First, a distinction between archival and non-archival records should be made. Parish archives are those materials, made or received by the parish in pursuance of its legal obligations or in connection with the transaction of its proper business and preserved or appropriate for preservation by the parish as evidence of its functions, policies, decisions, or other activities or because of the informational value of the data contained therein. Non-archival records are all other materials preserved to document the parish's history, such as parishioners' scrapbooks, rectors' sermons, and memoirs. The outline below is suggested for guiding the parish archivist in selecting material for permanent preservation.

The parish archivist will not be directly involved with these records until they become noncurrent, that is, until they no longer have any use in the day-by-day business of the parish. At certain times, perhaps annually, the parish archivist should collect these records and place them in the parish archives; the annual parish meeting would be an ideal time to collect many of them, especially papers of parish organizations before they are lost. Of course, many of these records will be current parish records for several years after their creation (e.g., parish registers)

The proper preservation of archives is as important as collecting them. A special storage area either a filing cabinet or, better, a vault or special room with shelving for boxes should be provided. And it should be locked! Probably no one using parish archives would deliberately violate the eighth commandment but carelessness produces the same consequences as theft. It helps if an archivist is a little paranoid! The archives should never be removed from the parish building where they are deposited; if they are removed they will seldom find their way back. Parish archives should not be loaned out as are books from a parish library

Records should not be stored in areas subject to extreme heat, marked fluctuations in temperature, or high humidity. A temperature range of 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit and a relative humidity of 50% to 65% is ideal. Papers should be periodically inspected for atmospheric and vermin damage and adequate protective measures taken. Really vital parish records, such as baptismal registers, should be photocopied.

Transparent mending tape should never be used on archival records; tape already found on records should be carefully removed, as should steel paper clips, staples, and rubber bands. All papers should be unfolded. Acid-free filing folders are worth their cost. All folders and boxes should be labeled. All newspaper clippings and photographs should be identified and dated. Nothing should be pasted into scrapbooks. Series of Sunday bulletins and newsletters may be bound for convenience and security. Blueprints and other oversized documents should not be folded but carefully rolled around a tube.

No attempt should be made to arrange parish archives by subject. Archives are not books. Records should be arranged according to their origins in an organic body or activity. This system of arrangement known as the provenance principle, or respect des fonds is one whereby every document is traced to the body or office (rector's, vestry, treasurer, guild. etc.) by which it was created or received and to the files of which it last belonged when these files were still in the process of natural accretion. In other words, the principle demands that documents be arranged, not like books according to their subject matter but with reference to the organic relations of the papers, the files of each body or office being kept by themselves.

Consideration should be given to depositing parish archives in a diocesan archives. This would (theoretically) provide better preservation than a local parish could give and would also make the records more readily available to researchers. But such a transfer would not relieve the parish archivist of his responsibility for collecting and initially preserving the records of the parish.

 The Archivist and the Diocesan Historical Society are available to assist congregations evaluate existing records and find a place for the historic material they no longer wish to keep in their own church. We are actively seeking any primary historic material created by any organizations directly related to the diocese such as listed above in what is in the archives. An official deed of transfer will be issued by the archivist upon receipt of such material.

A Suggested Outline for the Organization of Parish Archives

Rector's Office

    * Parish registers
          o Confirmations
          o Communicants
          o Marriages
          o Burials

All of the above are legal documents and should NOT under any circumstances be thrown out or disposed of in any other way

    * Correspondence
    * Reports to bishop, parish, vestry
    * Communicant lists
    * Parish directories
    * Newsletters
    * Service bulletins
    * List of memorials
    * Letters of Transfer- again legal documents recording who is a communicant of the Episcopal Church
    * Office memos
    * Annual Parochial Report

Vestry

    * Correspondence
    * Reports
    * Minutes
    * Constitutions & bylaws
    * Treasurer
          o Reports to vestry & parish
          o Budgets
          o Pledge records
          o General financial records

Parish Organizations (for each organization)

    * Correspondence
    * Reports
    * Minutes
    * Constitution & bylaws
    * Financial records
    * Programs

General

    * Reports submitted to Annual Parish Meeting
    * Reports submitted to special parish meetings
    * Architectural drawings, blueprints
    * Rector's sermons; addresses
    * Photographs- identify the people and the events
    * Members' memoirs
    * Members' scrapbooks
    * Newspaper clippings- photocopies are best for preservation purposes
    * Previous parish histories