Presbyterian Historical Society

The Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS) takes on any of your congregation’s original records which are no longer frequently referred to. Session minutes and registers are of chief importance, but they also take minutes of any councils of the church, such as deacons, trustees, women’s and youth groups. There is no charge for this service, and the records will be housed in an environmentally controlled archival storage area with specialized fire detection and security systems. The congregation retains ownership of the records held on deposit, and may request their return at any time with written authorization of the clerk of session. Routine inquiries, such as baptismal attestations, may be directed to the PHS staff of professional archivists. Church bulletins, Bibles, objects, attendance records, or Sunday school class roll books are not taken; you are free to preserve or dispose of those yourself.

PHS can image records for congregations in addition to holding them on deposit. In this way, your congregation would have a surrogate to search and refer to, and the original records would be secure. Our planetary scanner shoots up to 16 x 24” in 24-bit RGB color at 600 dpi. We compile the images to PDF, and deliver them by DVD or download–contact PHS for current cost per page. Once your records are received, PHS will complete an estimate of the project and return an invoice. Upon receipt of this deposit payment, we will queue the records for imaging. Our current turnaround time is one month.

Records Retention Guidelines (2022)