By Rev. Duane Coates*

Photo: Rev. Duane Coates, Hettinger UMC, chair North Central Jurisdicational Commission on Archives and History. Photo by jlynn studio.

This summer, the Dakotas will host historians and others interested in our history from throughout the jurisdiction.

The event called the annual convocation of the North Central Commission on Archives and History will take place in Bismarck on July 10-13. The convocation will include six presentations, a film, a bus tour and worship. Registrations are still open, register at this link.

Fitting the theme, “Flowing Faith on the Missouri,” the event will include papers and/or presentations on churches and figures that settled around the Missouri River in what was once Dakota Territory. This includes papers and presentations on the history of Native populations and how their culture(s) flourished and/or diminished along with or despite the activities of non-Native immigrants. This includes a paper on the small pox epidemic of 1837 among the Hidatsa and Mandan Indians. Participants on the bus tour will drive by the sites of Native camps established from April 2016-March 2017 in protection of Lake Oahe and in support of Native self-determination. The bus tour will also drive to Mobridge, SD, and see one of our conference historical sites and an example of Oscar Howe art work. A film on the Germans-from-Russia culture in North Dakota is also available. Three of our United Methodist churches are also included in the event as well as access to the North Dakota Heritage Center, which is a repository for many records of closed North Dakota churches in the United Methodist tradition (including predecessor denominations). They also have exhibits on faith there. 

For those coming from far away, there is a block of hotel rooms at the Comfort Suites at 929 Gateway in Bismarck. The phone number is 701-223-4009. Just mention “archives and history.”

There is a $130 registration fee for the event, which includes meals and the bus tour. However, if you want to come for one or two days, there are proportional rates. Go to this link  in order to register.

The opening worship features Bishop Bruce Ough preaching. It begins at 6:30 p.m. at Bismarck Legacy and is free and open to the public.    

North Central Jurisdiction Commission on Archives and History (NCJCAH) is an agency created by General Conference to be auxiliary to the General Commission on Archives and History. The NCJCAH comprises members of the GCAH from this jurisdiction as well as three additional voting delegates from each of the jurisdiction’s 11 annual conferences. It meets annually to promote historical projects within the jurisdiction, provide a forum for the exchange of historical information, consider nominations for historic sites or heritage landmarks within the jurisdiction and set collection policies for the jurisdictional archives. The site of the annual meeting rotates throughout the jurisdiction’s episcopal areas. The last time the Dakotas hosted this event was 2008 when we met in Mitchell and were joined by the annual meeting of the Historical Society of The United Methodist Church, which rotates their meetings through the jurisdictions. At each NCJCAH meeting, commissioners hear reports from each conference commission about how their mission is fulfilled there. Also, commissioners hear from the General Commission staff. Our own Rev. R. Duane Coates is in his first of four years chairing the NCJCAH, and he represents this body as well as our annual conference to the GCAH.

*Rev. Duane Coates serves at Hettinger UMC and is the Chair of the North Central Jurisdictional Commission on Archives and History.