The Many Faces of Pastoral Ministry

One of the Many Faces of Pastoral Ministry is The Pastor As Historian

Paging through an anniversary booklet, I was amazed by the marvelous collection of photographs in it. Some of them were from that congregation's early days, others came from more recent times. All represented, however, a lost opportunity. None of the photographs was described or identified.

Friends had sent the booklet to me, knowing that I would enjoy seeing it. The booklet had been produced by a congregation located in a community where I once lived. I recognized some of the people pictured in it. Perhaps for most current members of that congregation, the people and occasions in those photographs needed no identification. Yet, for the congregation's long-term history, that anniversary booklet will be of limited value. In fact, it will be almost useless.

Had the members of the committee who prepared the booklet imagined themselves looking at it 100 years from now, they may have realized what they were forgetting. They may have been prompted, from that wider perspective, to include names, dates, and descriptions of events. Yes, the pictures did tell a story, but only to a degree. Lost for the future was a chance to recount in detail the march of faith represented by the people in those pictures. The congrega¬tion's history was neither acknowledged nor preserved. The parade of witnesses to the faith in that place in years now past were only pictured. But their story was not told.

Gigantic responsibilities

Reading the chapters in this book, you have been reminded on page after page of the awesome scope of your office and of gigantic responsibilities carried by you as a pastor. The duties and tasks that you face each day are challenging, indeed. So I hesitate to add to the list. Permit me, however, for the sake of those who follow you, to underscore yet another re¬sponsibility. You are the recorder of the march of faith within the congregations that you serve.

Of course, others may help you keep the congregation's records. Others may collect and preserve material. But you ultimately bear the assignment in seeing that the task gets done.

If they are to be of use to people in the future, the records and documents of congregations need to be kept and filed in an orderly way. When that is done, you, the pastors who follow you, and other people related to the congregation will be able to find in the future what is needed for whatever purpose.

Part of a living heritage

I recall visiting St. John Lutheran Church in Charlestown, South Carolina. It is a historic congregation with roots in colonial times. While I was there, the pastor placed before me an old record from the mid-17 OOs. On one page was an account of a visit to that congregation by Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. Without that record or without Muhlenberg's extensive journals, that historic visit might have been lost. But the record was preserved and the memory of that time remains part of the living heritage of St. John Church in Charlestown.

One of the duties of the secretary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America involves the archives. Among the early tasks that confronted staff members and me was the need to bring together the archival material of our predecessor churches into one location. In the process, I became increas¬ingly sensitive to the almost priceless character of some of those records. They represent clues and accounts of our his¬tory as Lutherans in North America. They tell of the march of faith of those who have gone before us. For purposes similar to those of our churchwide archives, each congregation should gather and protect with care its records.

Keeping parish records

What should be preserved? Parish records are vital docu¬ments. They recount official acts such as baptism, confir¬mation, marriage, burial, new members, transfers, and releases—all part of the march of faith for people of the congregation.

This parish register is valuable not only in relation to church life but also as a public record. Many pastors have received requests to certify a birth or baptism date for a person seeking, for example, Social Security coverage.

The experience of congregations in one state demon¬strates the crucial value of the parish register. Early one Sun¬day morning in Bismarck, North Dakota, flames burst forth in the state capitol building. Within three hours on December 28, 1930, all that remained of the capitol was an empty shell of four walls. Gone with the building that was constructed in 1883 during Dakota Territory days was a half century collection of legal records and documents, including the birth certificates of many of that state's citizens. For those who did not have copies of their birth records, parish registers became their key source for legal documentation.

Rarely does a state capitol burn. With greater fre¬quency, however, fire damages or destroys church buildings. This fact underscores the need to store parish records in safe places. A fireproof filing cabinet equipped with a lock is need¬ed. When possible, a second copy of crucial records should be maintained in a separate place. With more and more rec¬ords being retained by computer, backup, second-copy disks should receive the same care and attention as paper records and documents.

What should be preserved?

Besides maintaining the parish register, all minutes of meet¬ings for the congregation, the congregation council or board, and organizations must be preserved. Major documents of task forces and committees should be retained. Annual reports should be saved, too, for they represent a valuable summary of each year in the congregation's life. Within these reports should be an annual listing of the congregation's officers, members of the governing council or board, and staff. Sta¬tistical summaries on membership, worship participation, and financial matters should be included, too.

Many congregations keep their Sunday worship bul¬letins. A few even bind them in annual volumes. Announce¬ments printed in them tell a part of the story of faith reflected in the congregation's activities. The congregation's newsletter also is valuable for this purpose.

Written histories of the congregation should be trea¬sured, especially if they are specific and detailed. Retained, too, should be a copy of the annual parochial report form that you file with the synod in which your congregation is located.

Other things of value for the congregation's records include: (1) copies of its current and past constitutions; (2) the congregation's articles of incorporation; (3) any deeds, leases, or titles to property; (4) contracts and mortgages, even after they are paid—in other words, do not burn the real document; (5) blueprints and drawings of any construction projects; (6) letters of call; (7) a list of the charter members; and (8) any official correspondence concerning the congre¬gation.

Photographs that are kept should have identification attached to them. Who is pictured? What is the event? When was the photograph taken? That is, note names, occasion, date, and place. Similar information should be included with any audiotapes, films, or videotapes that are preserved for the congregation.

Cloud of witnesses

As pastor, you may make history, or, more specifically, you are a part of the history of your congregation. As pastor, you should endeavor, at the same time, to preserve the history of the people in that place.

"We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witness¬es. . . ," the writer of Hebrews reminds us. The cloud of wit¬nesses described there are those extraordinary as well as or-dinary saints of the faith who have gone before us. Within your congregation, the march of faith continues as believers press on in confession and service. The story of this contem-porary cloud of witnesses should be told, too. It is recorded and recounted in well-kept parish records. That is true. But it can be presented also in good anniversary booklets that portray the heritage of the faithful not just in pictures but also in words.

Within such booklets and parish records are beautiful, treasured reminders of the privilege that you have in being a pastor in Christ's church. Soli Deo Gloria!

source: The Many Faces of Pastoral Ministry
Perspectives by Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Amerika.
Edited by Herbert W.Chilstrom and Lowell G.Almen
Augsburg, Minneapolis, 1989

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