Current Projects, March 2025 (Remote and on site work labe
- We are digitizing sermons on cassette and videos. This is where a significant portion of our budget goes right now, and we make these available for free on the new library database. Why? Because your tithes support our ministry. Please see what we have: https://www.librarycat.org/lib/IPHCArchives. Some of our work is done remotely, and adding these to Dropbox and then creating an entry for these on the library database takes about 3-7 minutes per item. Currently, we have 2,244 items, but some have several links, such as when a cassette is digitized and I group those together for an event or a person. Remote work.
- We are scanning and uploading pictures, sermon notes, and other documents. We also do much of this work remotely, and I currently have all of the 4-6 inch thick yearbooks at my home in South Carolina. These are compilations of minutes, and they are extremely important for telling the story of our denomination. We are working to scan these and add them to our library database. This will take several months. Each is several hundred pages long. Remote work.
- We are scanning books and pamphlets published by all IPHC authors. We are getting closer to finishing this particular task. Much of this is also done remotely. Books out of copyright or with the copyright owned by Advocate Press or the IPHC are linked, full text, to the library database. Those still in copyright are saved both the the M drive (backed up to a server and the cloud) and to two separate hard drives. There are more books than you may realize. Take into account that our leaders, ministers, theologians, and historians started publishing over a hundred years ago. It’s been a huge task, but we have been working on it since I started in July of 2023. Remote work.
- We are turning cds into mp3s and then linking those to the database. There are literally hundreds, and we are moving slowly on this as we have prioritized scanning the IPHC authors and linking the digitized sermons. Remote work.
- We developed a strategic plan for the archives, and I applied for a grant last fall. While we did not get the grant, much good came of articulating our goals clearly. One thing we did was count the boxes and materials that we have in the vaults. There are about 1,500 boxes total. This doesn’t count the other materials. We made “addresses” for each box by labeling every shelf, rack, cabinet, and drawer. We guesstimate that it will take several years to publish a location for each box and the items in each box, but for now, we made a map for each vault and have the collections named. This took us a great deal of time, and it is a major goal for archives to make it easy to find any item (any photo, any document, any book, etc.) in our collection simply by looking it up on our library database and reading the “address.” We are looking for volunteers or interns who may wish to assist with this in the summer. On site work.
- We have been collecting items for an Oklahoma history display since we are located in Oklahoma. We also began a partnership with the Oklahoma History Center, and they have 72 items we digitized for them. It’s been a few months, but the beginnings are now on the partner page. We will be sending them more items. This is very important. Their research center gets over a million visits a year, and we want our history to be accessible or we will be forgotten. Today’s graduate student expects immediate, online access. They do not have the time or financial resources to visit us, so we must work diligently to continue making our resources easily accessible. Both remote and on site work.
- We will be creating a video of our Oklahoma history display when it is done. This is to help those who can’t visit us to see our wonderful treasures! On site work.
- We are preparing for General Conference and the Archives Breakfast. It is a lot of work to plan our display, and our list of speakers and awards that we are planning to share. Both remote and on site work.
- We have been collecting and digitizing items for the 50th anniversary of the Global Ministry Center. That’s this year! 2025! On site work.
- The King House collection exploded after my mom and I were allowed to bring items to OKC. My assistant, Rev. McDade, has been scanning in King family photos and such for the last few months, and mom and I brought a huge amount of photos, letters, and items that we sorted while in OKC this March 2025. We have a collection of letters between Mrs. King and her son while he served in WWII, for example. These treasures are going to be turned into a book that we will sell and donate the profits to the maintenance of the King House in Franklin Springs, Georgia. So stay tuned for progress on this project. I’m also taking display cabinets to the King House, and doing some displays there within the next month or two. On site in Georgia at the King House, as well as remote and on site in OKC.
- Rev. McDade is scanning hymnals when she is not creating amazing Facebook posts and chasing down items for the (surprisingly) many requests we receive for archives. When I became the director in July 2023, I really didn’t think we would get much attention, but we get a request or two at least twice a month. These can take a few minutes or they can take several days. I couldn’t do this job without her! Click on the link below to see that our Facebook business page shows we had 9,509 views in the last 28 days. Click on the second document to see who is following us. We are up to 1, 282 followers. Please join us! Link to our page. Both remote and on site work.
- We are sorting out the physical copies of the Advocate into archival sleeves. There are over 3,000. It’s taking us a while, to say the least. On site work.
- Rev. McDade put most of the Worldaramas online, and she’s working on the Links. This has been a huge task! Visit our library database to see. Remote work.
- I redesigned the IPHC website, and I’ve visited the local archives. I’m working with Zach Tomlinson on some projects for Holmes, and Rev. Jones has agreed to let me scan some of his collection of local church histories. Remote work. Also, on site at Holmes and in Lake City, South Carolina.
- I go to the Society of Pentecostal Studies conference each year, and I have a “vendor’s” table. This is an extremely important conference. Why? Because this is where I connect with the other Pentecostal archives director, share how to access our archival resources with graduate students and scholars, and stay current with what’s happening in the realm of Pentecostal studies. Somehow I got roped into being a Special Interest group co-leader last year, and I help form panels for that. Travel.
- What else? Let’s see…I’m scanning in items related to the Noel Brooks collection, and we worked hard to make sure all of his books are online. Remote work.
- Over the last year or so, I linked items published by our IPHC authors to the website, and made comprehensive lists of texts. I am working to scan in the dissertations, with the help of Rev. McDade. Remote work.
- As you can see, our IPHC website will take many more months to develop. Remote work.
- I also have received a substantial donation from Joyce Dixon. Her father was John Bates, and IPHC minister in North Carolina. Many of his sermons will be linked soon. Both remote and on site work.
- I’ve created some simple timelines, but I hope to do more in the future. Remote work.
- I collect the conference minutes for all of the conferences, and I’ve been working to update our records on E-Archives, with Rev. McDade’s help on both. Remote work.
- I interviewed a missionary to India, Rev. Howard, and I hope to see with Leroy Baker this summer. If you would like to be interviewed or know of someone who would like to share their stories with us, please reach out. Both remote and on site work.
That’s all I can think of right now! Since I am only part-time, I can’t get as much done as I would like. However, Rev. McDade and I are doing our best. Please reach out with questions. kwelch@iphc.org or archives@iphc.org.