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Currents in World Christianity
Consultation on Nondenominational Mission Archives
November 1-3, 2001

Work groups. All the attendees will be divided into five work groups, each of which will be meeting together periodically throughout the consultation. Each group will be discussing a particular topic or set of related topics. The facilitator of each group will prepare a report after the consultation summarizing the group's discussion and listing their observations for addressing the opportunities and problems associated with their topic.

The five groups:

Group 1. In-house mission archives. What obstacles might prevent a nondenominational mission from starting its own archives, what kind of archives is realistic for mission, what are the benefits to an in-house archives, what kind of a help will a mission need to start and maintain one?
Click for this group's report.

Group 2. Other venues for nondenominational mission archives. What other institutions, such as schools for the training of missionaries, might start mission archives? What are the advantages and obstacles to starting a mission archives?
Click for this group's report.

Group 3. What Should Be Preserved:. What are the essential documents to be preserved in a mission archives for the benefit of the staff of a particular mission, students of mission history, the general public? What materials best document what themes?
Click for this group's report.

Group 4. Oral History. What is oral history good for and not good for in documenting mission history? What are the type of themes that should be covered?
Click for this group's report.

Group 5. What kind of access should a mission archives provide for its own staff and supporters, scholars and the general public? What kind of requests is it likely to receive? What kind of regulations should it have?
Click for this group's report.

Last Revised: 10/24/01
Last Revised: 1/5/05
Expiration: indefinite

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