Meet the Staff of the General Commission on
Archives and History

Robert J.Williams General Secretary  rwilliams@gcah.org Ph.D., Drew University, 1983 M.Div., Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1973 B.A., M.S., University of Pennsylvania, 1970

Robert J. Williams, beginning in 2006, is the General Secretary of the General Commission on Archives and History . He is a clergy member of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference. He also serves as editor of Methodist History.

Prior to his present appointment, Williams served local churches in the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference. He has taught at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary and has taught United Methodist studies at Princeton Theological Seminary.

In addition to various leadership posts in his Annual Conference, he has served on the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, the World Methodist Council, the Board of Trustees at the Pennington (NJ) School and served as a member of the General Commission on Archives and History.

Williams is married to the former Renee Murphy with whom he has two daughters, Shauna and Erin.

Michelle Merkel-Brunskill Administrative Assistant 973-408-3189 mmerkel@gcah.org  B.A., Aurora University, 1996

Michelle has been with GCAH since 2000. She provides administrative support for the Commission's General Secretary. Michelle is the public's contact at the Archives to answer questions about general information, subscribing to Methodist History, Historic and Heritage Landmark applications, purchasing GCAH publications, and updating the GCAH directory.

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L. Dale Patterson Archivist-Records Administrator 973-408-3195 dpatterson@gcah.org Certified Archivist, 1989 Ph. D., Drew University, 1984 M.C.S., Regent College, 1978 B.S., University of Denver, 1975

Dale has worked on the Commission Staff since 1994. Prior to that time he was Associate Archivist and Co-Director of the Oral History Center at the University of Louisville. Dale is involved in his local church and in adjunct teaching at Drew University. Contact him if you have questions about sending records to the Archives Center, curious about workshops, or if you wonder what types of records your office or church should be keeping.

Mark Shenise Associate Archivist 973-408-3194 mshenise@gcah.org D. Litt. Candidate, Drew University M.T.S., Drew Theological School, 1985 B.A., Olivet Nazarene University, 1981

Mark is the Associate Archivist. His major responsibilities are processing agencies and personal papers, handling reference requests, working on museum displays, overseeing basic conservation needs, working with computers and databases, and preserving/cataloging the artifacts collection. Mark first worked for the archives in 1983 as a Student Assistant. After graduating from Drew Theological Seminary in 1985 and serving as an Associate Pastor in High Mountain Church of the Nazarene, Mark came back to work full-time for the archives in the Fall of 1986. He is a member of the Mendham United Methodist Church.  Mark is also a member of the Greater New Jersey Commission on Archives and History. Back to top

Frances Lyons-Bristol Reference Archivist 973- 408-3196 fbristol@gcah.org Certified Archivist 1996 Higher Diploma in Archival Studies UCD 1993 BA University College Dublin 1990

  Frances joined the staff of the Commission as Reference Archivist in March 2008.  She previously managed the Archives and Special Properties Collection at American International Group, Inc. in New York City. Prior to working at AIG she was the archivist for The McGraw-Hill Companies.  Frances moved to the United States from Ireland in 1994.

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Christopher J. Anderson Methodist Librarian Drew University 973-408-3910 cjanders@drew.edu Ph.D., Drew University, 2006 M.Div., Asbury Theological Seminary, 1997 B.S., Houghton College, 1991

Chris began his appointment as Methodist Librarian in January 2007. He is a clergy member of the Western Pennsylvania Conference of the Wesleyan Church. He also serves as co-editor of the International Journal of Religion and Sport.

>Prior to his post at Drew University, Chris worked in local churches in New York and Michigan. He also taught courses in history and religion at a variety of colleges and seminaries including Barclay College, Fairleigh Dickinson University and Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He also worked at the General Commission on Archives and History as a student assistant from 2003-2004.

Chris and Deb (formerly Osborne) live in Madison and have two sons, Brett and Trenton

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Jocelyne Rubinetti Methodist Library Associate, Drew University 973-408-3590 jrubinet@drew.edu

Jocelyne, who is bilingual, has worked at the Methodist Center managing the Reading Room and dealing with research requests and patrons since 1989.

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Charles Yrigoyen, Jr. General Secretary, Emeritus  D.D., Albright College, 1987 Ph.D., Temple University, 1973 Th.M., Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1964 B.D., Lancaster Theological Seminary, 1962 B.S. in Economics, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 1959

Chuck was the GCAH General Secretary from 1982-2005. He is an ordained clergy member of the Eastern Pennsylvanian Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. He lives in retirement, with his wife Jean, in Lancaster, Pennsylvannia.

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