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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260506T130000
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SUMMARY:Illuminating Your Church’s Past: Guidelines and Ethics for Conducting Oral Histories
DESCRIPTION:Zachary Bodnar and Billy McCarthy\, CLA archivists\, hosted this CSI webinar focused on properly conducting oral history interviews – a great way for a church to learn about its own community\, mission\, and history through conversations with the members who lived through it. \nOral histories can be especially useful for churches with gaps in their 20th and 21st century records. But it is critical to follow strict rules and procedures to ensure they are conducted ethically and respectfully. \nZachary and Billy discussed situations in which oral histories are a useful tool and other cases when they might be less enlightening. They also provided advice for conducting an ethical oral history interview\, including discussions on copyright\, consent\, and agreement forms. Finally\, they shared some best practices\, recommended technologies\, and guidelines for recording oral histories. \nThis program was part of our Church Stewardship Initiative (CSI). Find the videos of past workshops and free resources on our CSI webpage. \n  \nSPEAKER BIOS \nZachary Bodnar graduated with a Masters of Library and Information Science from Simmons University\, with a concentration in archives management\, in 2018. Prior to his work at the CLA\, Zachary worked at the Bellamy-Ferriday House and Garden archive\, the Vassar College Special Collections\, the Harvard Law School Library\, and the Harvard Botany Libraries. Zachary joined the CLA as an Archives Assistant in 2017\, helping to prepare materials for digitization through the New England’s Hidden Histories program. In 2018\, he took on the title of Archivist. His professional interests include metadata collection and management\, digital archiving\, audio/visual preservation\, and archives management. \nBilly McCarthy graduated with a Masters of Library and Information Science (MLIS) at Simmons University with a concentration in Archival Management. He started working at the CLA through a graduate internship and was hired full-time as an Archivist in 2018. Billy is the Head of Reader Services\, helping the CLA’s visitors with reference requests and facilitating in-person research. Billy also serves as the collection manager for the archives\, working with CLA’s offsite vendor to protect and maintain the organization’s archival records. Some of his professional interests include increasing access\, collection management\, processing of complex materials\, and facilitating research.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/illuminating-your-churchs-past
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:CSI
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260519T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260519T140000
DTSTAMP:20260629T083819Z
CREATED:20260423T135247Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260629T083819Z
UID:14928-1779195600-1779199200@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Witness at Sand Creek: The Life and Letters of Silas Soule
DESCRIPTION:What compels an ordinary person to stand against atrocity? Rev. Dr. Nancy Niero captures the soul of a man who bore witness to genocide and chose to speak out in her new book\, Witness at Sand Creek: The Life and Letters of Silas Soule. \nThis powerful volume brings to life the story of Captain Silas Soule\, a young abolitionist turned Union officer raised in a Congregational family who refused to obey orders during the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864. Rather than participate in the slaughter of peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho families\, Soule defied his superiors and later testified to what happened. His act of conscience would make him a target: he was assassinated just months later. \nPart biography\, part spiritual journey\, Witness at Sand Creek blends historical detail with personal pilgrimage\, offering readers both rare primary sources and a contemporary call to moral clarity. From Soule’s early abolitionist work alongside John Brown to his final days as a whistleblower\, this book is a profound meditation on history\, integrity\, and the price of truth. \n  \nSPEAKER BIO \nRev. Dr. Nancy Niero graduated with her Doctor of Ministry degree in May 2023 from Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa\, Oklahoma and is ordained in the United Church of Christ. She has had a 15-year career in hospice and hospital chaplaincy-bereavement and created grief work as an important companion with racial justice work. Prior to her call to ministry\, she was a historic preservationist and journalist. Rev. Dr. Niero lives on the ancestral land of the Squaxin Island people\, People of the Water\, who lived along the shores and watersheds of the seven southernmost inlets of the Salish Sea\, near what is known today as the Puget Sound in Washington.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/witness-at-sand-creek
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Book Talks,Diverse Voices
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/SandCreekCarousel400.png
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260522T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260522T130000
DTSTAMP:20260525T082509Z
CREATED:20260327T110852Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260525T082509Z
UID:14567-1779451200-1779454800@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Congregationalism in Asia Collections Tour
DESCRIPTION:CLA Archivist Billy McCarthy led this tour that explored the role 14 Beacon Street played in nineteenth-century mission work in Asia. \nThe American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM)\, a missionary organization founded in 1810\, was located at 14 Beacon Street during the nineteenth century. \nThe Congregational Library & Archives collections include many items related to missionary work in Asia\, especially in places like Japan\, China\, and India. This tour included a variety of material like scrapbooks\, pamphlets\, letters\, and more from this fascinating aspect of Congregational history. \nHeld in the CLA’s historic reading room at 14 Beacon Street\, these monthly collection tours connected residents of Beacon Hill and the greater Boston region with original\, rarely seen materials in the CLA’s collections. \nThis event began with a short talk by Billy McCarthy\, followed by plenty of time for browsing items from our collections and asking questions. \nThanks to the generosity of the Beacon Hill Civic Association\, these programs were offered completely free of charge to the public.
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/congregationalism-asia-collections-tour
LOCATION:Congregational Library & Archives\, 14 Beacon Street\, Boston\, MA\, 02108\, United States
CATEGORIES:Congregational Story,Diverse Voices,Tour
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://congregationallibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/May26Carousel400.png
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260527T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260527T140000
DTSTAMP:20260630T102734Z
CREATED:20260428T030952Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260630T102734Z
UID:14980-1779886800-1779890400@congregationallibrary.org
SUMMARY:Reluctant Revolutionary: The Life and Legacy of Pastor Andrew Eliot (1718–1778) of Boston
DESCRIPTION:Andrew Eliot (1718-1778) was one of the most prominent Boston leaders in the second half of the eighteenth century. As minister of one of the city’s largest Congregational churches\, his was an important political as well as religious voice into the earliest years of the American War for Independence. But Eliot has often been neglected or misunderstood. \nThis virtual program featured a talk by John S. Oakes\, who has published a revealing new biography of Eliot. Oakes draws on multiple sources to offer a fresh portrait of the Boston minister as: a moderate but orthodox Calvinist who maintained a consistent witness at a time of theological turmoil; a prosperous family man who helped the lay the foundations for future generations of Eliots among the Boston “Brahmin”; a “reluctant revolutionary” whose devotion to Protestant British ideals prevented him from embracing the patriot cause in the War for Independence until hostilities were already under way; and a dedicated pastor who was one of very few ministers to choose to endure the hardships of Boston under British occupation. \nA cautious and irenic leader\, Eliot also provides an outstanding example of a leader who maintained his personal integrity and a wide network of diverse connections\, despite ministering in a highly polarized intellectual and political climate. \n  \nSPEAKER BIO \nDr. John S. Oakes\, is a research fellow of Wycliffe College\, Toronto. He is author of Conservative Revolutionaries: Transformation and Tradition in the Religious and Political Thought of Charles Chauncy and Jonathan Mayhew (Pickwick\, 2016).
URL:https://congregationallibrary.org/events/reluctant-revolutionary
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Book Talks,Revolutionary Stories
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