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Message from CAH
(Commission of Archives and History)
To All UNY Conference Churches:
HELP!
The Conference Archives needs your help! We are inundated with boxes of church records to sort/save.
Please do YOUR part. Sort your records BEFORE you send to us. If your church is merging, your records go to the NEW entity. If your church is closing, there is a prescribed list of records to send to the Archives.
If your church is disaffiliating, there is a prescribed list to send. Please do no send anything else!
The Commission of Archives and History's responsibility is to keep the history of the Conference. As churches close, their records come to the Conference Archives for safe keeping and reference. With churches closing each year and disaffiliations looming, we are running out of space.
Our existing rooms at the Conference Center are almost full already. Just since January we have received records from about 20 churches. They are filling the aisles as we go through them to discard the items we will not keep. For example, one church sent us 30 boxes of materials. After sorting through we kept 3 regular archival boxes and one small box. Most of the rest was recycled, trashed, or kindly taken to the local historical society by a CAH member who lived nearby. Another church sent in 5 boxes; we kept 1.
We don’t like throwing away items, but we have no choice. National GCAH Guidelines are clear on what we must keep, what is desirable to keep, and what is unnecessary to keep. Go to the Conference web site, to Resources, to UNY Archives and History and click on Church Closings.
To know what the Discipline says about what to keep, click the link below.
This link tells how long to keep some records.
Another link is more specific about what to keep and how long. You may skip over the first few pages for in depth information.
Several years ago, the CAH created a video you can watch to see “What to Toss and What to Keep”. You can also find it on the UNY Archives and History website
One of the actions CAH recommends: If the item is not on the required list, see if some other group would like it, such as the local historical society as mentioned above. Be especially careful that you send all baptism, membership, marriage, and confirmation records. We constantly get requests to locate these records so copies can be made. Sadly, we often strike out. This includes digital (thumb drive-saved) records!
If there are still questions, please contact CAH with your full contact information, and one of the members will get back to you.
We are also in need of volunteers to help us on Tuesday afternoons!
Call 315-516-5289 if interested.
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