Following on from the retirement of long-serving archivist Jo Smith late last year, MCNZ is delighted to welcome Jennie Hood and Katherine Doig to the team. Both Jennie and Katherine bring a range of expertise and experience and are keen to share that knowledge, passion and enthusiam for history.

Jennie grew up in the UK and moved to Aotearoa a decade ago after falling for the beautiful scenery and laid-back lifesyle. She studied history at the University of Manchester before deciding to specialise in archives management, completing her archivist training with the University of Dundee in 2011. She has worked for various archive institutions in the UK and Aotearoa, including local authority archives, Archives New Zealand and most recently Canterbury Museum. She rejoins the Methodist Archives having spent a couple of years working there previously as a one day per week Assistant Archivist. Jennie has always had a passion for history and feels fortunate to be able to facilitate and promote access to the unique material held in the archives. She especially enjoys bringing order to disorder! When she is not busy in the stacks Jennie can often be found at the ice rink training with her syncro skating team, or enjoying a walk in the hills.

Katherine studied history and music at the University of Canterbury, and commenced her archival career at the Public Record Office Victoria in Melbourne. After returning home to Aotearoa, she worked as an archivist at Archives New Zealand’s Christchurch Regional Office for over a decade, and most recently was Operations Manager of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. She is passionate about archives and the role that they have in connecting us to our personal and shared histories. With her own whakapapa richly connected to the MCNZ through several generations, she feels privileged to be able to promote, protect and foster access to the unique and precious taonga held in the archives. When not fossicking around in the archives, she can be found running around after her young daughter, and singing the odd aria alongside her husband.

Both Jennie and Katherine consider themselves incredibly fortunate to follow on from Jo Smith in the role, and to have inherited Jo’s considerable legacy - an immaculately described collection, and a purpose-built, modern archival facility, Kei Muri Mapara, adjacent to the Connexional Office in Papanui, Christchurch. With the archives safely housed, the new archivists, with the invaluable support of the dedicated team of volunteers that Jo fostered over many years, seek to make the collection even more discoverable and accessible, and to broaden its user base.

Their immediate priorities are to digitise and make available online a greater proportion of the holdings, and to acquire a modern online holdings database for the website that will be easy for researchers - regardless of their location - to use to search through the collection. Through further development of the collection, with new acquisitions and finding aids, they seek to ensure that the rich and diverse multicultural fabric of the Church – past, present, and future – continues to be reflected and recorded for current and future generations.

In addition to supporting the wider Connexion with their requests for archived information, the archivists are also available to support the general public with their historical research enquiries, online or in person (by prior appointment only). Contact details, and comprehensive information about holdings and services can be found on the Methodist Archives website:

www.methodist.org.nz/whakapapa/archives