Your Local Church History

What is it? A short summary of the current year in the life of your church.

Who cares? The Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., has a library that keeps archival records of all of its Presbyterian churches in the United States. There is a notebook in the library for each church. The Department of History requests that each church compile a short summary of its activities, statistics, etc., each year.

What period should it cover? The present calendar year, January 1 through December 31.

Who should write it? The Historian of the church or of the local Presbyterian Womens group, or just any member of the church who is interested in preserving the church's history for future generations.

What should it include? It should cover the life of the congregation. This includes the various groups such as Presbyterian Women, Men of the Church, Youth, Church School, Session, Deacons, outreach programs, and other congregational activities. It should include names of the pastor and other church employees, names of session members and officers of church organizations. It should include statistics about church membership and church programs. It could be like a time chart with colorful events added. Include photographs if you wish. But, remember to get permission before you send it. Some folks don't like their photographs sent out.

Should it be printed on special paper? Yes, the paper should be acid-free. This special paper is available at reasonable cost from a variety of sources.

Or your local office supply store or even HEB and Walmart. Most paper is coming in Acid free varieties and is readily available at a cost of less than $5 a ream.

Do not use: Plastic tape, rubber bands, staples, metal paper clips, rubber cement, albums with adhesive-coated pages, plasticized (PVC-polyvinyl chloride) sheets or post-it notes.

You may use: UHC Stic (non-toxic glue stick), Plastiklips (non-toxic, pH neutral paper clips), transparent sheet protectors (give them the sniff test to avoid plastic with an odor). These items may be found in office supply stores.

Demco