p. 29 | CLERK’S BOOKS.-HOW TO KEEP THEM

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 3, 1876

CLERK’S BOOKS.—HOW TO KEEP THEM.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

WHEN our churches were few, their numbers small, and their history brief, it was not a matter of very great account just how the records were kept; but now as our churches are rapidly multiplying all over the land, and some of them are coming to have a large membership, and a history running back through several years, with many additions, and losses, and trials, it has become a matter of great importance to have the records kept right.

I have made it a part of my business to examine the books in the churches which I have visited, and I think that, with a little instruction and care, a decided improvement can be made in this matter. I find clerks who have kept their church records for years on loose bits of paper lying around the house, and in this manner they have sometimes been lost. Again, I find church books in which is a record of Systematic Benevolence, the Tract Society, meeting house expenses, &c. None of these things should come into a church record. Systematic Benevolence is a distinct thing of itself. There is a treasurer appointed to attend to that. It should never be mixed with the church record. So with the Tract and Missionary Society. It is a distinct and separate organization. Nothing should be said about it in a church record. And the society which is organized to hold church property is another distinct affair, which has a clerk and a record of its own.

I offer the following suggestions upon this subject: 1. A good blank book should be obtained—one of about seventy-five or one hundred pages, about six inches wide and ten inches long, or thereabouts, would be a proper size. The first thing to be recorded in this book is the covenant. This should be placed upon the second page, on the left-hand side of the book. Under this covenant, in a single column close to the right hand side of the page, should be placed a list of all the members of the church in the order in which they joined. On the same page containing this list there should be room enough left on the left of each name to give the date of each member’s admission, and how he joined, whether at the organization of the church, by baptism, by vote of the church, or by letter. Then the opposite page of the book should be left entirely blank, so that remarks can be made opposite each name whenever it may become necessary, stating when the member died, was expelled, or removed by letter. Several pages should be left for this list before the regular record of the church commences. A glance at this page will readily tell when any member joined, how he joined, when he left, and how he left, and who still belong. Here is a sample of the way I think it ought to be done:—

June 1, 1874, at organization, John Brown. July 10, 1874, by baptism, Mary Brown. Aug. 7, 1874, by vote, William Jones. Aug. 7, 1874, by letter, Sarah Jones. Oct. 5, 1875, by baptism, Jane Smith. Oct. 5, 1875, by vote of church, Geo. White. Died, Dec. 6, 1874. Dismissed by letter, March 4, 1875. Expelled for apostasy, April 2, 1875.

This record shows at a glance just how the church stands. It shows that Wm. Jones, Geo. White, and Jane Smith, are members of the church at the present time. The others have been, but are not now. John Brown died, Dec. 6, 1874; Mary Brown was dismissed by letter, March 4, 1875, and Sarah Jones was expelled for apostasy. This tells the whole story in a short compass. There should be room enough left for this list to be continued as long as the church stands.

No name should ever be erased or crossed off the list. The record must show what has become of them, but let their names stand on the list always. Sometimes a member comes to the church clerk and says, “You may cross my name off from the book.” But the clerk has no right to do any such thing. He can no more cross off a name by his own authority or by the request of any individual than he can take in a member by the same authority. All the clerk has to do is simply to record what the church has done. No member can take his own name off from the list. Each came in by vote of the church; he must go out in the same manner.

After this list, the next thing to be done is to turn three or four leaves, and here commence a record of all the transactions of the church. This record should state when, where, and by whom, the church was organized. It should state who were taken in at the organization, who were elected elder, deacon, and clerk, and what the covenant was which they signed. After this, whenever any member is taken into the church or is turned out of the church, this fact should be recorded, both in the list of names and in the body of the record. When any one is baptized, when the ordinances are celebrated, when an elder or deacon is elected or ordained, or any church trial is held, a record of these facts should immediately be made in the body of the book, and the clerk’s name signed to it every time. The habit which some clerks have of letting such matters go unrecorded for days and weeks after they have occurred is very pernicious. Any person who will do this is not fit to be clerk. Much care should be exercised in selecting a proper person for clerk. One of the first qualifications for a good clerk is promptness. A person who is prompt, punctual, and particular, in his own affairs, will be so in attending to the affairs of the church. But one who is careless, and slow, and slack, in his own affairs will be the same in attending to the affairs of the church. Hence such a person should not be put in. The clerk should also be able to write a good fair hand, and have some idea of the business style of recording matters.

We hope that these suggestions may help some in keeping their records right.

D. M. CANRIGHT.

Names of Members; Page; Received: By Vote, By Baptism, By Letter; Dismissed: By Letter, By Death, Disfellowshipped. Names listed: John Brown, 62; Warren B. Clark, 64; James W. Sawyer, 66; Stella M. Nichols, 68; William Jones, 74; Lillie E. Dowling, 75; Charles H. Smith, 77; Orrin S. Davis, 79; Richard Johnson, 81; James C. Gage, 84; Sarah E. Connor, 94. By Vote: July 1, 1870; May 4, 1874. By Baptism: Aug. 11, 1869; Aug. 1, 1874; Aug. 1, 1874; Aug. 1, 1874; Aug. 1, 1874; Aug. 1, 1874; Sept. 1, 1874; Oct. 1, 1874. By Letter: Dec. 2, 1870; Oct. 14, 1872; April 6, 1875. Dismissed by Letter: Sept. 1, 1875; June 2, 1875. By Death: Sept. 1, 1875. Disfellowshipped: July 23, 1874; Aug. 9, 1875.

NOTE. We insert here the form of keeping the record of church membership adopted by the Battle Creek church. In this book containing a list of members, a record is kept, referred to in the column headed “Record Page.” This gives an account of every member’s reception or dismissal, etc. Besides that, there is ample room for the particular date of baptism, and for what cause any member was dismissed, by turning to the page of the Record Book indicated in that column. The brief form given by Bro. Canright will be ample for small churches; but for large churches, where the membership is constantly changing, we commend a consideration of the form here given. U. S.