Home News CMBS “a godsend” for Anglicans’ TRC documentation

CMBS “a godsend” for Anglicans’ TRC documentation

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WINNIPEG

“I can’t imagine what we would have done without the hospitality you showed us here,” Gloria Romaniuk, archivist at the Anglican Diocese of Rupert’s Land, said to Jon Isaak, director of Winnipeg’s Centre for MB Studies at a thank-you tea Feb. 26, 2014. Romaniuk was already negotiating an agreement for long-term storage in CMBS’s vault when renovation to the diocesan building created an urgent need for temporary off-site storage of archival materials over spring and summer 2013. CMBS “stepped into the breach.”

Romaniuk and several volunteers returned to CMBS to thank Isaak and the Centre with the presentation of a quilted wall hanging, story-sharing and snacks.

Shortly after several metres of boxes moved to CMBS in 2013, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission asked the Diocese of Rupert’s Land for a review of exactly those holdings. CMBS opened not only its vault doors but also the Centre’s workspace for a team of volunteers who came from the diocese every Wednesday in summer 2013 to uncover information relating to the Indian Residential School experience.

In the Centre’s spacious and well-lit reading room, the volunteers perused sacramental records, annual reports, synod journal reports, newspaper articles, photographs and personal records. Then they scanned and processed the information following the TRC guidelines.

“It’s been a godsend,” said John Deacon, synod registrar, who joked the Centre’s space was so hospitable to the work that “we’ve had a hard time getting everybody back.”

With the diocese office renovations complete, CMBS’s temperature-controlled vault continues to house some diocesan materials, including handwritten church record books dating back to the 1820s.

“We have been given this gift,” said Isaak, referring to the Centre’s custom-designed vault built in 2005, one of the newest in the province. “This building is a resource; why not find ways to share it?”

“We felt genuine warmth and kindness from each and every staff member on all occasions,” said Romaniuk. “They always took time to encourage us in our records in a spirit of true Christian fellowship.”

—Karla Braun

Check out the new CMBS website: cmbs.mennonitebrethren.ca.

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