A provincial archives organization has recognized the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada for its support of the church’s archives.
The Archives Association of Ontario named General Synod as its recipient of the organization’s corporate award for 2002 for its “support of archives generally throughout the church, but also specifically the Anglican General Synod Archives,” said a press release from the association.
Established in 1953 by Dr. Thomas Millman, the General Synod Archives has taken a leading role in supporting and training a number of diocesan archivists from across the country. It has published two popular manuals for church archivists, Taking Care and Keeping Track and it provides professional archives and records management services to the national office of the Anglican Church of Canada and its many committees. The archives is a member of several heritage and archives associations, including the Anglican Archives Network.
Much of the time of the Anglican archives staff in recent years has been occupied by residential school litigation.
In thanking the association for the award, Archdeacon Jim Boyles spoke of how important the archives has been to the General Synod as it defends itself in more than 1,200 residential school claims and also how essential the collections are to the ongoing work of healing and reconciliation as the church works with indigenous partners for justice.
Terry Thompson, the General Synod archivist, thanked the archivists of the ecclesiastical (church) province of Ontario and the dioceses: Mary-Anne Nicholls (ecclesiastical province of Ontario and diocese of Toronto), Glenn Lockwood (Ottawa), Paul Banfield and Lisa Russell (Ontario), Rev. John Rathbone (Niagara), Diana Coates (Huron) Mary Beth Miller (Algoma) and Marthe Brown (Algoma and Moosonee) and Bishop David Ashdown, from the ecclesiastical province of Rupert’s Land, for the Ontario portion of the diocese of Keewatin.
“With all of our team work the Anglican Archives Network continues to provide effective service to Church administrators, scholarly researchers and the general public,” said Ms. Thompson.
Links:
- Archives Association of Ontario
- Hunt for ancestors begins at archives door
March 2002 anglican.ca feature story
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