(Note: the blue horizontal menu bar directly above lists the subsections of "Getting Started." Be sure to read each of these subsections before moving on to the next primary section, "Defining a Lutheran Congregation.")

Getting Started: Assembling the Raw Materials

Just as carpenters work with plywood, nails, and fiberglass, so congregational historians use basic materials to carry out their task.

First are the people. A treasure trove of recollections, anecdotes, and experiences that can open up a congregation's history awaits you in the memories of current and past members. Armed with either an audio or videotape recorder, congregational historians can begin to put together a mountain of information and leads. So begin with people and a little bit of technology.

Second, most congregations have collections of original records, documents, photos, bulletins, newsletters, minutes, and the like. Some congregations have carefully ordered these primary source materials into archives where they are safely stored in special folders, boxes, and vaults that protect them from decay, dampness, and fire. If your congregation has such an archive, your work will be much easier. But if no such archive exists, build one now. Many resources exist to help with this task. (See the "Resources" section for specific suggestions.)

By themselves, baptismal records, yearly audit records, and minutes of your Council can seem rather tedious and uninteresting. But armed with the right set of questions, which come from what you learn from members and other sources, these records can tell you a great deal. Like detectives or journalists, as they review these materials your committee members need to ask, Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? (See pages 40-43 of my book, Places of Worship for sample questions to help you with your research.)

Church budgets contain clues about a congregation's values. How your congregation spends its money tells part of its story. Membership records tell you when important members and families joined or left the congregation and where they came from or went. These records reveal patterns of membership loss and decline. They also indicate patterns of congregational behavior when they record ages of Baptisms and confirmations, frequency of Communion, numbers of funerals and marriages, and so forth.

Church bulletins hold clues about what happened at worship and why. Read them sequentially and you can trace the unfolding development of your congregation's liturgical life. Watch for the introductions of new orders of worship, dedications of new vestments, organs, or furniture, or changes in the established order of service. Those are clues that something has happened that you must investigate further.

The official minutes of your congregation's various organizations often tell more than they intend to. They are, first of all, records of official decisions. Although frequently laundered for public consumption, careful reading of these documents discloses, in what is both said and unsaid, the mundane and the turning points of a congregation's life. Motions to call an associate pastor or a teacher, to repair the aging boiler, or to paint the church parlor indicate how your congregation cares for itself as an institution. Decisions to sponsor a refugee family, to support a community open housing standard, or to move to the suburbs are critical moments in a congregation's life.

There are other important primary sources besides the documents a congregation saves. Your church building itself is a very important resource, since it is usually the largest material statement the congregation makes about itself. Bricks and glass speak. They tell us about a congregation's aspirations, style, and background. Redecorating and renovating, or moving from one building to the next, are significant occasions when congregations redefine themselves. Pay attention to plaques on the wall, works of art, books in the library, furniture in the parlor. They also have stories to tell.