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Records Management > Advice for Congregations
© You may copy this document for
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Congregation
Administration, which includes records management and other useful topics.
Your records have a life cycle!
You create and maintain
the records of your congregation in order to have the information you
need when you need it; in the format from which you can most easily
retrieve it; and in such a way that partners working in your
congregation, today and in the future, can readily find the
information. As you set about preserving information for future
reference, plan for the entire life cycle of the records you are
creating. If you do this, you should never need to spend time purging
files going through old material to determine the potential
administrative or historical value.
Today, most of the
records of your life together as a congregation begin as digital files.
Your financial records and parish register may be kept in a database.
Minutes, reports, newsletters, sermons, and other documents are created
using word processing software. Correspondence is usually by e-mail.
Much of the information you use and distribute to parishioners is
created in formats to be read by a Web browser. Even the photographs of
your congregation’s activities are now in digital formats. These
guidelines will address the ways in which you can assure future
generations that these records will still be available for their use
long after hardware, software, and file formats have changed.
Consistency is important
in the care of records. Any records retention policy has validity, once
accepted as the policy of the organization, only as it is uniformly
practiced. It should be neither selectively implemented nor disregarded
at the whim of the custodians of the records. Never purge records in
the face of potential litigation. Information that is retained in hard
copy or in electronic files is the property of the congregation. Such
information is not the property of the pastor or of officers of the
congregation to be removed, retained personally, or destroyed at will.
All staff members are custodians of the records they maintain.
Most of the records
retained by a congregation for its daily operation, legal protection,
financial security, and responsibility to history fit into one of the
following categories. For the well-being of the congregation, each type
of record has a specific life cycle and needs appropriate care.
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Parish Register
The Parish Register includes:
- Permanent roll of members
- Baptisms
- Confirmations
- Marriages
- Funerals
- Communion participation
- Pastors of the congregation
- ELCA-rostered lay workers
- Other professional lay workers of the
congregation such as organists and choir directors
- Roster of officers of the congregation
Care
Never leave your
parish register vulnerable to destruction. Keeping a copy of the parish
register, in the same or another format, will provide security
for it today. However, for long term preservation you must
select a format that is not dependent on hardware and software, that
quickly become obsolete, in order to read it. For legal and historical
purposes, consider one of the following means of securing your parish
register:
Maintain the traditional parish register in addition to
the electronic database.
Once each year, print out, on acid free paper, the
necessary reports that constitute a parish register; date them and
care for them as you would the traditional parish register.
Have microfilm copies of your parish register made at
reasonable intervals.
Scan the parish register onto CD-ROM discs. Take digital photographs of the pages of the parish
register.
Retention
According to the Model Constitution for Congregations the pastor is
responsible for maintaining the parish register
(*C9.12.). Please refer to the document,
Maintaining the Parish Register.
The parish register is a
permanent record and requires the utmost care. The parish
register is a hard-copy record. You may use an electronic database
program for managing the records that you maintain in the administration
of your congregation. The database itself does not constitute a parish
register.
Duplicate and disburse!
A duplicate copy, in one
of the above formats, should be kept at a remote location, preferably a
bank safe deposit box. Remember that digital information is not
preserved by accident. If these methods are used, you must commit to
reformatting the files as hardware and software change.
For
additional information on the pros and cons of each of these formats
please see the document,
A Comparison of Microfilming and Scanning
Technologies.
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Electronic Databases
Congregations use personal computers for
maintaining databases for the tasks of parish administration such as:
- Membership and other directories
- Parish register
- Accounting system
- Record of member giving
- Mailing lists
Two critical issues pertain to the SAFETY of
electronically stored data:
- Restoration of current information in the event of system failure
or loss; and
- Migration of entire databases to newer generations of hardware and
software as systems become obsolete.
Care
To ensure the easy restoration of your database in the event of system
failure, natural disaster, or human mischief, back up your personal
computer's hard drive at least once each week and store the disks or
tapes at a
location removed from the personal computer.
Limit access by means of password protection.
Make certain that the structure of each database is
documented––identifying the software, computer language, and report form––so
that you are prepared, when the time comes, to migrate to a new generation
of software or hardware.
Retention
A database, such as a membership management or accounting system, is a
constantly changing record. An early decision must be made as to which
reports generated by your database are necessary as permanent legal or
historical records of the congregation. These should be printed out annually
(see Parish Register above).
As you update and purge information from your databases, consider which
records (i.e., transferred members, general ledger reports) should become part of a subdirectory
permitting long-term storage and ease of access, and make certain that these
directories migrate to software and hardware upgrades with the rest of the
information in the database.
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Electronic
Documents
These Materials, produced by the
congregation to assist its programs and promote its activity, document the
life of the parish and tell the congregation's story . . .
-
Annual reports
-
Minutes of regular
and special congregational meetings
-
Minutes of the
congregation council and its executive committee
-
Minutes or reports
of committees and of auxiliary organizations for men, women, and youth
-
Copies of yearly
parochial reports sent to the synod office
-
Constitutions and
bylaws
-
Worship bulletins
-
Membership
directories with or without photographs
-
Newsletters
-
News releases and
other promotional material
-
Congregation
histories
-
Devotional material
-
Curricula
-
World wide Web site
Care
Most of these are
created electronically, but used and preserved as paper documents.
Those documents that are also legal documents should be protected by
keeping another copy in an off-site location. The World Wide Web site
changes frequently. You may wish to print out “snapshots” of this site
from time to time to preserve this record of your congregation’s story.
Retention
All of these documents
tell the story of your congregation and should be collected in the
congregation’s archives. If the congregation is disbanded, they should be
moved to the archives of the region or synod.
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Legal and Property Related Documents
Vital legal and property related documents may include . . .
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Charter or articles
of incorporation
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Constitution and
bylaws
-
Tax-exempt status
reports and documentation or the congregation’s nine-digit federal
employer identification number
-
Deeds, titles,
surveys, leases, mortgages, easements, and blueprints
-
Current service
contracts
-
Insurance policies
(current and retired)
-
Copies of letters of
call to the pastors and ELCA rostered church workers
-
Other employment
contracts
-
Service contracts
-
Documentation
creating endowment funds and for bequests, gifts, and endowments
-
Minutes of regular
and special congregational meetings
-
Minutes of the
congregation council and its executive committee
- Personnel
handbooks and employee benefit programs
Care
- You are advised to use copies of these
legal documents for administrative purposes and deposit the originals
in a bank safe deposit box.
- Keep all insurance policies, even
though you may have purchased a new policy from a new carrier. Send a
copy of your insurance policy to the synod office.
- Remember to update your constitution
regularly and send a copy to your synod office.
Retention
With the exception of service
contracts, these are permanent records.
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Financial Records
Your financial records may include financial documents, such as .
. .
- General ledger year end reports
- Budgets
- Treasurer's reports
- Annual audit reports
- Invoices
- Record of member giving
- Check register
- Canceled checks or copies of canceled
checks
- Certificates of deposit or other evidence of savings
- Information on bequests, gifts, and
endowments
Retention
You will have a financial management database that handles all of
your accounting transactions. Retention of financial records refers to hard-copy
documents.
Permanent. . .
- Annual audit report
- Treasurer's report and the
congregation's budget should be attached to the minutes of the annual
congregational meeting
- Information on permanent bequests,
gifts, and endowments
Seven Years. . .
-
Canceled checks or
copies of canceled checks
-
Bank reconciliations
-
Payroll
administration records such as W-2, W-4 forms and payroll registers
-
Cash receipt
journals
-
Record of member
giving (All records related to congregational spending are
open. All records related to member giving are confidential
and should be secured)
Three Years . . .
- General invoices (For major purchases,
you may wish to keep receipts or canceled checks as evidence of ownership
for insurance purposes.)
No need to retain .
. .
Detailed guidelines for
the congregation's treasurer and
financial secretary are found in
Resources for
Congregational Treasurers and Bookkeepers.
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Information on Persons
Files, containing some or all of these
documents may exist for the pastor, other rostered persons, employees,
registered seminary students, and volunteers
. . .
-
Letters of call
-
Letters of
application
-
Job descriptions
-
Resumes
-
Letters of
recommendation
-
Background and
reference checks
-
Performance
appraisals
-
Contracts
-
Continuing education
documentation
-
Documents related to
compensation and benefits
-
Emergency
notification forms
-
Health-related
documents, such as worker’s compensation
-
Correspondence
- Honors and
clippings
Care
Right to privacy laws dictate that these
files must be held in strictest confidence. Keep this file locked at
all times.
Retention
If information, including
background checks and letters of recommendation, attest to the
employee or volunteer’s fitness to fulfill a responsibility or
perform a service, it should be retained for 25 years. If
information relates to a worker’s compensation or other claim by the
employee, this should be retained.
Similarly, if
information relates to a possible claim or lawsuit by others involving
the employee’s conduct or duties, that also should be retained. Only biographical
information and career history for rostered persons should be retained
in the congregation archives. All other material
should be destroyed upon completion of service.
As required, the file
for a seminary student is sent to the seminary after he or she has
signed for its release. It is not preserved in the congregation.
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Pastoral Care
Files
When the pastor provides pastoral care to
parishioners, such as marriage counseling or personal spiritual direction,
the pastor may create a file containing:
- Date and time of consultation and persons present
- Observation notes
- Tests, such as personality inventories
- Correspondence
Care
These files must be kept locked and in strictest confidence as they
involve a relationship at the highest level of trust and are usually subject
to the clergy and penitent privilege. The parishioner should sign a release if any
information is to leave the file at any time. The pastor must use good
judgment in establishing the nature of each relationship and in creating
documentation of it. An understanding of the nature of this relationship will
determine the appropriate disposition of the records.
Retention
If the
relationship is said to be that of care of souls, the pastor may decide what
should be retained at his or her own discretion. The principle of confessional
confidences, which applies to all ordained ministers of this church, is
specified by ELCA churchwide constitutional provision (7.45.).
"In keeping with the historic discipline and practice of the Lutheran
Church and to be true to a sacred trust inherent in the nature of the
pastoral office, no ordained minister of this church shall divulge any
confidential disclosure received in the course of the care of souls or
otherwise in a professional capacity, nor testify concerning conduct
observed by the ordained minister while working in a pastoral capacity,
except with the express permission of the person who has given confidential
information to the ordained minister or who was observed by the ordained
minister, or if the person intends great harm to self or others" (churchwide
constitutional provision
(7.45.) in the Constitution, Bylaws,
and Continuing Resolutions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America).
In all states, suspected cases of child abuse are required to be
reported to the authorities. Whether such reporting requirements apply to
pastors may vary. Consult an attorney in your state for guidance on such
matters.
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Correspondence, including e-mail
The pastor may have correspondence of various
types:
- Ex officio as chief executive officer of the congregation
- Correspondence to and from the officers of the congregation or the
bishop of the synod
- E-mail messages to the congregation or
select individuals or groups
- Personal correspondence
Care
E-mail is especially vulnerable to loss.
E-mail that represents the policies, program, and ongoing life of the
congregation should be printed out.
Retention
The pastor's ex officio correspondence and the correspondence to and from
the officers of the congregation or the bishop of the synod should be kept
for the tenure of the pastor; the files then should be appraised for
permanent value. Only letters with historical significance need be kept for
the archives of the congregation. The pastor's personal correspondence
should be maintained separately and removed from the office by the pastor at
the end of the pastor's tenure.
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Sermons
Retention
The pastor and the congregation may agree to
place manuscripts of sermons commemorating special occasions in the archives
of the congregation
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Visuals
Such media records the significant events in the
life of a congregation. They also are a permanent record of its history:
- Photographs and negatives
- Digital photographs on CDs
- DVD and Videotapes
- Films
- Audiotapes and CDs
Care
Digital files never survive by accident
Place
photographs and negatives, properly identified (date, event, names of
persons), in the archives of the congregation.
Slides, films, and
videotapes should be identified carefully and retained in a manner
that respects their fragility.
Digital photographs
may be retained on laser discs, but remember that file formats,
hardware and software will change. Make prints and negatives in order
to preserve the pictures. Identify the images! Audiotapes of weekly
worship services frequently are reused.
Be sure to place sound and video
recordings of
special services in the archives of the congregation.
Retention
All of these visual media
are permanent records of the ongoing life of the congregation and should be
placed in the congregation’s archives.
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Resource
Materials
Including:
- Resource materials received from the synodical or the churchwide
office for the support of the activity of the congregation
- Hymnals
- Worship materials
- Curricula
- Minutes of the synod assembly
- Yearbooks and directories of the synod and
the ELCA
Care
Resource materials should be distributed to the members of organizations
and committees who can benefit from them. Current materials may be filed by
subject and kept in an accessible location. Such materials seldom have
long-term value and the files should be culled annually. These materials are
collected in the churchwide and synod or region archives.
Retention
The congregation may wish to include the minutes
of the synod in its own archives. Samples of hymnals and parish education
materials are important for recording the history of the congregation. Other
resource materials may be discarded when they have been superseded by newer
materials.
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