Access to General Collections

Public access to most records during hours of operations are by appointment ONLY, made at least a week in advance. The archivist can be reached by the following methods:

"Snail mail": ELCA REGION 8 ARCHIVES
A R WENTZ LIBRARY
LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
66 SEMINARY RIDGE
GETTYSBURG PA 17325
Telephone: (717) 334-6286, extension 2131

E-Mail: echrist@elca-reg8archives.org.
The archivist will not respond to e-mail
research requests unless the inquirer
provides a full return address.

ACCESS TO CONGREGATIONAL RECORDS

Public access to Congregation Records is restricted (see Congregation Records access policy). Lutheran records are maintained and organized by and for local congregations. They are usually composed of chronological listings of pastoral acts, such as Baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and burials. In some cases, records of communions and membership lists may be included. Other parish records include congregational annual and council meeting minutes, financial and legal documents, parish newsletters or other printed items, including congregational histories, as well as similar records for congregational organizations, such as women's, men's or youth groups.
Most of the information essential to tracing family genealogy will be contained in congregational records, especially in the records of pastoral acts. It is essential that your letter of request to any historical society or church archives contain as much information as possible, including full names, relevant dates, and place names. If you do not have this information, it is highly recommended that you turn to other resources, such as federal census records, county tax rolls, county probate records, or similar sources, before you contact a Lutheran archives. This would be especially true if you are not sure that your relatives were Lutheran. Do not assume that because you are Lutheran, or some of your relatives may have been Lutheran in the past that all family members were Lutheran. Secondly do not assume that because your relatives were German, Swedish, Norwegian, etc., that they were Lutheran. Be prepared to find that your relatives may not have belonged to any church. Furthermore, the term "evangelical" does not guarantee that a congregation was Lutheran. German Reformed and other Protestant groups also use this term.

GENERAL ACCESS CHARGES

There are no charges for visiting the Region 8 Archives for research purposes. But there are charges for services (see Charges for Research and Copying).

View the Rules of Conduct