Welcome to the IPHC Archives and Research Center
"Light is sown for the righteous." (Psalm 98:11, NIV)
"Light" can mean God's wisdom, guidance, knowledge, favor, direction. "Sown" means someone went ahead of you and planted.
It's humble work. It's hard work. It is work that does not get a spotlight or receive applause. On this website, you will find some of the history of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church. These people of vision cared for you and your future. They were the ones in the pulpit and they were the ones in the pews. They were the ones who set foot on foreign lands and the ones who faithfully tithed to carry out God's work. Inspired by God, empowered by faith, emboldened by prayer, and ignited by the Holy Spirit, they laid the very path you walk upon as are a part of the IPHC family of faith.
When we look ahead, our eyes should be on Christ and our feet should be energized by our history.
When we ignore our history, we limit our harvest and dim the light. Our past invites us into our future. The Word says: "You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name " in Psalm 61:5. Our family is more than those related to us or the friends we have been blessed with; our family is our local church, our conference, our denomination, our international affiliates. Our heritage is evidence of God's hand on our lives. When we lay aside our history, we lay aside the testimonies of His people.
But why would we do that?
We are a people who have influenced the world. Acts 1:8 says "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Indeed, our heritage stretches all the way back to the Upper Room. The evidence of God's work lies within our books, our sermons, our programs, our conferences, and the testimonies of our people, and we have carefully gathered many of these things in our vaults and are endeavoring to share them with all of you online.
I invite you to treasure the archives we protect and to appreciate the vision G. F. Taylor had in 1921 when he understood we had to preserve our history even as it was unfolding in its early years.
God has blessed and provided for the IPHC. We must treasure what has been left to us as a witness of the leading of the Good Shepherd, we must study our roots, and we must let our heritage continue to inform how we bring God's light to the lost. We must continue to collect archival treasures for the future, and we must try to remember that everyone in the IPHC is important here. Whether you are new or whether your family goes back a couple of generations, you are valued. You belong.
Who we are today is just a moment in the middle of a very long future. I invite you to explore this website and to be encouraged by what God has done through His people.
I also invite you to share your histories with us. Leave the evidence of you or your family's testimony for those who come after you. Your lives, your sacrifices, your calling inspires others!
Malachi 3:16, Psalm 16:6, Joshua 4:1-6
Join us for the Archives Breakfast
Friday, July 17, 2026 from 7:00-8:30 a.m.
Special speaker: Rev. Zach Tomlinson
2026 General Conference
Register online, beginning in January 2026: Open now!
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Follow us on Facebook
Visit our Online Library Database
Find Resource on the Pentecostal Consortium
Find us on the Oklahoma History Center Research Gate
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Award Nominations
At each General Conference, starting with the one in 2026, we hope to recognize those who are contributing to IPHC history. Please email Dr. Welch at kwelch@iphc.org with nominations for work that uses IPHC history in a presentation, book, book chapter, magazine article, scholarly journal article, or other medium. These should have been published or the presentation given roughly between 2026 and January 2030.
We also will recognize the work of our regional archives directors, and we will recognize the best donations received.
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Dr. Kristen Welch, Director of Archives and Research
Education:
Doctorate in Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English (University of Arizona, 2007)
Graduate Certificate in Archival Studies (Louisiana State University, May 2025)
1st Peter 4: 10-11:
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
What I hope to give is out of my deep love for learning and for sharing what I learn with others through writing and speaking and mentoring, for using my opportunity to steward the archives as an opportunity to show love and value towards the IPHC and to those we have served over the years, and for using my love of people to establish good connections with others who I can help and who can help me.
Vision statement: To use the archives to educate the people affiliated with the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, Pentecostal scholars, and the public on the history of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church. To share the rich resources in Spirit-led teaching, preaching, worship, art, and education that we have accumulated over the years. We endeavor to make theological, historical, biographical, and autobiographical books, sermons, teaching materials, and videos available to the IPHC as well as any individual interested in our denomination. It is my hope that our stories can be shared in order to inspire others to see how the lives and efforts of hard-working, Spirit-filled people have made a significant difference in our communities, our country, and the world. I want others to see how God has provided in the midst of daunting challenges, how He has rewarded faithfulness, persistence, and consistent work done by those who attend our churches, those who lead in our churches, and those who lead in our denomination.
Mission statement: We seek to collect items related to the International Pentecostal Holiness denomination and its people and to make them accessible to all through every available avenue, including education, displays, a reading room and research center, and free online access.
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How to Start a Church Archives
Give Financial Resources to Archives
What's Happening Right Now in the Archives
Our Collections
Visiting the IPHC Archives
Global Ministry Center: Instructions for E-Archives
Using Our Materials for Publication
Timelines
History of the IPHC
How our Theology has Been Shaped Over the Years
The IPHC on the Oklahoma History Center Website
Significant Locations in IPHC History
Educational Institutions
Holmes Bible College
Chaplains and the Military
Orphanages and Hospitals
Conferences and Locations
A Prophetic Word, 1991
Affiliations and Memberships
General Conferences
General Superintendents or Bishops of the IPHC
Minutes
The Advocate
Manuals
Advocate Press/LifeSprings
Global Ministry Center: 50th Anniversary 2025
IPHC Scholars
IPHC Authors
Regional IPHC Archives
The IPHC in Oklahoma History
Research Guide
Strategic Plan for the IPHC Archives
Quilt Project
The 2021 IPHC Archives Centennial