This collection documents the planning and proceedings of the Atlanta '88 Congress on Evangelizing Black America. Matthew Parker of the Institute for Black Family Development (a product of the 1984 National Summit on Black Church Development), was a key figure in the Congress planning. The records of the meeting reveal the network of Black Christian leaders, and document their thinking and planning together to address the role of the Black church in evangelism. A great value of the collection is that it not only documents the planning for the Congress but also the proceedings as Black church and ministry leaders confer and learn together as they analyze their history and current situation and plan for the future. The arrangement of the collection has remained as it was received. Duplicates were returned to the donor.

Audio and videotapes comprise a major part of the collection. Audio recordings (see Location Record: Audio Tapes) provide a comprehensive record of the plenary sessions and small group workshops at Atlanta '88, while the video footage covers the 1986 Summit plenary sessions (see Location Record: Videotape).

Series: Atlanta '88 Congress on Evangelizing Black America

Arrangement: Alphabetical

Date range: 1986-1989

Volume: 1.2 cubic feet (50 folders), 36 audio tapes, 12 videotapes,

Boxes: 1-3

Type of documents: Correspondence, memos, reports, conference participant list and schedule, minutes, financial records, clippings about the event both prior to and following the Congress, and evaluations, audio tapes and videotapes

Correspondents: Matthew Parker and Black Evangelical leaders

Notes: The series contains the various documents which record the planning, promotion, and convening of the Congress in mid-1988, including lists of participants and area coordinators (folder 1-4), negotiations for audio-visual recording of the event sessions (folder 1-5), promotional material (folders 1-10,11), correspondence (folders 1-14,15), inquiries about arrangements, registration, requests for grant funding (folder 3-11 and 12), exhibits (folder 2-1), press releases and media coverage (folder 2-8), minutes from the local committee (folder 2-10), a steering committee notebook which includes meeting minutes, an organizational chart (folder 3-12), Congress Connection, the Congress "official daily communication" (folder 2-15), program development and sample packet (folders 2-17 and 3-1,2). Several of the files contain samples from other events or processes which appear to have been used as models than containing information directly about Atlanta '88 (PR in folder 3-5 and Registration in folder 3-7). Most of the financial data appears in raw form in folders 1-1, 2, 6 and 1-12, with the exception of a financial statement on the last page of Matthew Parker's summary report (folder 3-13). Audio and video recordings document the actual content of the Congress (see Location Record: Audio Tapes, Video Tapes).

Exceptional items: The summary report in folder 3-12 consolidates information about the Congress, describing its genesis, listing task force members, and reviewing objectives, ethnic and institutional representation (not statistics), impact and planned actions, analysis of some of the responses to evaluation questions, and a financial statement.

Folder 2-7 (labeled Masters) consists of originals of documents which were then duplicated. Some of these documents turned up in other files, while others did not (such as the minutes for the Congress's Steering Committee meeting in March 1988), making this a valuable rather than repetitive resource.