443 Record keeping

443.1 Introduction

Records provide us the information needed now and in the future.  They also enable others at some time in the future to discover what happened, why and who took part in the decision-making.  Records tell something of our story and provide for future members of the church ways to learn about our life, faith and pilgrimage.

Principles

443.2 Responsibility

a) Responsibility for the provision of appropriate registers, books and rolls for the keeping of parish records rests with the parish council whose property the records remain.  Continuity and consistency are important in this task and parish councils (or equivalent) not ministers, are best placed to achieve this.

b) Parish councils undertake at all times to see that denominational obligations, as far as they are in accord with these specific guidelines, are met.

c) The appointment by parish councils of competent recorders, able and willing to undertake responsibility for keeping rolls and registers current, is strongly encouraged.

d) At the commencement of a new Cooperative Venture, new registers and record books for all parish organisations must be acquired and opened, indicating the establishment of the new Cooperative Venture is a new point of departure.

443.3 Records to maintain

While some records can be kept in loose-leaf form or in the future as computer printouts, the key records of the church should be kept in well-bound books on good quality paper.

a) Registers: Baptismal, marriage, burials, services.

b) Minute books: all minute books of all church organisations.

c) Annual reports.

d) Correspondence, inwards and outwards: in whatever form this is kept eg files, letter books.

e) Membership rolls: pastoral, communicant, adherents, confirmation, Sunday School, Youth group or Bible class etc.

f) Financial records: annual accounts, cash books, journals, ledgers.

g) Parish newsletters, magazines, church bulletins, orders of service (weekly and special), scrapbooks, newspaper clippings including date and name of newspaper)

h) Property records: maps, plans, architectural drawings, building specifications, contracts, certificates of title.

i) Legal documents.

j) Jubilee and centennial celebration records: minutes, correspondence, registration forms, photographs, programmes, tickets, orders of service, publications, balance sheets and cash books, tape recordings, videos.

k) Parish agreement

l) Officers of the parish.

443.4 General registers

It is required of Anglican participants that a general register of all services is kept in each church.  All Cooperative Ventures are strongly recommended to obtain and keep or continue these registers, as a useful guide to the patterns and progress of parish life.  In this register every occasion of public worship is recorded.

443.5 Baptism, confirmation and commissioning

Wherever possible baptisms and confirmations shall be recorded in printed registers, the denominational affiliations of those baptised and/or confirmed being recorded if so desired.  Anglican diocesan offices require clear and accessible record of confirmations into the Anglican faith.  When these are kept in card form, ensure that what is contained complements basic parish registers of membership, and communicant and adherent rolls.  Where records are kept on computer, hard copies of the updated rolls must also be kept.

443.6 Marriage registers

Separate denominational registers are not required and parishes are encouraged to have in use as few registers as the geographical nature of the parish requires.

443.7 Membership rolls

Common Provisions (See 221) now require membership to be embodied in a common roll, denominational affiliation being noted where desired.

443.8 Minutes

a) Minutes of meetings of the congregation(s) shall be kept in the minute book of the parish council (or equivalent).  The parish council shall keep its minutes in a book suitable for the purpose.  (Exercise books and notebooks are not sufficiently durable.)

b) Agendas presented to the parish council, or similar gathering, should be included in the minute book and reports filed separately in an accompanying binder.

c) If individual churches maintain a church committee, these minutes should be recorded in a separate book.

443.9 Minute keeping

a) Record the name of the organisation and the location of the meeting.

b) Give the day, month, and particularly the year.  Include the initials or first names of those attending.

c) Where entries are typed, they should be secured in a volume and the pages numbered in sequence.

d) Where entries are hand-written ensure the writing is legible.

e) Group items of business with underlined or margin headings.

f) Record accurately the decisions made, the reasons for them and who will action them.

g) Record the outcome of previous decisions at the following meeting.

h) When the minute book is completed, ensure that the name of the organisation is recorded in full inside the front cover or on the first page, and show inclusive dates for that volume (eg Parish Council Minutes, St John's Uniting Church, Kaopori, May 1976-August 1993)

443.10 Property Schedules

Property Schedules should include all details of property held for the Cooperative Venture.  These Schedules should be kept up to date with notification of changes forwarded to the trustees named on the last page of the Schedule.  (See 252)

Preservation

443.11 Care of records

The way records are cared for while they are in current and regular use will, to a large extent, determine the length of time they will survive.

a) Heat, moisture, vermin, insects, light, air pollutants and people all have a disastrous effect on paper, photographs and audio and visual tapes.  Records need to be stored in a dry, pest free fireproof and secure location and handled with care.

b) Rubber bands, adhesive tape, pins, staples, and metal clips should not be used as they deteriorate causing irreparable damage to paper through staining and corrosion.

Useful guides on record management and how to care for parish records are found in: Presbyterian Church archives; care and conservation (obtained from PCANZ Archives office, Knox College, Dunedin) and the Anglican publication, Parish archives handbook (obtained from the General Secretary, Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, PO Box 885, Hastings).