Congregational history: Ravenna, Ohio, 1930

The newest congregational history in our collection arrived from a donor last week.  This pamphlet from the Christian Church in Ravenna, Ohio, from 1930 recounts a century of ministry.  The full booklet is available here.

One Hundredth Anniversary of the Christian Church, Ravenna, Ohio, May 11, 1930

We collect and preserve such congregational histories, anniversary booklets, along with directories, photographs, and to some extent we can accommodate bulletins and newsletters.  The full list of current holdings in our Congregational Vertical File is available here.

Challenges: The Restoration Movement in Texas film now available online on DigitalCommons and Vimeo

In 1986 Herald of Truth and Abilene Christian University collaborated on a video retelling 150 years of Restoration history in Texas.  It features R. L. Roberts, Bill Humble, Richard Hughes, Ethelyn Mitchall, John Stevens and William Teague. Beginning in the 1830s, and filmed on location at historic sites, this film summarizes the people, places, events, and issues that defined the Churches of Christ and Christian Churches in the Lone Star state.

The film is now available online for free streaming and download on Vimeo and on DigitalCommons.

Challenges – The Restoration Movement in Texas from ACU Library on Vimeo.

This just in: Congregational directories from Altus, Oklahoma

A donor sent us a box of directories from the Elm & Hudson and the Thomas Street Churches of Christ, both in Altus, Oklahoma.  A few are pictured here.  Congregational directories are valuable resources for genealogists and local historians and can serve much larger research projects.  Often they include historical information and sometimes information about the ministries of the congregation.  Usually the information they contain is unavailable elsewhere. We are always glad to see new directories come into the collection.

I have an old directory. How can I know if you need it? Great question. Chances are good we do not already have it.  But we’ll be glad to check.  The first thing you can do is  look up your congregation in this finding aid to determine if we have an existing file.  Our vertical files could contain a wide array of paper items.  There might be a few bulletins, or a historical sketch, or a photograph or flyer or other kind of ephemera in the file.  If your congregation is not listed in that finding aid, we do not have a file for it and therefore anything we receive will be a great new addition!  We are always getting new items in, like these directories from Altus, and would be delighted to hear from you about similar items.  Contact me at mac.ice@acu.edu or 325-2144 if I can assist further.