The Greater Kansas City Ecumenical and Interfaith History physical archival collection will soon be housed at the Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library.

An initial donation was arranged on May 16, 2025 by Dr. Geneva Blackmer and Kara Flinn, Special Collections Sr. Librarian / Archivist including materials from the Religious Literacy Center Project (UMKC), the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, the Kansas City Festival of Faiths, Hindu and the Cowboy, SevenDays, and CRES. To view a complete list of donated items, please click here. Donations also include a copy of The Greater Kansas City Ecumenical and Interfaith History booklet.

Most recently, a new CRES archive was established by the Rev. Dr. Vern Barnet and Dr. Larry Guillot, on August 27, 2025. Per the CRES website, it already archives all 947 columns Vern wrote for The Kansas City Star 1994-2012, books and articles from other publications, and interfaith materials prepared for practical use along with reports of the organization’s extensive work in the community. Archives include the 2001 “Gifts of Pluralism” conference, the Harvard “Interfaith Academies” hosted by CRES here in Kansas City, and, chaired by Vern, the Jackson County Diversity Task Force 77-page report commissioned by the County Executive on how faith communities in the metro fared in the year after 9/11, and many other matters of historical importance for the community and interfaith work nationally.

To view the full announcement from CRES, please click here.


A huge thank you to all the donors who made this possible!

The Greater Kansas City Ecumenical and Interfaith History physical archival collection will be an extension of original materials donated by Donna Ziegenhorn to the Missouri Valley Room on September 26, 2023 related to the Kansas City Festival of Faiths and the Hindu and the Cowboy, which will also be available for access.

This includes:
Festival of Faiths Historical Materials, 2006-2015
Hindu and the Cowboy Interviews (on behalf of CRES) and Historical Materials
3 boxes total

Please note that The Greater Kansas City Ecumenical and Interfaith History is currently in que by the Kansas City Public Library for processing.Please check back for updates regarding collection availability and access instructions.

If you, or your ecumenical/ interfaith organization would like to contribute to the collection, please contact KaraFlinn@kclibrary.org to arrange an appointment.