What records does the Methodist Church have?

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Last updated: January 11, 2025

Services The Methodist Church has been involved in

The Methodist Church in the past has managed: 

  • refuges and homes for families
  • children's homes (for short and long stays)
  • hostels  
  • foster home placements
  • early childhood education
  • parenting
  • social work support 
  • community development projects
  • budgeting, youth development
  • social and emergency housing
  • youth transition housing
  • Housing First
  • addiction, disability and mental health services
  • residential elder care.   
     

Records that may be in the Methodist Archives

Their archive (Methodist Archives) may have records about the people who were involved or stayed at: 

  • refuges and homes for families
  • children's homes (for short and long stays)
  • hostels  
  • foster home placements. 

Methodist Archives does not hold records about students of Methodist schools (such as Wesley College). For their records you can contact the school directly.

Records about other non-residential services are the responsibility of the Methodist mission that ran the service. The missions have their own records keeping and disposal policies. 

Records that might be missing from the Methodist Church 

Records from before the Privacy Act became law in 1993 may not be available. Before this law took effect, the Church’s policies and procedures around keeping records were ad hoc (made up when needed) and informal. This means records were not consistently made or kept in the same way.

The Church no longer has some admission files from their South Island Children’s Home. In 1984 there was a reunion of people who had been residents at the Home. People who asked for their admission records at the reunion were given them, but there is no record of who was given their records.

Some records held by the Christchurch Methodist Mission were destroyed when the Mission’s building was demolished after the Christchurch earthquakes in 2010-2011. Support can help you figure out what other organisations you could request records from. Find support groups and organisations in your area.