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News, events, updates, and tidbits from the Presbyterian Historical Society. Use tags to read related articles or sort by author for similar posts written by PHS staff members and volunteers.

August 19, 2021
Rocky Spring Presbyterian Church. Located about two miles west of Chambersburg, Pa. Founded in 1734. Present building erected in 1794. [Pearl ID: 14120]

The Presbyterian Historical Society strongly encourages churches to send their original records of permanent value to us to protect them from all the usual calamities that befall historic documents....

August 4, 2021

--by Holly Mullin

It had been a long day of reading 200-year-old Trustee Records and taking photos with my phone. As I was packing up to leave, I thought, “there are a lot of blank pages in this 1815 book, let me just flip through to make sure they are actually empty”. Lo and behold, there it was hidden--the original map of our historic graveyard along with the lot assignments. I was delighted to find these records, as I had been seeking them for quite a few years and not sure if they even existed. 

This is just one of the important discoveries I have made at the...

July 21, 2021

On July 15, 2021, Records Archivist David Staniunas hosted a webinar on Zoom and Facebook Live about preserving original records of PC(USA) congregations.

Almost uniquely among large national archives, PHS collects and preserves records at the local level, bringing in more than 200 churches’ records in more than 350 cubic feet every year. In this webinar, David Staniunas shared simple tricks and lifehacks for keeping your original records decently and in order before they are...

April 15, 2019

--by Yvonne Wathen, Records Manager at the Presbyterian Historical Society

When we feel we’ve lost our way in sports, in our career, in life, we oftentimes go "back to the basics" to find our footing so we can then move forward again. As Michael Jordan said, “The minute you get away from fundamentals--whether it's proper technique, work ethic, or mental preparation--the bottom can fall out of your game, your schoolwork, your job, whatever you’re doing.” Keeping this in mind, let’s start at the basics of record keeping, for it...

February 14, 2018

In honor of Valentine’s Day we would like to share with you the story of Minister John H. Grier, “The Marrying Parson.” John Hays Grier was born in 1788 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. In 1809, he graduated from Dickinson College and then studied theology under his uncle Reverend Nathan Grier and was licensed to preach in 1813 by the Presbytery of New Castle. He was installed as pastor of the United Churches of Pine Creek and Great Island, Lycoming County, PA, in 1814.

In 1840 the members of...

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