Records of the Congregational church organized in Janesville, Wisconsin in 1845 include the minutes of a variety of church administrative and service committee meetings, constitutions and manuals, committee reports, financial records and annual budgets, correspondence, membership records, clerk's record books, photographs, directories, Sunday bulletins, and other church publications and newsletters. There are also materials concerning the pastorate, church building, religious education, music, and special events and services.
The microfilmed collection presents several challenges for the researcher. Since similar records were not placed together prior to filming, the researcher will want to pay close attention to the reel list which jumps from reel to reel and frame to frame in order to place similar materials together in the inventory. Frame numbers may also be confusing. They may only appear at the first page of a new document and numbering is not continued with subsequent pages. The following document may then contain the next frame number leading the researcher to believe that the previous document had only one page.
The collection consists of four series: Church Operations, Ministerial and Services, Organizations, and Photographs.
The bulk of the collection consists of materials concerning CHURCH OPERATIONS including several constitutions and manuals, Clerk's record books (1845-1973), a scrapbook of photographs and news clippings, occasional church newsletters and other publications, materials concerning church property and buildings, and the records of the federated committee which combined certain activities common to the Presbyterian and Congregational churches in Janesville during World War I.
Minutes of meetings are extensive and nearly complete for the Board of Trustees, Congregational Society, Coordinating Council, annual meetings of church members, and other committees which focus on the secular matters of church administration. Financial records provide some information on annual budgets, church building and construction project finances, memorials and gifts, pledge drives, and other matters. Correspondence is not complete, but does include incoming and outgoing correspondence of the clerk, intra-church correspondence, and letters sent to all church members.
Membership records include incomplete membership registers, incoming and outgoing letters of dismissal, church directories and lists of members, member service records, and membership record slips. The record slips, 1845-1885, are arranged by year, thereunder alphabetically by name, and contain membership number, date of affiliation, previous church affiliation, names of relatives who are also church members, and information about dismissal or other reasons for leaving the church, such as excommunication.
There are some materials relating to denominational affairs outside the church which include records concerning the Wisconsin Congregational Conference and Wisconsin Congregational Convention. There are some documents on the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) culled from the personal papers of John M. Whitehead, a one-time ABCFM member and church clerk from 1884 to 1924.
The MINISTERIAL AND SERVICES series contains an incomplete but extensive run of weekly Sunday Bulletins, 1893-1972, which document all church activities for the upcoming week. Annual reports, correspondence, and minutes of Church Board meetings are also contained in this series. A pastorate file contains biographical information about the church's ministers, correspondence on pastoral vacancies, some minister's reports, and a few sermons.
There are also music committee reports and a Sunday school songbook. Some materials concern religious education at the church including Board of Religious Education meeting minutes, reports of the Church School, and information about the Sabbath School.
A file on special events includes information about the church's various anniversaries (1870, 1895, 1945, 1969), building dedication and rededication services, and home gatherings. There are a few documents concerning the combined memorial service for Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. conducted by a number of Janesville churches.
The ORGANIZATIONS series consists of the minutes, reports, programs, clippings, and scrapbooks of many church-affiliated organizations as well as those of the Beloit Association, the area's regional association of Congregational churches. A sampling of these men's, women's, and youth organizations include the Congregational Guild, King's Daughters, Ladies Benevolent Society, United Servicemen's Organization, Men's Sunday Evening Club, Women's Home Missionary Union, Women's Club, and Young Person's Society of Christian Endeavor.
PHOTOGRAPHS, which date primarily from the 1960's and 1970's, include Sunday School and its graduating classes, building exterior and interior views, and Pentecost Parades of 1974 and 1977. There are also photographs of some of the church's early prominent members.
