Dear Friends,
I’ve been working with the parish archives over the past several years and I’ve come to have a good idea of what we have and what we don’t have. It’s time to build up our collection. We have a lot, but so much is missing. I hope some of it is tucked away somewhere in your files, waiting to go to a good home!
We’re good on official documents like vestry minutes and records of baptisms, marriages, and funerals, but they tell only part of the story. We really need materials that tell what St. Thomas’s has been doing–parish activities. For example, we sponsored an Antique Show from the late 1940s to the late 1970s but somehow very little from that has been saved. In more recent times, we had a monthly newsletter called The Carpenter but we didn’t think to keep a copy of each issue as it was published. Some of us remember the Faith Journey trips to Eagle Butte, Episcopal Campus Ministry, and on and on. We have done a lot over the years and our archive should reflect that. Much of this material is from the pre-electronic era.
Might there be something in your attic or basement or that pile of papers you’ve been meaning to go through? If you come across things, and you’re ready to part with them (any only then), let me know and bring them to church. Or if you have a large amount of material, I’m willing to come to your house to pick it up. When in doubt let me see it.
Let me hear from you!
Thanks!
Connie Cooper