Archives & Research Center

Welcome to the IPHC Archives and Research Center

"We have heard with our ears, O God,

Our fathers have told us,

The deeds you did in their days, in the days of old..." (Psalm 44:1, NKJV)

Follow us on Facebook

Vision statement: 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 available to the IPHC as well as any individual interested in our denomination. We 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.

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 education, displays, a reading room and research center, and free online access. We also seek to highlight the history of the IPHC in the state of Oklahoma, since that is where our archives is located.

Purpose: The OKC Archives and Research Center serves several purposes:

To provide and to care for resources for those who wish to know more about IPHC history,
To make our resources easily accessible whenever possible,
To engage in outreach such as the IPHC blog or presentations to make our history known,
To collect donated items and to celebrate the legacies of those who have served God through their work with the IPHC,
To keep administrative records for the Global Ministry Center and the IPHC conferences as needed,
To work with other archives, within and outside of the IPHC, to share our historical resources in digital form.

Take a virtual tour of the OKC IPHC Archives.

Dr. Kristen Welch currently serves as the Director of Archives and Research.

Rev. Cherie McDade serves as the Assistant. Please contact us at:

kwelch@iphc.org or archives@iphc.org

Call: 405-787-7110 ext. 7157

We currently have 2,165 listings on our database, many of them linked to full text copies of recorded videos, sermons, photos, flyers, and books. We have closer to 2,500 items linked to these listings because many have multiple links attached to one entry, such as recordings from each side of a digitized cassette tape. Simply click on the link to the database and search any name, place, or term you wish to search to see what is available. These are available free of charge.
We will soon be on the Oklahoma Historical Society website with 71 items related to the IPHC in Oklahoma. We plan to add to this collection in the coming years. When it is ready, we will have a partner page. The items have been sent, and they are currently processing them.
We are in the process of digitizing the many videos and cassettes in the archives, scanning IPHC books, hymnals, and photographs, and converting cds to mp3s. In December of 2024, we had another 1,979 items digitized and are working to add those to Dropbox and to the database linked above.

We welcome your donations, even if they are only digital copies. We seek to add to IPHC history, and we value each and every person who wishes to contribute. Contact us for arrangements, questions, or details.

Our lending policy:

We do not loan our books or materials, but as an Archives, we can provide a digital copy of a book for private use via email in most cases. You will have to agree to not distribute the materials prior to receiving them.

We will not provide a copy if you can obtain the materials through interlibrary loan, so check with your local or university library first. You can also search World Cat to see all libraries who hold a certain item.

Why is keeping an archives so important?

From "In the Contexts of the Possible" by David Carr (with my comments added in [square brackets]):

We build collections because we strive to keep and preserve evidence of human [and divine] continuity and to sustain remembrance. We strive not to forget how we have become who and what we are in order to be mindful of where we began. Cultural institutions hold artifacts and their legacies when our memories as humans cannot. This makes possible the transmission of meanings among distant generations. [Remembering the past can be a way to worship. "I will praise you, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works" (Psalm 9:1 NKJV)].
We construct and systematize collections because we strive to contain and organize authoritative materials for reference and verification. By looking at the original artifact-the edited manuscript, the sculpted bone, the tortured score-we are nearly able to look at (and into) the moment of its [divine] inspiration. By retaining the records of masterful ideas and objects, we keep the possibility of drawing new insights from them [with the counsel of the Holy Spirit].
As inquirers, we strive to discover and study materials for new knowledge and new syntheses of evidence. Driven by questions, we use our cultural institutions as places where we can first follow threads and then weave garments. [In remembering and in shaping our own spiritual, denominational, and regional histories, we do spiritual battle. "The Lord is righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked" (Psalm 120:4 NKJV)].
We strive to integrate and verify our experiences in the larger culture. Our cultural institutions are mirrors for the people and societies [and divine influences] that construct them, naturally. But in each personal discovery or observation a learner also finds a mirror of lived experience. Example: “My grandparents were once in this part of the world." We enter and leave with what we know, but our knowing is different when we depart the institution because we have clarified, augmented, or revised what knowledge we had. Or what we know is in the process of becoming different knowledge because we are present, working to understand things. Because what we know configures who we are, we also might say that the crafting of truth in cultural institutions is a process of becoming, renewing, or confirming ourselves [and the handiwork of our God]. ["I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies [this includes the stories left in the care of the IPHC Archives] are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts" (Psalm 119: 100-101 NKJV)].
As the greatest of cultural educators, [an archives] can make explicit links between the past and future, drawing us toward an understanding of great, immutable themes. In doing so, it can help us gain cognitive control over an otherwise unimaginable transition and to place ourselves clearly within our own times, integrated and not excluded. An [archival] collection allows us to revisit and reconsider the differences between what was and what is and to see ourselves in continuity with those who preceded us and those who will follow us. ["The works of the Lord are great, Studied by all who have pleasure in them. His work is honorable and glorious, And His righteousness endures forever. He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; The Lord is gracious and full of compassion...He has declared to His people the power of His works, by giving them the heritage of all the nations...The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever" (Psalm 111: 2-10 NKJV)].

Pages 128-129.

Carr, D. (2000). In the Contexts of the Possible: Libraries and Museums as Incendiary Cultural Institutions. RBM: A Journal of Rare Book, Manuscripts, and Cultural History, 1(2), 117–135. https://doi-org.libezp.lib.lsu.edu/10.5860/rbm.1.2.186

Welcome to the IPHC Archives and Research Center

"We have heard with our ears, O God,

Our fathers have told us,

The deeds you did in their days, in the days of old..." (Psalm 44:1, NKJV)

Follow us on Facebook

Dr. Kristen Welch currently serves as the Director of Archives and Research.

Rev. Cherie McDade serves as the Assistant. Please contact us at:

Our lending policy:

Why is keeping an archives so important?

Chaplains and the Military

Periodicals

People: Pastors, Leaders, Directors, Musicians

Churches

Music