Report to Conference 2024
The Methodist Historical Society is grateful to the Methodist Church in Ireland and its members for continued support during the past year. The Society since moving to Edgehill House in 2002, after two years of planning, has with the agreement of Conference increasingly become the custodian of the Connexional archives. Approximately eighty-five percent of Irish Methodist non-current Connexional and Circuit records are stored in the Society’s environmentally controlled archives, of which, in turn, over seventy-five percent of its contents are Connexional records. In that context the MHSI is in the process of revising its constitution to reflect its responsibilities for the material it holds on behalf of the Methodist Church in Ireland. The archives has continued to receive new material during the year. These items have been carefully cleaned and assessed before being stored in acid free boxes, catalogued, and the details uploaded to the online library for researchers to peruse.
Churches who hold non-current Church records locally are actively encouraged to deposit material in the archives. A scanned copy of the records can be made available on request, while information required to be retrieved from deposited material can be quickly accessed by our volunteers and a specific copy made available within Data Protection regulations.
Visits have also been made to churches wishing to retain their own archive and advice given on which records should be retained and how to store items in the optimum conditions.
The archives and reading room are open two mornings a week and volunteers are available to assist researchers and those interested in family history in accessing the information they require. There is a constant stream of enquiries via the website, and again, our volunteers ensure that material is made available. Also available via the website are the digitised Methodist journals from 1895-2015.
Each year, the Formation Ministry students spend a morning in the archives and are given an insight into the records held and how they can develop an appreciation of the wealth of our Methodist heritage.
The MHSI is increasingly the first port of call for individuals and institutional bodies seeking information on Irish Methodist heritage. The most labour intensive and expensive aspect of that role is ensuring access, not only for visitors on site but online visitors across the internet. The cost of this availability is approximately £3,000 annually.
The Society promotes an understanding an appreciation of Irish Methodism and Wesleyan theology through its journal, the Bulletin, and through lectures and pilgrimages to local Circuits.
