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Archives & History

Guide to Archives & History

The Commission on Archives & History is charged with a number of Discipline-mandated duties. Among these are

  • to preserve and share the historically significant records of the annual conference and its agencies, including data relating to the origin and history of the conference and its antecedents
  • to encourage and assist local churches in preserving their records, compiling their histories, and celebrating their heritage
  • to engage with other Wesleyan, Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren-related denominations in lifting up our joint heritage
  • to work with ethnic congregations of the conference and its antecedents to develop and preserve the historical records of those congregations

The Commission has established a Historical Society for the California-Pacific Conference, per the guidelines in the Book of Discipline 2016 (par 641). The mission of the Historical Society is to promote interest in the study and preservation of the history of the conference and its antecedents.

This page is organized as follows:

  • Resources for Local Churches
  • Contact Info
  • Digital Archives
    • Journals & Minutes from the Conference & Antecedents
    • Conference-Related Historical Books & Papers
    • Publications on the Evangelical United Brethren in Christ
    • Publications on The United Methodist Church and Methodist history
  • Historical Society of the California-Pacific Conference
    • Genealogical Research Guidelines
    • Biographies of Clergy & Laity
    • Hall of Fame
    • Local Church Histories & Documents
    • Publications & Links about Conference-Related Institutions

The Details

  • Ron Harrington, Chair, Commission on Archives & History
  • TBA, President, Historical Society of the California-Pacific Conference & Western Jurisdiction
  • Steven Dugan, Conference Archivist
    archives@calpacumc.org | 909.458.1998

Digital Archives

Instructions: The files below are best reviewed by downloading to your local computer for searching and printing. Some files may load more slowly than others due to file size and resolution. Newer files may be OCR-enabled (Optical Character Recognition) and can be searched for specific text strings. Older files may not be searchable, depending on the quality of the original text.

Journals and Minutes from the Conference & Antecedents [conference-authored]

Conference-Related Historical Books & Papers

  • General Commission on Archives & History Historical Bulletins [external link]
  • Methodist History Journal: The Methodist History Journal is the official publication of the General Commission on Archives and History of The United Methodist Church, a peer-reviewed journal dealing with Methodist history around the world. Each year is arranged in a sub-community and by issue within that sub-community. To see a complete listing for each issue, select a sub-community and then browse by date. The journal can be read on-line or downloaded. If you prefer a print version, for a fee, please contact gcah@gcah.org. All material copyrighted by the General Commission on Archives and History of The United Methodist Church. 36 Madison Ave., Madison, New Jersey 07940. phone: 973-408-3189 e-mail: gcah@gcah.org. Please cite accordingly when using this material. [external link]
  • UMC Digital Galleries [external link]

Historical Society of the California-Pacific Conference

The Conference maintains the following information, which can be found in the Annual Journals:

  • Memorials of clergy, clergy spouses, and other significant figures who die each year (called Memorials, currently aligned as Section J in current Journals)
  • List of deceased clergy, including places of births and burials when known (called Roll of Honored Dead, currently aligned as Section K in current Journals)
  • Historical Appointment information of local churches and current clergy (called Historicals, currently aligned as Section L in current Journals). For appointment history of clergy who have died, consult the Journal from the year prior to their death. These sections also contain information on commissioning, consecration or ordination.
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