Congregational Records
The Pastor, with the assistance of the Congregational Archivist/Administrative Assistant, will see that the following materials are deposited in the Provincial Archives in a timely manner. These materials are available for use in the Archives immediately after processing, with the exception of Board Minutes and Correspondence of the past 75 years, which may be consulted only by written permission of the Chair of the relevant board.
- Items which should be transferred to the Archives at the end of the year:
These items may be submitted in digital form or a single hard copy of each.
- Elders minutes
- Trustees minutes
- Congregation Council minutes
- Year-end reports submitted at Congregation Council
- Year-end financial report submitted at Congregation Council
- Budget submitted at Congregation Council
- Joint Board minutes
- Minutes and year-end reports of other committees, such as Stewardship, Christian Education, or Women’s Fellowship
- Items which should have a copy reserved for transfer to the Archives when they are produced or updated but may be transferred to the Archives in batches or at the end of the year:
These items may be submitted in digital form or a single hard copy of each.
- Directories of members and/or membership lists
- Memoirs – If possible, please enclose hard copies of the memoir being transferred in a Death Record/Memoir envelope provided by the Archives. If submitting the memoir digitally, please provide the information found on the template of the Death-Record-Memoir-Envelope.
- Histories of the congregation and organizations within the congregation
- Special brochures concerning any facet of church life
- Programs and printed materials used for anniversaries, dedications, etc.
- Constitutions, by-laws, and rules and regulations
- Items which should be transferred to the Archives once completed or full:
Single copy.
- Church registers (registers of baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and burials)
- Congregation diaries
- Building plans for church-owned buildings
- Journals and ledgers
- The Archives should be on your newsletter mailing list so that each issue comes to the Archives automatically. This can be either an email list or physical mail list but not both.
- Moravian Archives
457 S. Church Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101 - sparchives@mcsp.org
- Moravian Archives
The Archives also coordinates the transfer of provincial agency records and will provide detailed guidance for the transfer of those records in 2023. For now, please mirror the congregational records guidelines as closely as possible.
Other Financial Records
The following items should not be deposited in the Archives:
- Weekly/monthly financial statements or reports
- Cancelled checks
- Receipt books
- Bank Statements
- Personnel records
- Paid bills or invoices
These documents should be kept by the individual congregations for the length of time deemed appropriate for tax and other purposes. When disposing of these documents please do so in an appropriate manner, such as by shredding them.
Other Records
- Congregations and agencies may transfer correspondence, photographs, and audiovisual material produced during the business operations of those entities, which may include events.
- Please limit the number of photographs and AV items to only those necessary to convey and depict the event as the Archives has limited capabilities to store and provide access to these items.
- Please do not transfer audiovisual material copyrighted by a non-Moravian entity
- Please do not transfer sheet music nor strictly musical recordings as those should be deposited with the Moravian Music Foundation
- The Archives does not accept the transfer of art and 3D artifacts, except under unique circumstances, as we do not have the capacity and ability to store and grant access to them.
De-accession Policy
The Archives reserves the right to dispose of items that do not meet the criteria described above.
Questions? Contact us! sparchives@mcsp.org or 336-722-1742