Scholars conducting research on historic Christian involvement in the Holy Land and Christian missionary efforts in the 19th Century will find a treasure trove in the Conrad Schick Library that opened in 2007 on the grounds of Christ Church.
The 3,000 books, articles, manuscripts, journals, letters and other valuable materials contained in the library and its archives shed light on the assistance Christian hospitals, schools and libraries have given to people in the Holy Land, and the aid Christians provided both for Zionism and the creation of Arab nationalism.
Focus of the library is 19th and 20th Century history. Among numerous resources, the collection contains literature on Judaism and the Jewish context of the New Testament, books by Old Testament scholars, and original material on the history of Christ Church and the local activities of CMJ since the early 1800s.
The library also contains models of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Protestant Quarter of Jerusalem constructed in the 19th century by renowned model maker, scholar, archaeologist and architect Conrad Schick, for whom the library is named.
Opening the library’s archives to the academic community is an effort by CMJ’s Alexander College to encourage objective scholarship. Valuable historic Christian documents reside in archives throughout Israel, but are largely unavailable to researchers. The Schick Library archives will be open to Jewish and Christian academicians, researchers, tour guides, the media and students at Alexander College.
Libraries are not new to CMJ. In 1849, Christ Church created the first modern library in Israel, known as the Jerusalem Literary Society. The British consul at the time appealed to Christians in Britain to send books for the library, but the library was subsequently sold in 1856. The Conrad Schick Library now occupies the historic building on the grounds of Christ Church that housed the first British consulate in the Holy Land.