Record types include journals, sermons, correspondence, bank drafts, ministerial licenses, circuit plans, and a legal document. There is also a typed manuscript of the journal. The journal is the handwritten original manuscript recording the events of York's daily life, as well as his physical and spiritual health, from 1869 to 1871. The typed manuscript is a transcription of this same journal by the donor, though the sequence of entries is not the same as in the original document. The original order of the journal entries is unclear, as the document arrived with the pages out of sequence, and much re- arranging was necessary. An exact match between the chronology of the manuscript journal and the transcription was not possible. The sermons consist of two handwritten sermon fragments on texts from Exodus and Galatians. There is also a short handwritten poem. The correspondence is two letters to York, one of which is from William Mugoleton and the other, from George Ripley. Both are handwritten originals. The bank drafts are receipts for money loaned. The ministerial licenses consist of four local preacher licenses issued to York by Quarterly Meetings from 1841 to 1856. The circuit local preacher's plans are from Market Darborough Circuit (Wesleyan Methodist Church, England, 1841) and New York and New York East Districts (Methodist Episcopal Church, 1852). Both show the locations in which local preachers are scheduled to take services during one quarter. The legal document is a court summons pertaining to the execution of York's will in 1884.

This collection contains records of Matthews’ personal and ministerial life, understanding that these topics overlap. The ministry series contains a sizeable compilation of Matthews’ sermons and bulletins as well as newspaper clippings detailing ministerial milestones, particularly her appointment as district superintendent and her consecration as bishop. There are also a significant number of congratulatory letters and other correspondence. Most of this series documents Matthews’ episcopacy. The education series contains mostly course notes and term papers that are listed in chronologically order by semester. The Women series constitutes mostly materials from workshops for women and women’s issues that Matthews led. The latter part of the collection consists of family records, such as photographs, information on dolls, and genealogical papers. Also, artifacts such as stoles, a clerical robe, pins, and Matthews’ copy of the 1980 Book of Discipline.

This collection contains the sermons and prayers of Matthew Simpson Hughes. The sermons, given between 1888 and 1917, document his ministerial career. Hughes placed each of his sermons in an envelope on which he noted the title and the date and location where he preached the sermon. The majority of the sermons were given in Kansas City, Missouri, and Pasadena, California. He also preached in Iowa, Maine, and Minnesota. Most of the sermons are handwritten. Only a few are typed. Many of the sermons contained draft, revision, and alternate copies. There are approximately five hundred sermons in this collection. Some of the topics addressed by Hughes include missions and morality.

Twenty-four sermons have no text reference, and are arranged alphabetically. This includes a lecture on the evolution of women. News clippings, articles, and small note cards were also part of the envelopes. The clippings include Hughes' published sermons which appeared in newspapers, as well as articles and news stories that supported or related to his sermons. The note cards contain brief bibliographic references to works Hughes used in preparing a sermon. The clippings, articles, and note cards have been photocopied onto acid free paper. All the items related to the sermon were kept together and placed in an acid free mini folder with the title and text reference noted on the outside of the folder. The last folder in this collection contains fourteen prayers prepared by Hughes. Eight of these prayers are dated from 1898 and 1902. The remainder are undated.

Record types within this collection include sermons, addresses, clippings, notes, note cards, orders of worship, and program materials. Most of the collection consists of sermons and addresses delivered by Arnold to a wide variety of community and church groups. These are mostly handwritten and in outline form, although a few are complete typewritten manuscripts. Topics include Biblical themes, challenges of Christian living, national and patriotic subjects, liturgical and secular holidays, and Sunday School lessons. Many were delivered to church services and church groups in Ohio and neighboring states; others were addressed to a wide variety of community groups. Among the organizations that benefited from Reverend Arnold's wit were the Ohio Farm Bureau, 4-H Club, Rotary Club, General Conference of 1933, and the Otterbein Guild. The clippings and notes are closely related to Arnold's sermons and addresses. Also included in this collection are some program materials relating to Arnold's work with the Evangelical United Brethren Sunday school publications, as well as a few orders of worship from his ministerial and speaking career.

This collection includes dossiers, correspondence, letters, records of annual conferences and agencies, subject files, manuscripts, articles, personal and family papers, photographs, negatives, clippings, and other printed matter. Bishop Springer's papers primarily document the interaction of American social and ecclesiastical structures forged at the edge of the American frontier with a region of the African continent which was undergoing the process of civilization. Reflected also among these materials is the impact which such interaction had upon Americans who went to spend their lives in the African mission fields, as well as the impact upon Africans themselves. See the published guide, "Preliminary Inventory of the Papers of Bishop John McKendree Springer" (issued by the General Commission on Archives and History, 1982) for individual series descriptions.

Records in the Paul Washburn papers primarily reflect his professional life. Documents illustrate his pastoral philosophy even when administering denominational work on both a national and international scale. This is evident in the kinds of records such as sermons, Bible studies, episcopal messages and ecumenical discussions. Global interests are manifested with his work at the General Board of Global Ministries, General Board of Christian Unity which reflect contemporary views for the period reflected in related documents. As co-chair of the important United Methodist - Roman Catholic Dialogue, which came from his work with Christian Unity, is rooted in his Evangelical United Brethren Church roots of ecumenical understanding and cooperation. Perhaps his greatest contribution to the church came as Executive Secretary for the group responsible to administratively pull off the merger between the Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren churches which is amply documented in the collection..

This collection documents the professional life of Paul Bentley Kern as a pastor, educator and bishop for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (1844-1939) and later for the Methodist Church (1939-1968). At the end of this collection the researcher will find various ministerial credentials awarded to Kern and his forbearers.

The manuscripts include sermons (with and without Biblical texts), addresses, and publications which offer a diversity of interests and commitments that shaped Kern's ministry. Major topics of concerns include a strong anti-war stance in both World Wars (though most of the information is centered on World War I), ethics in business, labor, church union in 1939, the Advance, Crusade for Christ, jazz, as well as systematic and practical theological issues, role of the church in America and the world, America as a steward of the world's wealth and resources, temperance, organization of the Korean Methodist Church, and Methodism. Christian education, sociology, matriculation addresses, Reformation Sunday, missions with an emphasis on China round out the rest of the topics. Kern considered all these areas as major forces which could and should shape the ever changing world in the early and middle twentieth century. . Part of the materials include addresses which were part of the Cole Lectures which he delivered at Vanderbilt University in 1935.

Administrative records include correspondence, telegraphs, reports, annual conference materials, and the Council of Bishops. The correspondence segment is centered on congratulatory remarks in the form of letters (1930) and telegrams (1930) which Kern received upon his election to the episcopacy. One of the reports relates to his trips to the Orient where he served his first term as a bishop for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. There are a small number of field reports from Orient as well. Clippings make up most of Florida, Holston and Tennessee Annual Conferences folder with emphasis on Kern's Episcopal administration in the Tennessee area. There are also a few items relating to China.

This collection contains sermons by Paul R. Koontz. There are approximately 1,800 sermons. The sermons were handwritten or typed on small pieces of paper or note cards. Most of the sermons have notations on them regarding when and where the sermon was preached. There are a few other items in this collection. One folder contains a few notes on Bible chapters and themes. There is also a folder of hymns and poems Koontz used to supplement his sermons. Finally, there are eight church bulletins in this collection. These are dated 1918-1931.

These papers document Reverend Ward's life while he was in seminary, serving as a pastor, and his subsequent death after the Second Battle of Bull Run during the American Civil War. Ward was a copious writer on a variety of subjects. The papers show his development as an individual which eventually laid the foundation for his personal conviction to serve actively in the war. There are some documents assigned to Mrs. Jane E. Ward, Pelatiah's wife, after his death.

Quentin Lansman papers includes some of Lansman's notes and drafts for his dissertation at Northwestern University, titled An Historical Study of the Development of Higher Education and Related Theological and Educational Assumptions in the Evangelical United Brethren Church: 1800-1954. Also includes numerous sermon notes from the 1950s and 1960s. Also included are photographs of an Evangelical Church meeting and families in Hagerstown, Maryland, from prior to 1925, possibly before 1920, along with turn of the century post cards from Corydon, Indiana, the original state capital of Indiana. Also includes images of a commemoration service at the grave of early-19th century church figure John G. Pfrimmer (1762-1825). Personnal correspondance of Evangelical Church Rev. Henry Fuessner of Cleveland, Ohio is also included-among them are letters from General Secretary Bishop Sylvanus Charles Breyfogel (1851-1934). The letters range from 1928-1931.

There are numerous records and minutes from the 1960s for the United Campus Christian Fellowship, an ecumenical collegiate organization resulting from the merger of the campus Christian Fellowships of the Disciples of Christ, Evangelical United Brethren, United Church of Christ, and United Presbyterian U.S.A Chuches into a single national organization. At least one chart of its national structure, from its related churches down to college campuses and local congregations, is included. Handouts, reports, policies, and other materials related to Campus Fellowship make up the remainder of the collection. Images of events and student activities in several collegiate Christian fellowships are included, as well as a strategic plan titled "Operation Nehemiah" from the Hillcrest Bible Institute in Alberta, Canada, from the late 1950s-early 1960s. A panorama photograph of the 1958 Evangelical United Brethren Student Conference at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania, is in a separate box.