Though written nearly 30 years ago, this article still speaks eloquently of the value and necessity of our work here at the PCA Historical Center. Rev. Steele spoke then as official archivist for the RPCES at a time when that work was just beginning.

Archives are "documents or records relating to the activities, rights, claims, treatises, constitutions, etc., of a family, corporation, community, nation or historical figures; [and]...a place where public records or other historical documents are kept." (Random House Unabridged Dictionary). The Archivist (accent on the antepenult, please) is the custodian of such archives.

The memory of past events is important to God, viz. Deuteronomy 8:22ff; and 15:15ff. Throughout the Old Testament the Church is instructed to remember and reflect upon the works of God in antecedent years. Similarly it is necessary for the Church today to remember and reflect upoon the providence of God in history. It is important that we in the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod remember and reflect upon the hand of God in the history of our own Synod! Towards that end it is mandatory that there be a depository of documents and other non-verbal materials through which we can accurately and adequately define and describe God's working and shaping. An oral tradition alone is inadequate. The memory of man alone and unaided is insufficient to adequately articulate the sovereing dealings of God with His people. so there must be archives and archivists!

Through the collection, selection and classification of written documents (as previously mentioned non-written artifacts can also be important) the archivist can maintain a continuing portrait of an organization. specifically, the archivist of our Synod must collect a wide range of materials, and in as unprejudiced a manner as possible select and classify so as to give an accurate picture of the flow of events in the Synod.

To facilitate this procedure there must be cooperation from every part of the Synod. Individual pastors, teachers, lay-workers, individual congregations, organizations and groups within churches, presbyteries, groups and committees within presbyteries, the Synod, officers, committees and agencies within the Synod--all these must send to the archivist a continual flow of documents which are the raw materials of the archives. Minutes of meetings, annual congregational reports, local church histories, notices of installations and ordinations, presbytery minutes and Synod minutes--these and other documents should be regularly sent to the archivist. And if one is ever in doubt as to the usefulness of a document one should send such to the archivist. Let him make the decision!

At the present moment for all the stated effects and purposes our Synod does not have an archive. In a substantial way Synod is beginning from "scratch" -- noting that there are some boxes of materials in Saint Louis partially classified. We need your help! Start sending in anything and everything that might possibly be useful. Send all papers to the archivist in care of the Seminary in Saint Louis. Please note that all materials sent become the property of Synod.

The archives will be maintained at the Seminary through it cooperation. This is the proper location so that present and future researchers can have ready access to the data.

Edward A. Steele, III
Synod Archivist
Pastor, First Reformed Presbyterian Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

[This article originally appeared in the February 1973 issue of the Mandate, a publication of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod. Following initial work by Dr. R. Laird Harris, Rev. Steele was the first official archivist for the RPCES. He was then later aided by Albert ("Bud") Moginot. Together, the efforts of these men worked to preserve a vital part of the heritage that the PCA enjoys by way of the Joining and Receiving merger of 1982, in which the RPCES was received into the PCA.]