Archives & History Resources
Local Church History Awards
-
Morris L. Smith Ethnic Local Church Guidelines
Morris L. Smith Ethnic Local Church Guidelines
The Morris L. Smith Ethnic History Award is given annually to the local church history which exemplifies an inclusive narrative on the life and ministry of the ethnicity congregation from its beginnings to the present day.
-
Robert B. Steelman Methodist History Award
Robert B. Steelman Methodist History Award
The Robert B. Steelman Methodist History Award is given annually to the local church history which exemplifies an inclusive narrative on the life and ministry of the congregation from its beginnings to the present day.
-
John C. Goodwin Multimedia Church History Award
John C. Goodwin Multimedia Church History Award
The John C. Goodwin Methodist History Award is given annually to the local church history which exemplifies an inclusive narrative on the life and ministry of the congregation from its beginnings to the present day in digital format.
Recommended Websites
-
The Challenges of Being a Church Historian
The Challenges of Being a Church Historian
-
Greater New Jersey Archival Holdings
-
Celebrating Our United Methodist Heritage
Celebrating Our United Methodist Heritage
Your church's anniversary is approaching and you have been put in charge. You need a plan of action and some fresh ideas. Find this and more in our resource packet for marking historical events.
-
Church Retention Schedule
Church Retention Schedule
The General Commission on Archives and History makes these guidelines available to facilitate the planning and creation of retention schedules for your annual conference and local church.
-
Conservation Tips
Conservation Tips
This site is aimed at helping you care for and preserve your treasures, heirlooms, and works of art, and will be useful for training museum volunteers in basic care of collections
-
Greater New Jersey Historic Sites
-
How To Write A Local Church History
How To Write A Local Church History
This newly introduced online version of the booklet written by Dr. Maser based on a workshop conducted by the author at the First Historical Convocation sponsored by the General Commission on Archives and History of The United Methodist Church at Lake Junaluska, July 1, 1989.
-
Dusty Books and Faded Papers: Writing a Community History
Dusty Books and Faded Papers: Writing a Community History
Marie Amerson’s book is a resource that every local church historian needs in their writing toolbox along with Fred Maser’s How to Write a Local Church History. The book is based on her experiences as an educator and church historian for the Corinth Methodist Church in Johnson County, Georgia. The strength of this work is how to effectively organize the writing process by budgeting time, collecting the right materials, delegating responsibility, and providing a reasonable finish date for the project.
-
Technical Leaflets
Technical Leaflets
This page continues ideas and links to preservation tips. Some are low-cost solutions and others point out standards and best practices. Share your tips on the discussion list and help this page grow.
-
United Methodist Church Timeline
United Methodist Church Timeline
An illustrated timeline of the antecedent denominations of The United Methodist Church.
-
Heritage Sunday
Heritage Sunday
-
Greater New Jersey CAH Historical Library
Greater New Jersey CAH Historical Library
-
Digitized GNJ Local Church Vital Records
Digitized GNJ Local Church Vital Records
-
United Methodist African American Timeline
United Methodist African American Timeline
GNJCAH Digital Vault
Downloads
-
GNJ Historic Sites
GNJ Historic Sites
-
GNJ Commission on Archives and History Pamphlet
GNJ Commission on Archives and History Pamphlet
By providing a home for our historical records we can service the many needs of our annual conference and local churches. A vigorous archives and history program gives direction for future ministries by illuminating successful ministries that worked in the past but have present day relevance, give guidance on what to keep for posterity and potential legal issues, setting up and implementing digital records repository which has lasting value.
-
Local Church Vital Records Online
Local Church Vital Records Online
Archives and History has entered into an agreement with Ancestry.com to digitize our closed local church vital records. The records were sent to Ancestry last fall and should be completed in early spring of this year. The digital records will appear on Ancestry’s website while an archival copy of the images will reside in our repository. One of the perks to this partnership is a free multiyear license to access Ancestry’s entire website which will include our GNJ records. You may access the Ancestry site on a computer at the United Methodist Church Archives and History Center on the campus of Drew University. The center is open 9 am to 5 pm during the week and 9 am to 9 pm on Tuesday. While you are visiting be sure to make use of our conference’s archival collections located in the vaults underneath the main floor of the building.
-
How Do We Date Our Church’s Beginning?
How Do We Date Our Church’s Beginning?
How Do We Date Our Church’s Beginning? By the Commission on Archives and History, Greater New Jersey Conference, The United Methodist Church
-
African American Central Jurisdiction Churches
African American Central Jurisdiction Churches
African American Central Jurisdiction churches that have become part of the former caucasian conferences.