The Local Church as a Source of Social and Cultural Information

Abstract

Local churches or religious congregations in any community reflect the culture and society of the community in which they are located. As such, local congregations offer much in the way of social and cultural information through their various records and artifacts. Nevertheless, seldom are these records and items organized for use or easy access. This article presents evidence based on a field study of the development of a Historical Records File for the Metropolitan Community Church of Austin, Inc. (MCAA), Austin, Texas, a local congregation affiliated with the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC). The article traces how the concept of a Historical Resources File for this congregation was conceived and how it was developed over a period of several years. It pays particular attention to problems associated with subject and name authority establishment and control. The file contains many diversified materials and is rich in its coverage of church and community affairs. In order to reflect this diversity, this discussion highlights selected subject heading patterns and management problems that mirror the complexity of the development of this file. These problems and examples have been selected for discussion because they seem most reflective of problems generally faced when this type of resource system is created at the local congregational level.