Acquisition Mandate

The purpose of the Archives is to acquire, preserve, and make available for research, in accordance with accepted professional principles and procedures, records, private documents and publications in all media pertaining to the history of the General Council Offices and the Central Ontario Conferences of The United Church of Canada and its antecedent denominations.

General Guidelines

  1. Under the general direction of an Archivist, acquisition/appraisal of material offered to the Archives and interpretation of this policy will be the responsibility of the staff.
  2. Material offered to the Archives will be appraised to determine its historical significance in accordance with recognized archival principles and procedures, taking into account evidential, administrative, and research values, as well as the resources available to process the material and make it available for research.
  3. Historically significant records in textual, audio-visual, and electronic formats will be acquired.
  4. The Archives will not acquire materials which fall within acquisitions mandate of other established repositories, or duplicates of archival materials already deposited in other repositories.
  5. Priority will be given to the acquisition of the corporate records of the Archives’ parent bodies.

Specific Acquisition Area

Corporate Records of Parent Bodies

The United Church of Canada and its antecedent denominations

  1. The historically significant records of the General Council, and the administrative divisions and offices of the General Council of The United Church of Canada.
  2. The historically significant records of the main administrative bodies and selected institutions and organizations of the antecedent denominations which entered into union in 1925 and subsequently.
  3. The historically significant records of the work of The United Church of Canada and its antecedent denominations with partners overseas (foreign missions).

Ontario Conferences

  1. The historically significant records of the Conference offices, Presbyteries, pastoral charges and congregations in the five Conferences of The United Church of Canada (London, Toronto, Hamilton, Bay of Quinte, and Manitou) whose headquarters are in Ontario.
  2. The historically significant records of selected institutions and specialized ministries associated with the five Ontario Conferences.

Private Papers

Personal Papers

  1. Selected personal papers of individuals associated with The United Church of Canada and its antecedent denominations, including national officers, Moderators, clergy, missionaries, and active laypersons.

Papers of Other Corporate Bodies

  1. Historically significant records of selected organizations directly affiliated with The United Church of Canada but not a part of the organizational structure of the parent body.
  2. Historically significant records of selected Inter-Church Coalitions, and other inter-denominational/ ecumenical organizations, in which The United Church plays or played a major role.

Artefacts

  1. The Archives does not acquire artefacts due to the lack of physical storage space and the lack of on-site conservation expertise and equipment to ensure their long-term preservation.