Category Archives: Archival collections

Foldered & Finished: South Eleventh and Willis Church of Christ (Abilene, TX) Records

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Today’s blogpost is by Sidney Irwin. Sidney is a Master’s of Library Science student at the University of North Texas who is getting a general studies degree and a graduate certificate in archival management. Sidney is an Abilene, TX native who earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Abilene Christian University.

The South Eleventh and Willis Church of Christ (Abilene, TX) Records are processed and ready for researchers. The finding aid is available at DigitalCommons@ACU. The records include 47 linear feet (33 boxes) of notes, correspondence, meeting minutes, financial papers, blueprints, teaching resources, distributed materials, and tapes.

Proposed budget for 1952, South Eleventh and Willis Church of Christ (Abilene, TX), 1952-2022. Center for Restoration Studies MS #600. Abilene Christian University Special Collections and Archives, Brown Library. Abilene Christian University, Abilene, TX.

South Eleventh and Willis Church of Christ was founded in 1952 and stayed in operation until the 2020s. The majority of the collection is from the 1990s to the 2010s. These records focus mainly on the day-to-day functions and actions of the church from a leadership perspective.

“11th and Willis and Vision” presentation slides, South Eleventh and Willis Church of Christ (Abilene, TX), 1952-2022. Center for Restoration Studies MS #600. Abilene Christian University Special Collections and Archives, Brown Library. Abilene Christian University, Abilene, TX.

Stay tuned for future installments of Foldered & Finished!

Foldered & Finished: The West Berry Church of Christ (Fort Worth, TX) Records

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The West Berry Church of Christ (Fort Worth, TX) Records (1940-2017) are processed and ready for researchers. The finding aid is available at DigitalCommons@ACU. The records include 8 linear feet (6 boxes) of church newsletters, directories, photos, and missions correspondence. 

The church started in 1924 as South Summit Church of Christ before moving to West Berry Street in 1949 and changing names in 1950. 

South Summit Sun, Box 2, Folder 1, West Berry Church of Christ (Fort Worth, TX) Records, 1940-2017. Center for Restoration Studies MS #596. Abilene Christian University Special Collections and Archives, Brown Library. Abilene Christian University, Abilene, TX.

The church supported missions projects both within the United States and in other countries, especially Mexico. The records contain extensive correspondence between the West Berry elders and Neil Massie, whom they supported at North Shore Church of Christ in Boston. 

Mission Report, Box 5, Correspondence with Neil Massie folder, West Berry Church of Christ (Fort Worth, TX) Records, 1940-2017. Center for Restoration Studies MS #596. Abilene Christian University Special Collections and Archives, Brown Library. Abilene Christian University, Abilene, TX.

The records also contain correspondence with ministers in Mexico and newsletters from Mexico. 

The Latin-American Christian, Box 3, Folder 5, West Berry Church of Christ (Fort Worth, TX) Records, 1940-2017. Center for Restoration Studies MS #596. Abilene Christian University Special Collections and Archives, Brown Library. Abilene Christian University, Abilene, TX.

To view this collection please schedule a research visit in advance by emailing Erica Pye at exp10a@acu.edu.

Guest post by Emily Thompson, who has been working as an intern in Special Collections and Archives since September 2024.  She is completing the Master of Library Science at the University of North Texas.



 

 

This Just In: Roy Osborne papers and tapes

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A few days ago John Harp rolled in to Abilene with a load of sermon tapes (some on reels, most on cassette), files and books from Roy Osborne, longtime minister at Sunset Ridge Church of Christ in San Antonio, Texas.  Pictured below are John and Mac after we unloaded and finished a tour of Special Collections.

 

In 1964 J. D. Thomas and Biblical Research Press published a volume of Roy’s sermons in the ‘Great Preachers of Today’ series.  They reissued it under a new title in 1983.   The Osborne Papers contain tapes from a fairly wide span of Roy’s preaching.  The collection should prove exceedingly useful to historians and rhetoricians because of the time span covered by the reels and tapes, as well as providing a complementary audio version of the kind of preaching committed to print in Roy’s book.  As samples of the kind of preaching held forth as exemplary by J. D. Thomas, these sermons will provide a fine window into the changing shape of homiletics and theology in post-war and late twentieth-century Churches of Christ.

They are currently in the queue for processing.  We will publicize the finding aid when it is complete.