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WHAT CHURCHES SHOULD PRESERVE
Resolution 1 of General Assembly 1997 invited the General Secretary, in conjunction with the United Reformed Church History Society and representatives of the archives profession, if available, to provide guidelines on retention, location , disposal etc for the records of the United Reformed Church a all levels. For many years the Assembly guidance to local congregations has been that the main records of a local church older than, say, twenty-five years should be deposited in Local County Record Offices on permanent loan. Most pre-1972 material should, therefore, already be deposited. County Archivists are usually welcoming and helpful in offering advice.
The History Society has prepared the following guidelines for local churches on the material to be preserved. For the sake of security these items should be kept on church premises rather than in private homes, and access should be restricted to named individuals. The area selected must be free from damp.
1 Registers (Baptisms/Marriages/Deaths) are essential for any requests for certification and should be normally kept in a safe.
2 Minute Books (Church Meeting and Elders), together with those of other groups, eg deacons, managers and other organised activities eg Sunday School/Junior Church. Where the records are in loose leaf format, rather than in a book, consideration should be given either to binding the loose leaf material, or to keeping a separate archive copy from that which is used as a working copy.
3 Accounts and financial records. (Churches are required to retain these for five years for revenue purposes anyway.)
4 Lists of members, and/or adherents, dated.
5 Church magazines, preferably bound by years or groups of years.
6 Brochures/orders of service for special occasions, dated.
7 Photographs (ministers/church officers/other personalities) identified and dated, & of other occasions where the event can be positively identified.
8 Record of stained glass, where applicable.
9 Record of furnishings and banners etc, (to include lighting fixtures, eg chandeliers), dated - especially in cases of
10 Record of interior/exterior of building, dated, and all surviving architectural plans.
11 Memorial tablets (with a note of the text, if any removed).
12 Special artefacts given to church eg by visiting missionaries/speakers, provided origin can be ascertained.
13 Church silver, plate, china, mugs etc. (A photographic record is desirable in case of theft, which should be kept separately.)
14 War memorial(s), including a list of names. (This should be registered with the Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ).
15 Church histories.
16 At least an index to any church library.
17 Memorabilia from uniformed groups or others eg Band of Hope, Brotherhood, Women’s Meeting, football team etc.
18 Memoirs/memories of church members (where not included in magazines or histories). These may increasingly take the form of videos and tapes.
19 List of tombs in graveyards - with inscriptions where possible, since these tend to wear with age.
20 Any material from a Time Capsule buried with a foundation stone, which might become available as a result of renovation or rebuilding.
If a church is closed, it is recommended that the material listed here should be deposited in the nearest County Record Office. Any document connected with trusts, charity endowments or ownership of property must be deposited.
Artefacts are more likely to find a home in a museum.
Some local Family History Societies will assist in transcribing information to ensure that the record survives eg grave stones.
Some University Libraries, where there is a Local History Department, are interested in oral history.
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