Archives and History Committee

Mandate

Excerpt from The Manual (2001) Section 460:

(a) Meetings. The Conference archives committee shall meet at least once a year at the call of the chairperson.

(b) Membership. Each Conference shall appoint annually an archives committee consisting of a chair or co-chairs, who may be the archivist, the archives conveners of the Presbyteries within the Conference, the archives convener for the Conference United Church Women, the executive secretary of the Conference and three (3) other members.

(c) Duties. It shall be the duty of the committee:

(i) to have oversight of the Conference archives in co-operation with the General Council committee on archives and history, and to arrange for the preservation of the historically significant records of the Conference in appropriate places such as theological colleges, church-affiliated universities or schools, the central archives, or provincial archives;

(ii) to present annually to the appropriate body of Conference a budget for work of the committee. The budget presented shall make adequate provision for the proper care and maintenance of the Conference archives collections, including any necessary salaries for employees;

(iii) to appoint, in conjunction with the General Council committee on archives and history, an archivist, who shall be, ex officio, a member of the Conference committee, and who shall have responsibility, under the direction of the committee and in accordance with professional archival standards and procedures, for sorting and cataloguing the material in the Conference archives, and for making accessible to official United Church bodies and to individuals, information necessary for the preparation of historical studies relating to the United Church;

(iv) to arrange for gathering of archival material into the Conference archives, both directly from church bodies and individuals and through the Presbytery archives committees within the Conference;

(v) to cooperate with the General Council committee on archives and history in the development and use of consistent professional standards and procedures by Conference archivists across the United Church, and on all other matters of common concern;

(vi) to work with the General Council committee on archives and history in the development of criteria and guidelines for the designation of United Church historic sites, and to seek appropriate designation of particular sites within the bounds of the Conference. Each Conference shall designate at least one (1) church building within the Conference as a Conference historic site where special services may be held annually;

(vii) to stimulate interest in the history of churches within the Conference, and in the history of the United Church, and to encourage and assist in historical research;

(viii) to encourage ecumenical studies in Canadian church history, and the archival resources that will support these studies; and

(ix) to find Presbytery records readers for the Conference annual meeting.

Membership: chair or co-chairs
5 members (including vice chair and secretary)
1 UCW representative

Staff support: executive secretary

Approved ROP 97
Revised Conference Executive November 8, 2000 page 00/01 – 41
Revised Conference Executive November 14, 2001, page 01/02 - 126