72 · Representative Documents: Collection Descriptions and Policies
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
New England Conference of the United Methodist Church
http://www.bu.edu/sthlibrary/archives/collections/neccah/
School of Theology Library |Boston University
http://www.bu.edu/sthlibrary/archives/collections/neccah/[6/23/15, 12:26:39 PM]
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Morgan Memorial-
Goodwill
N.E. Conference
Commission on
Archives and History
Heritage Trails of the
United Methodist
Church
Local Methodist
Organizations
Local Conference
Records
Church Records and
Historical Files, by
State
Books
Zion’s Herald and
Other Newspapers
Personal Papers
Manuscript History
Collection by Author
(A-K)
Manuscript History
Collection: Author (L-
R)
Manuscript History
Collection: Author (S-
Z)
Manuscript History
Collection: Subject
(A-K)
Manuscript History
Collection: Subject
(L-R)
Manuscript History
Collection: Subject
(S-Z)
Collection of
Autograph Letters by
Author (A-G)
Collection of
Autograph Letters by
Author (H-O)
Collection of
Autograph Letters by
Author (P-Z)
General Conference
Publications
William E. Barton
Collection of Samaritan
Materials
Early Printed Bible
Pages
James D. Purvis
Collection of
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The Commission collection focuses on the history of the United Methodist Church in New England,
with Conference Journals, church records, and archived records of conference boards and agencies,
along with Methodist-related social and service organization records. Commission materials, especially
journals and church records, are listed online. The listing in these pages is complete except for
information notes on parish history.
About the Collection
The Commission is charged by the United Methodist Book of Discipline to preserve the records of the
United Methodist Church and its predecessors within the Conference boundaries. For reference
purposes, this collection retains records of the General Conferences, the Disciplines, and the General
Minutes of [all] the Annual Conferences. Local records include annual conference journals within the
six-state New England area, records from closed churches or older records from continuing churches,
records of conference boards or agencies, and records of Methodist organizations or activities within
the area. Coverage within these areas is not comprehensive, but all church and conference records
that we have are listed in these pages. The content of church records do vary, but they typically
contain: lists of probationers, members, baptism, marriages, and sometimes deaths quarterly
conference records report the pastor-parish relations and projects of the churches financial records
may indicate collections and local dispursements there are sometimes records of Sunday Schools,
Men’s and Women’s Groups, Missionary Societies, youth groups, and other activities or organizations
within the church scrapbooks or local histories.
What We Can Provide
We can usually provide information on ordained Methodist Episcopal, Methodist or United Methodist
pastors who served in the region as full members of the conferences, but it is very unlikely that we
have much information, if any, on local pastors or evangelists who worked in the conference area.
Church records must be accessed by state-town-and date: there is no master list of members who
appear in the various church record books. Without the town and approximate date, we cannot search
broadly for information. The collection of church records is far from complete, but we have listed those
records in our collection. If we don’t have records from a particular church, we try to locate an existing
church that might have records of earlier or nearby churches. Conference records will list each active
church each year, with the pastor appointed and membership statistics, but not individual member
names. Note that church records for baptism only list parents for an infant baptism, not for adult
baptisms, and never list godparents. Additionally, marriage records do not contain information on the
parents of the bride and groom, or names of witnesses.
Access to the Collection
The collection is housed within the Boston University School of Theology Library at 745
Commonwealth Avenue, Boston MA 02215 as part of the Research Collections. Though the Theology
Library is open for longer hours during the school year, the Research Collection Reading Room is
available only when full-time staff are on duty: Monday through Friday from 9am to 4pm. Email or letter
requests are accepted if enough information is provided and a brief search can be performed for the
information. When questions are not within our area of coverage, we try to refer researchers to the
appropriate conference resource. For questions or appointments, email us at neccah@bu.edu or
phone (617) 353-1323.
Restrictions
A limited number of items will be given to a researcher at one time. Pencils only may be used for
taking notes. No marks are to be placed on the original documents. Researchers may not make
photocopies of any item but may request that photocopies be made by the archives staff, who will
exercise their discretion based on the condition of the original records to determine whether
photocopies can be made.
Holdings
Local Conference Records
Church Records and Historical Files, by State
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