SARAH PATTERSON DIOCESE OF OWENSBORO OFFICE OF ARCHIVES & RECORDS MANAGEMENT The Relationship of Parishes and Diocesan Archives

Diocese of Owensboro Created in December parishes  50 parishes with resident pastors, 29 without Catholic Population 50K

Image of Archives Archives established in 1991 “Old Stuff” Ingest every record, then make decisions Kept to itself

Past Archives Outreach St. Mary in Franklin, Kentucky  Established a parish archives in 2005  Archivist Sister Emma Cecilia Busam, OSU provided guidance  New archives space in May 2014 Sts. Joseph and Paul, Owensboro  Parish established archives

Diocesan History Book In 2012 the diocese celebrated its 75 th anniversary Worked with Editions du Signe Diocesan history written by archives staff First half a general history Second half one page dedicated to each parish  Parishes had the opportunity to submit a history

Diocesan History Book cont’d Publisher visited every parish to sell orders Archives was the intermediary with issues of payment, delivery

Managing Parish Records Manual Requested by Chancellor Compiled manual by looking at resources from other religious archives and our diocesan tribunal First half on establishing a parish archives

Managing Parish Records Manual cont’d Second half on sacramental registers  General guidelines, each particular register During editing process received input from 4 parishes Needed to be approved by Priest Council

Parish Presentations Judicial Vicar suggests presentation Two presentations offered in Fall 2013 Advertised through , a mailing and at Presbyteral Day Targeted priests and parish staff with record keeping responsibilities

Parish Presentations Cont’d Between the two presentations, we reached 50% of the parishes Majority were parish staff with a handful of priests and deacons Followed outline of manual Majority of discussion dedicated to registers

Parish Presentations Cont’d Presentations enthusiastically received Goal to make an annual event As a result, the archives regularly receives questions regarding registers and records management Manual is being rewritten to incorporate suggestions

Records Retention Schedule Retention schedule approved for Catholic Pastoral Center in mid-2013 Needs to include schools, parishes, care homes Visited sample parishes and schools

Records Retention Schedule Cont’d Still in the process of being approved Opening sections will address records management practices

Sacramental Register Copies Since 1946, diocese has been receiving copies of sacramental registers Submitted annually to diocese Now come to the attention of the archives Set the ground work to scan registers at the parishes

Thank you! Sarah Patterson, Diocese of Owensboro