Library - Congregational Records

Congregational Records of Presbyterian Churches at Columbia Theological Seminary

The congregational records at Columbia Seminary include both records that were transferred from the Presbyterian Historical Society - Montreat in 2007 and records that have been deposited at the seminary since then. The denominations represented are current PC(USA), former PCUS, and ARPC congregations.

The CTS Special Collections and Archives department continues to accept materials on deposit, including records of presbyteries and both active and dissolved congregations. For information about depositing records at Columbia Seminary, please contact the archivist at archives@ctsnet.edu.

Cataloging of the records transferred from Montreat is presently underway, and catalog records for a significant and growing percentage of the congregational collections can be searched and viewed in the archives online catalog. We hope to finish adding all of the records for the PCUS and PC(USA) congregational collections moved from Montreat by the end of 2009. In the meantime, lists of congregations whose records are housed here are provided below. If you have any questions, please contact us at archives@ctsnet.edu for assistance.

Click here for the archives online catalog.

The following lists of congregational records are being made available with this advisory:

These are very simple lists of congregational names and locations for PCUS and PC(USA) congregations. They are not catalog records and for the most part do not include holdings details or cross-references pointing to alternate names, cities, etc. As we add records to our online catalog, the additional reference points will become available. A list of ARPC congregations will be posted at a later date.
Access to unprocessed records and records less than 50 years old is restricted.
Congregational records are sometimes listed under the names of predecessor bodies or under the names of later congregations as the result of splits, merges, and other events.
In some cases, the names of the cities, townships, or counties in which churches were or are located have changed over time.
This list will be edited from time to time because new collections of church records are being deposited and some sessions are still making decisions to transfer records to Columbia.
Records whose transfer has not been completed are not included on the lists.
If you have any questions, please contact us at archives@ctsnet.edu for assistance.