The records of the Madison Area Community of Churches cover the entire history of the organization, although the majority of the documentation relates to the last decade of its existence. The minutes of the assemblies and meetings of the cabinet and the executive committee are virtually complete, and they provide the most comprehensive coverage of MACC's activities and concerns. The MACC newsletter (eventually known as the Messenger), which is available in the Historical Society Library, is another essential source, although Society holdings are not complete.
The BACKGROUND MATERIAL consists of constitutions and by-laws, miscellaneous clippings about MACC activities, organizational charts, and statements of purpose. Also filed here are its directories of Madison churches, an annual publication of MACC. The background information includes the script for a fundraising slide show. This contains some historical information, but there is no true history of the Madison Area Community of Churches in the collection.
ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS consist of agendas and minutes of various administrative committees and correspondence of the executive committee, two executive secretaries, and President Paul Hoornstra. Treasurers' records and monthly reports are also filed here. The assembly records, which are virtually complete, contain annual financial reports, as well as reports of the officers and committees.
The alphabetically-arranged COMMITTEE RECORDS primarily document the expanded activities of MACC's last decade, although several files such as the records of the Celebration and Worship Committee, the Forum Committee, the Special Ministries Committee, and the Sunday Evening Hour Committee relate to earlier activities. These files variously include minutes, correspondence, and mailings, although none of the committees appear to be fully documented.
PROJECT FILES relate to charitable and religious activities supported by MACC. The degree of involvement varied from sponsorship of the film The Late Liz, which MACC supported with a promotional mailing, to the Ecumenical Information and Resource Center which commanded a great deal of attention and resources. (Some records about the operation of the Catholic Resource Center from which EIRC developed are filed with the SUBJECT FILES.) Also of interest here are materials on the Interfaith Dialogue, which was the ecumenical organization of the Madison clergy; the jail ministry; and information gathered about religious retreat centers in Wisconsin during the early 1970's.
The SUBJECT FILES, which have been extensively weeeded, are an alphabetically-arranged reference file that was primarily collected by Executive Secretary Sally Lavik. The files relate to issues and topics with which MACC was concerned such as aging, the draft, and race relations, and to organizations with which MACC was involved in some way. These range from national religious bodies to local social action groups such as the Interfaith Committee of the Madison EOC and the Dane County Community Action Commission and to religious organizations such as the Madison Area Lutheran Council.
