Historical Resources in the Local Church: A Field Report on a Largely Gay and Lesbian Congregation

The author presents a consultative field study report describing how the archives and historical records collection of a congregation associated with the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches were organized with little personnel resources and financial support. Details are given concerning the religious, political, social, and cultural aspects that influenced the design of the collection. Rationale and examples are given concerning how the controlled-vocabulary subject file was built and how descriptive catalog records and folders of manuscript items were developed. Problems related to continued development of the collection and to the need for electronic access to records are also discussed.