The bulk of the materials deposited here by the five ELCA synods, whose bailiwicks encompass Central Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and Metropolitan Washington DC areas, date from the period, ca. 1940 to the present. Keep in mind, however, that the Lutheran Theological Seminary's A. R. Wentz Library (which houses the Region 8 Archives) has an impressive collection of Lutheran church records, several items dating back to the late eighteenth century.

Materials on deposit described in the general categories listed below are, by no means, complete sets of records (we're still a relatively young and part-time operation)

• ANNUAL SYNOD CONVENTION/ASSEMBLY MINUTES
  
  
• AUDIO/VISUAL MATERIALS (includes audio recordings of several annual conventions of the Central Pennsylvania and Lower Susquehanna synods
  
  
• CONGREGATION HISTORIES & ANNIVERSARY BOOKLETS (by no means complete)
  
  
• DISBANDED CONGREGATION RECORDS (access limited)
  
  
• LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES MATERIALS (incomplete collection)
  
  
• PERSONNEL FILES (access limited to biographical information and photographs ONLY)
  
  
• PHOTOGRAPHS (mostly images of annual convention/assembly activities from the
  Central Pennsylvania and Maryland synods)
  
  
• SYNOD COMMISSION RECORDS (mostly Central Pennsylvania Synod)
  
  
• SYNOD COUNCIL COMMITTEE REPORTS
  
  
• SYNOD FINANCIAL RECORDS
  
  
• SYNOD NEWSLETTERS (mostly from the Central Pennsylvania Synod)
  
  
• SYNOD OFFICE CONGREGATION CORRESPONDENCE FILES
  
  
• SYNOD TASK FORCE MATERIALS
  
  
• TRESSLER LUTHERAN HOME (copies of some administrative records)