CHURCH RECORDS:   RETENTION AND STORAGE GUIDELINES

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 After reading this, if there are any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.

Churches, like all other institutions, have to deal with what is important to keep and how to keep it. The denomination does not have any hard and fast rules or advice. What follows is derived from this Library’s experience in applying standard archival practice to the records of a local church. If there are any questions not answered by this guideline, please contact the Library staff.

What to Keep-

Sometimes it’s easy to know what is important: records of the annual and special meetings of the church itself and church vital statistics: baptisms, admissions to and dismissions from membership, marriages, and funerals are the most obvious “keepers.” documents. In most cases, some decision has to be made.

Financial Records:
The purpose for keeping financial records is two-fold. The first is most obvious, the government may audit anyone at any time, therefore all individuals and organizations need to keep a record. The second part is so the governing body can determine future budgets and improvement plans based on the past and current financial situation.
What does this translate to in terms of what to keep? For the IRS, the general rule is to keep all receipts and check stubs for seven years. If the IRS wishes to audit you, it can do so at any time. But, when you are dealing with storage issues, you often cannot keep everything “just in case.”
For future planning: The best resources are the treasurer’s annual report for the big picture. Meeting minutes and annual reports from “development” or “growth” committees are useful resources for fund raising techniques and details from past campaigns.

Correspondence:
Inner-office memos, or similar correspondence which often revolve around setting up meetings or making changes to schedules, may be disposed of after the end of the fiscal year.

Committees and Committee Meetings:
Committee records are also important, but at the same time, you do not need to keep every single piece of paper. A typed copy of the meeting minutes and pertinent correspondence should be kept. If possible, it is best to keep a copy of the minutes on a computer so the number of copies can be kept to a minimum. It is important, though, to have two hard copies available.

Electronic Records:
The concerns with electronic records, either email or records kept on a computer’s C drive are as follows: first, backups. Ideally, there should be a paper copy for all documents kept on the computer. A second technique is to use a removable disk (like a “zip” disk), upon which all documents can be kept. With backups, you will have a safe guard from any virus or any other computer drive corruption. The second issue in regards to electronic records is insuring that you keep up with the latest software format technology. It is a painful fact that computer technology is obsolete almost as soon as it is available. Therefore, whenever the church computer is replaced, transfer all records at that time. Do not assume you will be able to revive electronic documents sometime later.

Storage

All non-current records should be kept in a clean area where the temperature and humidity are stable. Paper is a very absorbent material. Therefore, when the humidity is high, the paper will soak up the ambient moisture. When the humidity levels go down, the water evaporates. This process leaves miniscule “tide” lines that weaken paper. Drastic changes in heat will have a similar effect. A combination of high heat and humidity is a perfect breeding ground for mold. Not only is this bad for the paper, but it is a serious health risk.

High humidity and/or the presence of food will attract bugs and other unwanted critters.

Boxes:
The ideal type of box is a 1.5 cubic foot “banker’s” box. The best kinds are the ones that are acid-free. The average cardboard box is made of extremely acidic paper and that acid will transfer to the material stored within.

If the budget does not allow for acid-free boxes, the second-best choice is to get boxes found at places like the Office Depot or Staples, which can be stored flat, have a separate lid, and have hand holds.

Folders:
Like boxes, folders can be found that are acid-free. The reason why you want acid-free folders is the same reason you want acid-free boxes: they are the first defense to keep your records as long as possible.

Labeling Folders:
The typical Avery-brand labels with sticky backs will fall off after about 20 years. The foil-backed labels often last much longer. The other alternative is to simply use a #2 pencil or ball-point pen to mark folders.

For the sake of quick retrieval, it is best to mark all folders with a brief topic [finance committee, education committee, minister’s correspondence] and a year. Do not expect that you or others will remember what that “misc.” file contains.