1999 Reverend Chris Kinnell was appointed to serve the congregation and the community until 2008. A major gift was received from Bill and Nellie Pope that allowed the church to remodel the sanctuary in 2002 from the damage that had occurred from the 1998 Labor Day Storm.

In 2007 the church was remodeled to provide accessible bathrooms and an elevator. Our Youth Groups, Sunday School, choirs and United Methodists Women groups continued to be very active in the life of the church. The church also conducted an annual Vacation Bible School and supported the Syracuse Westside Urban Mission (SWUM) at Brown Memorial. Our nursery school collaborated with Jowonio to serve children with special needs.

In 2008, the Reverand Judy Alderman was appointed to serve the congregation and community until 2012. The church members raised monies and supported eleven members and friends to a work week at the UMC Red Bird Mission in KY. An ongoing book group evolved into a study group called Friends in Faith and Fellowship.

Reverand Kisakye was the last of many years of the Bellevue clergy who lived in the
current parsonage on Hancock Drive. From 2012 until 2023 the parsonage was used by other pastors. Then in November 2023, the parsonage was sold as most clergy now receive a housing stipend to use for their own housing choice instead of living in a parsonage.

In 2012, the United Methodist Church’s in the City of Syracuse were encouraged to
work together on mission projects to serve those in the city of Syracuse. Syracuse
United Methodist Ministries (SUMM) was formed between the eight existing UMC:
Bellevue UMC, Brown Memorial UMC, Gethsemane UMC, James St UMC, Korean
UMC, St. Paul’s UMC, Erwin First UMC, and University UMC. SUMM was incorporated at a later date consisting of laity representatives from each church and the four ministers that served these eight churches. SUMM activities include monthly meetings, Thanksgiving Joint Worship Service, Summer Family Day, Annual Evening at the local ballpark with members starting the game by singing the National Anthem, and Restart. Restart is a outreach ministry that supports individuals and families who are restarting their lives. Some move out of shelters, while others move from places that were condemned, caught fire, or had other difficulties. Restart collects gently used household items and furniture for this mission.

In 2015, Reverand Andy Anderson was appointed part time to our church and part time to Gethsemane UMC.

In 2016, our Bellevue Heights UMC and Robinson Memorial Presbyterian Church joined together with the national Blessing in a Backpack program to supply non-perishable food for 50 students for the weekend at Delaware Elementary School on South Geddes St. in Syracuse. Monies are raised every year from church members, communitymembers, community companies, and grants to be used to purchase the food. In the beginning, the food was packed in bags by church members. As the program grew, the food was bubble wrapped by the company that we purchased the food from. By 2017 we were supplying food every weekend of the school year to every student in the school (500 students).

In spring 2017, we celebrated the 125 th anniversary of our church with special events during the year. One special event was a formal dinner with past pastors who were invited and recognized during the celebration speeches. It was a wonderful event for all ages!

As we continue to reach out into the community, our church sponsored Boy Scout Troop #220. The troop continues to have their weekly meetings and other events in our church building. The scouts have assisted in helping the church through performing some Eagle Scout projects on our property and helping with our Bi-Annual Roast Beef Dinners.

In 2018, Reverand Andy Anderson started annual overnight trips to the Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster, PA. This trip included many other Christian friends in the community around the area.

Up to 2020, our church was thriving with Sunday School programs, Youth Group
programs, Confirmation Classes, small group studies, choirs, UMW group, Family
retreats at Casowasco (Upper NY Conference of UMC Retreat Center) and a monthly men’s breakfast. Then in March of 2020, the whole world was troubled when the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted every aspect of everyone’s lives. We had to take a pause, in 2020 and 2021 as the world delt with the Covid-19 Pandemic. This time during the pandemic caused many challenges for the church and how our programs and worship met. We all learned how to ZOOM and live stream via YouTube. Our church services were live streamed every Sunday with minimal people in the church and were able to be viewed by all who had internet access. Church meetings were held via ZOOM on a computer. This was a very trying time for the church and the whole world. Eventually we were able to attend in-person worship and meetings if we social distance, wore masks and cleaned everything after being used. By 2022 we were back to pre-pandemic atmosphere. We all pray that we will not have to shelter in place again, but we were still able to communicate in other ways.

In 2023, our Bellevue Heights Nursery School celebrated their 50 th anniversary of
sharing love and care for many young children over these years. The school was
licensed to be a Daycare Service as well as being a nursery school through New York State Office of Children and Family Services. Starting in September 2023, the school became a Universal Pre-Kindergarten site for Westhill School District. These two changes have made it possible to reach more children and further into our community.

It would be amiss if we did not to mention two of our best-known events of the church.

The first one is the Roast Beef Dinners, that are lovingly prepared and happily served to those in our community. People in the community know our church by just making references that we are the church that has the Roast Beef Dinner on Geddes Street every spring and fall. This service to the community has been ongoing since around the time of the current building being constructed in 1963. Two of the dinners were changed from usual sit-down family style dining to a drive though only during the pandemic.

The second event is the Easter Morning Sunrise Worship service that is
held on the top of the Woodland Reservoir next to the church at 0700 AM every year. For many years a 60-foot cross built by Bill Martin, Jr could be seen on the top of the reservoir for the service. After the service, all are welcomed to the HI Morgan
Fellowship Hall for a hearty breakfast including sweet bread and rolls for all. It is a
wonderful way to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.