HISTORIAN/CORRESPONDENT

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Responsible to:       Leadership Board

Term of Office:       Elected by the congregation for a term of two years.

Responsibilities:      Collect and maintain/preserve records and materials which portray

                                 the history of Salem Mennonite Church; serve as church correspondent

                                  to designated publications.

1.  Collect two of each Sunday's bulletins:  (1) one set to be kept in local historical files;

     (2) second set to be placed in the Oregon Mennonite Archives and Library.

2.  Collect, organize and, as much as possible, centralize historical records of the congregation:

     search to fill gaps of missing records.  Records to be preserved include:

    

     a.  Official and legal records such as constitutions and church deed.

     b.  Minutes of congregational business meetings, Finance Committee meetings,

          etc.; significant correspondence.

     c.  Selected financial records, budgets, etc.

     d.  Programs of special meetings and miscellaneous brochures/papers related to

          special events.

     e.  Important "firsts:.

     f.  Supplement the pastor's register of baptism, new members, marriages, church

         pastors, ordinations, etc., as needed.

     g.  Pastor's annual reports.

     h.  Issues of Salemennonews.

     i.  Church directories; annual church organization lists.

    

     j.  Congregational histories.

     k.  Photographs; miscellaneous papers relating to members and attendants.

     l.  Records of committees and groups within the church.

     m.  Newspaper articles and clippings related to the church and its people

           (weddings, obituaries, church work, human interest stories, etc.)

3.  Keep an inventory of historical records in the files; list locations for materials

     not in the centralized location.

4.  Serve as correspondent to the district conference publication (PNMC News)

     and the Mennonite Weekly Review.

Note:  More detailed guidelines to the collection and preservation of historical

          materials are available in the booklet, THE TASK OF THE CONGREGATIONAL

          HISTORIAN, in the Historian/Correspondent's files.

         

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