Published
Records documenting the operation and programs carried out during the period of the Board of Missions and loosely reporting to and/or funded by the Board of National Council in an official capacity. Some Board of Missions fonds or records may be found with a continuing body or function of a National Council successor unit, or with a continuing Executive Council entity.
In October of 1942, National Council created the Home Department, which inherited the work of the pre-existing Department of Domestic Missions and combined that work with four other pre-existing divisions of the National Council: Christian Social Relations, Christian Education, College Work, and the Youth Division. In December of 1945 the Army and Navy Division was added, and in December of 1948 the Town and Country Work Division was created.
Because it oversaw the entire domestic missionary program of the Church, the work of the Home Department was wide-ranging. Ethnic ministries were led by secretaries for Native American, African American, and Japanese mission work. It also focused on providing financial support and competent clergy for African American and Native American parishes, which were often neglected or underfunded by their dioceses.
Rural work was carried out by the Town and Country Division until 1962, when the work was returned to the oversight of the newly-formed Division of Domestic Mission. The Army and Navy Division (later renamed the Armed Forces Division) primarily supported chaplains in the Armed Forces. Other domestic work included Braille books for the blind and support for clergy serving deaf Episcopalians. The Home Department also sent women workers out into the field in various capacities. In the 1960s, most of the department’s resources was directed towards urban ministries.
In 1968, a complete restructuring of Executive Council dissolved the Home Department. The work formerly grouped under the Home Department umbrella evolved into a series of “Program” groupings, under the direction of the Deputy for Program and the Presiding Bishop.
Published
This record group includes correspondence, reports, surveys, printed matter, photographs, grant requests, and subject files. The majority of the correspondence relates to awarded grants, placement of workers, requests for assistance, and reports from the aided dioceses.
Dioceses and Missionary Districts, Grants and Other Records, 1922-1962
Correspondence, 1953-1957
Subject Files, 1922-1967
The Archives microfilmed the collection onto 6 rolls of microfilm (MIC 139).
Access to Episcopal Church records is governed by the Archives Public Access Policy. Research requests must be submitted in writing.
The Archives is able to respond to limited requests for reproductions subject to copyright restrictions, internal policy, and the condition of the source documents.
At its annual Board of Directors meeting in 1834, the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society passed a resolution to establish a mission in China, and appointed its first missionaries the following year. Over the next decade, the missionaries worked to establish schools to include religious training, all while continuing their own study of the people they wished to serve.
After the appointment of the Rev. William J. Boone in 1844 as the first Bishop of China, the American Church Mission at Shanghai was established. Education remained the main focus. A boys' school was founded in 1846 followed by one for girls a short time later.
Over the next several decades, the Missionary District of China would be served by four additional Bishops and witness the establishment of several medical institutions including St. Luke's Hospital and St. Elizabeth's Hospital, both in Shanghai, as well as what would become St. John's University, later the most influential higher educational institution in China.
Soon after the end of the Boxer Rebellion in 1901, which attempted to purge China of Western influences but spared the Episcopal missions from serious harm, the General Convention restructured the Mission by defining the coastal Province of Kiangsu as the Missionary District of Shanghai, while the rest of the original missionary territory became the Missionary District of Hankow. Growth dictated yet another division in 1910, and the Missionary District of Wuhu (later renamed Anking) was created, comprising the Province of Anwhei and the northern portion of Kiangsi.
After many years of political conflict, the Communist Party, headed by Mao Zedong, won control of China in 1949, ushering in atheist policies and anti-American sentiment that prompted the foreign Episcopal missionaries to gradually vacate their stations. The National Council formally recalled all its workers from China in December 1950 at the same time that the United States made it illegal to send money to China, rendering it impossible for the General Convention to fund the China missions.
Published
The records of the Overseas Department document the missionary endeavors of The Episcopal Church in China from 1835 to 1954 and include correspondence, reports, financial records, publications, and visual records. The three geographic districts in which Episcopal missions were located, Shanghai, Hankow, and Anking, as well as Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui, the Holy Catholic Church in China, are represented.
Papers of the Foreign Secretary, 1836-1950
Financial Records, 1836-1950
Publications, 1900-1954
Conference Materials, 1902-1937
Visual Materials, 1917-1943
China Oral Histories
Access to Episcopal Church records is governed by the Archives Public Access Policy. Research requests must be submitted in writing.
The Archives is able to respond to limited requests for reproductions subject to copyright restrictions, internal policy, and the condition of the source documents.
The Department of Finance was centered in the office of the Treasurer (a continuation of the office with the DFMS). As an administrative unit, it was a creation of the National Council in 1919, and continued until 1965 when the Executive Council reorganized. The department was charged with administering funds received by the National Council and the expenditure of funds as authorized by General Convention and the Council. It was in this capacity that the department worked with the foreign missions.
At its annual Board of Directors meeting in 1834, the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society passed a resolution to establish a mission in China, and appointed its first missionaries the following year. Over the next decade, the missionaries worked to establish schools to include religious training, all while continuing their own study of the people they wished to serve.
After the appointment of the Rev. William J. Boone in 1844 as the first Bishop of China, the American Church Mission at Shanghai was established. Education remained the main focus. A boys' school was founded in 1846 followed by one for girls a short time later.
Over the next several decades, the Missionary District of China would be served by four additional Bishops and witness the establishment of several medical institutions including St. Luke's Hospital and St. Elizabeth's Hospital, both in Shanghai, as well as what would become St. John's University, later the most influential higher educational institution in China.
Soon after the end of the Boxer Rebellion in 1901, which attempted to purge China of Western influences but spared the Episcopal missions from serious harm, the General Convention restructured the Mission by defining the coastal Province of Kiangsu as the Missionary District of Shanghai, while the rest of the original missionary territory became the Missionary District of Hankow. Growth dictated yet another division in 1910, and the Missionary District of Wuhu (later renamed Anking) was created, comprising the Province of Anwhei and the northern portion of Kiangsi.
After many years of political conflict, the Communist Party, headed by Mao Zedong, won control of China in 1949, ushering in atheist policies and anti-American sentiment that prompted the foreign Episcopal missionaries to gradually vacate their stations. The National Council formally recalled all its workers from China in December 1950 at the same time that the United States made it illegal to send money to China, rendering it impossible for the General Convention to fund the China missions.
Published
Mostly correspondence and some financial records make up this set of records, which dates from 1941 to 1951, excluding the period from January of 1947 through November of 1948. They capture an important record of the activities of the Episcopal Church in China during World War II and during the last days of its work in the early 1950s. The correspondence contains far more than a record of financial transactions, since Allen wrote detailed letters recording the events taking place in China. There is some correspondence with the Bank of China, 1941-1944.
The record group is arranged in the order that the records were received, and contains the single series of Correspondence.
Overseas Department. China Missionary Personnel Records
Access to Episcopal Church records is governed by the Archives Public Access Policy. Research requests must be submitted in writing.
The Archives is able to respond to limited requests for reproductions subject to copyright restrictions, internal policy, and the condition of the source documents.
At its annual Board of Directors meeting in 1834, the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society passed a resolution to establish a mission in China, and appointed its first missionaries the following year. Over the next decade, the missionaries worked to establish schools to include religious training, all while continuing their own study of the people they wished to serve.
After the appointment of the Rev. William J. Boone in 1844 as the first Bishop of China, the American Church Mission at Shanghai was established. Education remained the main focus. A boys' school was founded in 1846 followed by one for girls a short time later.
Over the next several decades, the Missionary District of China would be served by four additional Bishops and witness the establishment of several medical institutions including St. Luke's Hospital and St. Elizabeth's Hospital, both in Shanghai, as well as what would become St. John's University, later the most influential higher educational institution in China.
Soon after the end of the Boxer Rebellion in 1901, which attempted to purge China of Western influences but spared the Episcopal missions from serious harm, the General Convention restructured the Mission by defining the coastal Province of Kiangsu as the Missionary District of Shanghai, while the rest of the original missionary territory became the Missionary District of Hankow. Growth dictated yet another division in 1910, and the Missionary District of Wuhu (later renamed Anking) was created, comprising the Province of Anwhei and the northern portion of Kiangsi.
After many years of political conflict, the Communist Party, headed by Mao Zedong, won control of China in 1949, ushering in atheist policies and anti-American sentiment that prompted the foreign Episcopal missionaries to gradually vacate their stations. The National Council formally recalled all its workers from China in December 1950 at the same time that the United States made it illegal to send money to China, rendering it impossible for the General Convention to fund the China missions.
Published
These records include photographs, minutes, letter press books, and diaries that were produced by or are about the China Mission.
Arranged chronologically
China Oral Histories
Access to Episcopal Church records is governed by the Archives Public Access Policy. Research requests must be submitted in writing.
The Archives is able to respond to limited requests for reproductions subject to copyright restrictions, internal policy, and the condition of the source documents.
Published
This record group consists of seven hand-written documents which record the founding of the Dominican Episcopal Church in 1897, and the ordination of its leader, Benjamin I. Wilson, in 1898, under the aegis of the Haitian Orthodox Apostolic Church. Other historic documents, typescripts, and photographs represent the genesis and development of the Dominican Episcopal Church. Included are a “Covenant of Understanding” signed by Wilson and Bishop James Holly of the Haitian Church, and a testimonial in French signed by Monsieur A. Battiste, Chancellor of the Haitian Church. Also noteworthy are the Articles of Government of the Church of the Holy Trinity, a one-page document signed by representatives of the Church.
Arranged chronologically
Access to Episcopal Church records is governed by the Archives Public Access Policy. Research requests must be submitted in writing.
The Archives is able to respond to limited requests for reproductions subject to copyright restrictions, internal policy, and the condition of the source documents.