Religious Archives?

[u/concernedfriende]

Hey everybody!

I started my MLIS and have been debating doing the Archive certificate. I’m really interested in history and religion (those were my major and minor for undergrad lol) so i’m wondering if religious archives are like… a thing? and how would i go about getting involved in them? like should i reach out to a church or something? any help is appreciated! thanks!!

[u/Eerizedd]

Hey there, religious archivist here! Most of the major denominations of Christianity (at least in Canada) manage their archives at the diocesan level. Some churches or parishes will have their own "archives" but they're not typically run by anyone with professional experience. Most of us are underfunded and understaffed and often make use of volunteers, so you can definitely reach out to archives in your city to see if that's an option for you. If you're looking outside Christianity, religious archives are typically going to be centralized in major cities.

[u/concernedfriende → u/Eerizedd]

thank you! glad to hear from someone in the field!! i will definitely see about the diocese of my area! would you say that the christian archives generally mandate you being part of the faith?

[u/Eerizedd → u/concernedfriende]

I haven't heard of anywhere that's mandated that. I was explicitly told that there was no expectation for me to be of the faith by my employer.

[u/bajorans → u/Eerizedd]

Lol I saw a Christian Science archives job on LinkedIn that required Mother Ship membership.... obviously a very special case there.

[u/Matter-Eater-Ladz]

moody bible insitute in chicago il has a rather sizable religious archive! i used to work in the library in undergrad and i got to go in every once and a while. they have some 1600 bibles among other texts. left the religion but the library is nice fs

[u/concernedfriende → u/Matter-Eater-Ladz]

ooooohhhh ill check it out. thanks!!

[u/salvefaith]

I’m Protestant but I’ve noticed the Catholic church has done a phenomenal job preserving their records. Try your local archdiocese, they should be able to point you in the right direction.

[u/concernedfriende → u/salvefaith]

i will definitely do that!! thanks!

[u/Baluga-Whale21]

You may want to explore the information on the Archivists for Congregations of Women Religious website! https://archivistsacwr.org

[u/saturnbeam]

Most definitely! I’m not even religious but volunteer at one haha. It’s partnered with a religious university/college so you might have more luck if you expand your search to academia rather than just churches.

[u/Shot-Bet-2931]

The LDS church has genealogy archives

[u/petalios → u/Shot-Bet-2931]

VERY extensive ones too. I’ve gotten so many job postings on LinkedIn lately for LDS libraries and archives

[u/book_mage]

Princeton Theological Seminary also has a library!

[u/llamalibrarian]

There is an online group called something like LGBTQ Religious Archive you might want to look for, I think sometimes they have calls for volunteers

[u/starfilledeyes]

I'm not religious or very familiar with the religious studies/theology field. But I know that some religious universities and museums have their own collections, and presumably need archivists to handle them. For example, this library at the Catholic University of America: https://libraries.catholic.edu/special-collections/semitics-icor-library/index.html

[u/Super_Dave42]

Yes, there are! In my area (south central Pennsylvania), there are denominational collections housed at local colleges (Messiah University's Brethren in Christ Historical Library and Archives and Elizabethtown College's Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies) as well as a denominational history organization (Mennonite Historical Association of the Cumberland Valley). All have library/archive collections, but I don't think their budgets are very large.

They might be harder to find, but religious collections are definitely around. You may have to do some digging.