Office of the Executive Vice President of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries records

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 368-02-368

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The United Church Board for Homeland Ministries (UCBHM) was an autonomous but recognized instrumentality of the United Church of Christ (UCC) that functioned as the administrative body of the United Church of Christ's home missions and services (1962-2000). The UCBHM formed in 1962 by the union of the Board of Home Missions of the Congregational Christian Churches and the Board of National Missions of the Evangelical and Reformed Church and continued the corporations and the work of predecessor mission boards and societies related to those two religious communities. The Office of the Executive Vice President was responsible for the day-to-day management of the organization with the Executive Vice President serving as the executive of the Board of Directors guiding and coordinating the activities of the organization. The officers who generated these records include the Executive Vice Presidents William F. Frazier (1936-1944), Truman B. Douglass (1944-1969), Howard E. Spragg (1969-1983), Charles Shelby Rooks (1984-1991), and Thomas E. Dipko (1992-2000); the General Secretary, Robert Noble (1986-2000); the Corporate Secretary, Bill G. Hendricks (1986-2000); the Secretary for Special Mission Emphases, Theodore H. Erickson (1977-2000); and Treasurers William Frazier, Howard Spragg, Richard Dubie, Matthew O’Brien, and Kathy Houston.

The records of the Office of the Executive Vice President encompass 165.4 linear feet with the bulk of the documentation dating 1962-2000 following the merger of the home missions and services programs of the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reform Church in 1957. Early records are diminutive, but significant, covering the minutes of meetings of the Board of Home Missions of the Congregational Christian Churches, as well as the merger and restructuring of the organization into the UCBHM (1937-1961). The collection is arranged into eight series: Executive Vice President’s Administrative Files (1937-1972), Committee of Divisional Heads Meetings (1961-2000), Corporate Secretary Files, Bill G. Hendricks (1986-2000), General Secretary Files, Robert Noble (1979-2000), Secretary for Special Mission Emphases Files, Theodore H. Erickson (1965-2000), Treasurer’s Office Files (1935-2000), Publications and Printed Materials (1936-1999), and Audiovisual Materials and Realia (1926-1996).

Though the records extensively document the administration, programs, projects, and services of the organization, they also contain documentation on a large range of topics. Topic strengths found within the records include abortion rights; Native American communities; Christian and higher education; church population and demographics; health and welfare programs; Hispanic communities; historically black college and universities; Jewish-Christian relations; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community issues; missions and ministries history; race relations and racial justice; sexuality; and social justice.

Dates

Created: 1926-2000
Other: Majority of material found in 1958-2000
Other: Date acquired: 01/01/1979

Creator

United Church Board for Homeland Ministries (1962-2000) (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

The records of the Office of the Executive Vice President of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries are open and available for use.

Employee records generated by the Corporate Secretary, Bill G. Hendriks are restricted for public use.

Conditions Governing Use

Any copyrights such as the donor may possess in this property are hereby dedicated to the public. It is the responsibility of an author to secure permission for publication from the holder of the copyright to any material contained in this collection.

Extent

165.04 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement Note

The records of the Office of the Executive Vice President of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries is arranged into eight main series: Executive Vice President's Administrative Files (1937-1972), Committee of Divisional Heads Meetings (1961-2000), Corporate Secretary, Bill Hendricks (1986-2000), General Secretary, Robert Noble (1979-2000), Secretary for Special Mission Emphases, Theodore H. Erickson, (1965-2000), Treasurer's Office Files (1935-2000), Publications and Printed Items (1936-1999), and Audiovisual Materials and Realia (1926-1996).

Technical Access Requirements

The moving image materials in the formats of 16 mm films and Umatic videocassette are unavailable for viewing at this time.

Source of Acquisition

United Church of Christ

Method of Acquisition

Official transfer of the records in 1985 of the United Church Board of Homeland Ministries and its predecessor corporations to the Amistad Research Center as the offical repository of the records of the history of Congregational and United Church of Christ home missions and ministries work in the United States until 2000.

Related Materials

The Amistad Research Center holds the related collections of the American Home Missionary Society; the Congregational Home Missionary Society; the American Missionary Association; the Congregational Church Building Society; the Office of Church Building of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries; the Race Relations Department of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries; and minute books for the American Education Society; the American College & Education Society; and the Congregational Education Society. Lastly, one volume of the Records of the Trustees of the National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States (1886-1915).

The Amistad Research Center also holds a number of collections of Officers of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries including the personal papers of Executive Vice Presidents Howard E. Spragg (1940-1989) and Shelby Rooks (1969-1994).

More records relating to the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries, the United Church of Christ, and the Congregational Church can be found in the Archives of the United Church of Christ in Cleveland, OH, and the Congregational Library and Archives in Boston, MA.

Other Descriptive Information

UCBHM Timeline attached as PDF.

Processing Information

The processing of the records of the Office of the Executive Vice President of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries were completed in July 2011.

Creator

United Church Board for Homeland Ministries (1962-2000) (Organization)
Home Boards of the Congregational Churches (Organization)
Board of Home Missions of the United Church of Christ (Organization)

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title: Office of the Executive Vice President of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries records
Author: Laura J. Thomson and Amber L. Moore
Date: 07/27/2011
Description rules: Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description: Undetermined
Script of description: Code for undetermined script
Language of description note: eng