Collections

The Evangelical and Reformed Historical Society’s collection includes published materials, church record groups, and personal papers and manuscripts that document the history of the Evangelical and Reformed Church and its predecessor denominations.

Online Catalogs

To assist users in locating materials, the Society maintains several resources.

TinyCat, the Society’s online library catalog

Church record group finder

Index to personal papers and manuscript collections

Digital Collections

The Society utilizes the Internet Archive to house its digitized materials. In some cases, other libraries, archives, or museums have digitized relevant materials and direct links to other locations have been provided. The Society has digitized materials at the national, synod, and district levels. Church record groups have not been digitized at this time.

Access the Society’s digitized collections here

Facebook Posts

Today on Friday Church Finds we are highlighting the Josephburg Community Church in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada. Organized in 1901, this church was originally named Friedens (Peace) Reformed Church and then became known as Josephus Reformed Church of Josephburg in 1923. The church was part of the Manitoba Classis until 1925, the Edmonton Classis from 1925-1935, and the West Canada Classis from 1935-1939. After the Synods of the Evangelical and Reformed Church were established, the church became part of the Dakota Synod in 1939 and continued through 1961. The church continued into the United Church of Christ until 2011 when it withdrew. Today, the Josephburg Community Church is part of the United Church of Canada. An early history written in German can be found in the images and an English translation is in the comments below. #erhistoricalsociety #unitedchurchofcanada

Today on Friday Church Finds we are highlighting the Josephburg Community Church in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada. Organized in 1901, this church was originally named Friedens (Peace) Reformed Church and then became known as Josephus Reformed Church of Josephburg in 1923. The church was part of the Manitoba Classis until 1925, the Edmonton Classis from 1925-1935, and the West Canada Classis from 1935-1939. After the Synods of the Evangelical and Reformed Church were established, the church became part of the Dakota Synod in 1939 and continued through 1961. The church continued into the United Church of Christ until 2011 when it withdrew. Today, the Josephburg Community Church is part of the United Church of Canada. An early history written in German can be found in the images and an English translation is in the comments below. #erhistoricalsociety #unitedchurchofcanada
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6 days ago

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English Translation:

Peace Community in Josephsburg, Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta.

This church was founded by the Presb. Authority early in the 1890s. The parsonage and church were built during this time. What the value of these buildings was is unknown to us. A dissatisfaction with the service and the actions of the Presb. Authority stepped in, and after several years the community bought the interest of that authority, and then in 1901 the community was organized as a Reformed Church. In 1910 the present spacious church was built, receiving improvements from time to time, each valued at $6,500.00. The first parsonage fell victim to fire, and in 1916 the present one was built, which, together with the land belonging to the church, is valued at $5,000.00. The community has 12 acres of land in total, one of which serves as a cemetery. The community's women's association celebrated its 25th anniversary on January 25, 1924. The congregation was served by the following pastors:

Pastor C. F. W. Graefer, 1901 to September 1906.
Pastor A. A. K. Heinemann, Often. 1905 to Oct. 1909.
Pastor E. Brunoehler, 1909 to 1914.
Pastor C. F. W. Graeser, Aug. 1914 to Oct. 1919.
Pastor Jason Hoffmann, Nov. 1919.

Today we are launching "Digital Thursdays" where we will highlight a recent addition to our growing collection of digital works. The Society recently digitized the first 8 volumes (1873-1880) of the "Theologische Zeitschrift" or Theological Magazine of the Evangelical Synod of North America. Each of these volumes can be found in our online library collection on the Internet Archive by clicking the link in the comments below. We thank the Internet Archive for providing this wonderful technology. #unitedchurchofchrist #conservativecongregationalchristianconference #erhistoricalsociety #evangelicalassociation #InternetArchive
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7 days ago

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Thank you for the ongoing work of the Internet Archive and Brewster Kahle for providing this resource!

You can access the Theologische Zeitschrift and many more resources online by clicking the link below. archive.org/details/@erhistoricalsociety

Thank you to everyone for their hard work! Click the link in the comments for a special Labor Day Message from the Archives of the Evangelical and Reformed Historical Society. #unitedchurchofchrist #conservativecongregationalchristianconference #erhistoricalsociety #evangelicalassociation #WFil
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WFIL 560 AM Philadelphia, do you have an archives of past broadcasts?

A Labor Day Message from Rev. Dr. Charles E. Schaeffer, September 3, 1935. youtu.be/voJNzvMqPA4

Our summer newsletter is now available. Click the link below to learn all about what has been happening at the Evangelical and Reformed Society. #erhistoricalsociety
#unitedchurchofchrist #evangelicalassociation #conservativecongregationalchristianconference
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Summer Newsletter

erhistoricalsociety.dm.networkforgood.com

On Sunday, September 10, 2023, at 3:00 p.m., Old Zion German Reformed Church, Brickerville, will conduct an annual anniversary service. The service provides an opportunity to reflect on Old Zion’s…

4 weeks ago

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This newsletter is terrific! Great job pulling it all together!

We are excited to announce that our friends at FamilySearch have opened the digital images for the indexes of the Messenger of the Evangelical and Reformed Church (1936-1958), the Reformed Church Messenger (1835-1936), and the Magazine of the German Reformed Church (1827-1835). This 12 volume set of typed indexes are now available freely online. Please note that each volume of the indexes spans several years and are divided into two sections: (1) Subjects, and (2) Persons, so some searching through the pages will be necessary We are hoping to use OCR technology to create an online searchable database in the near future.

For now, these indexes can be used to find articles are notable clergy, historical events in the life of the local and national church, and a wealth of genealogical information. You may submit a request for a general research request if you locate articles that you are interested in.

The direct link to the indexes on the FamilySearch website and for the General Research Request form are included in the comments below. #unitedchurchofchrist #erhistoricalsociety #familyhistory #archives #genealogist #conservativecongregationalchristianconference #evangelicalassociation #churcharchives #archive #archival #genealogy #genealogytips #genealogyresearch #genealogy
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1 month ago

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erhistoricalsociety.org/for-researchers/

www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/233526?availability=Family%20History%20Library

Very cool!

Marsha Cooper