Archives

The Diocesan Archives, the official repository for the records of The Diocese of West Tennessee, is located in the Moody Wing of St. Mary's Cathedral. Under the direction of diocesan historiographer Patricia LaPointe McFarland and staff archives administrator Christi Shaw, the chief function of the archives is to serve the information needs of the Bishop and staff, as well as clergy and parishes. While the Diocesan Archives are not a general public research facility, requests for information may be addressed to info@episwtn.org. For information on the Episcopal Church Archives, visit http://www.episcopalarchives.org.

 
Resources to congregations

The Diocesan Journal of Convention contains a wealth of information about the Diocese, the Bishop and congregations during the year preceding the convention. Annual journals are available beginning in 1829 and contain statistics on parish membership and sacraments, the annual address of the Bishop to convention, the Bishop's diary, and listings of clergy, convention delegates, and members of diocesan committees and organizations. (Journals contain information on the entire state of Tennessee until to 1984, when West Tennessee published its first journal following its founding as a separate diocese in 1982.)

Annual parochial reports are available from 1984 until the present.

The monthly diocesan newspaper, Church News, contains information about congregations, organizations and individuals. These are indexed by date beginning with the first issue on January 1986. Copies of The Tennessee Churchman are available from October 1963 through August 1981.

The Archives has copies of The Living Church Annuals from 1914 through 1953; and the Episcopal Church Annuals from 1953 until the present.

Additional resources on caring for and maintaining parish archives include:

Records Management for Congregations: A Records Manual for Finance and Administration, by Mark J. Duffy, Canonical Archivist, 1997: Contains guidelines for the care of parish records and retention and disposition schedules for temporary and permanent records. Available online at http://www.episcopalarchives.org/records_manual_for_congregations.html.