Press Releases

March 08, 2022

Social Justice Voice. The Archives is making a full text online version of The Witness magazine available in the Digital Archives. Founded in 1917 as an independent publication, The Witness was a leading and widely read journal of liberal Episcopal Church opinion.  It evolved after mid-century into the primary voice of progressivism among Episcopal  publications. Copyright was transferred with the archive, allowing us to offer the entire journal here.

Clerical Directory.  Parish historians, family historians, and individuals seeking to reconnect will find the online publication of the Episcopal Church's Clergy Directories a quick and valuable source of information on ordained ministers.  The digitized version of this resource covers the period 1898 to 1999.

January 25, 2021

The Archives has prepared a set of recommendations for local churches in developing a policy on making name and gender changes to Episcopal Church records.  These guidelines for policy development accommodate individuals’ requests to align name and gender entries with usage they have legally adopted in civil jurisdictions.  Name and gender identity in records is particularly sensitive in instances where individuals seek to safeguard their privacy, protect themselves from harm, or simply to revise records that do not accurately represent their identity. 

The guidelines were prepared at the request of General Convention (2018-A088) and approved for distribution by Executive Council at its October 9–11, 2020 meeting.  The Executive Council’s resolution and an additional bibliography of resources are available under the website’s “Text Center” tab above.  The Guidelines for Policy on Amending Church Records for Name and Gender Changes are available in Spanish.  The Church archivists welcome questions and comments on the guidelines.

April 02, 2020

In response to the COVID-19 emergency, the offices of the Archives are closed and staff are not accessing the physical collections.  If you have a research question, you may use the Archives’ Research Request Form to send it to our attention where it will be placed in a queue for future response.  Please consult the Digital Archives and other resources on the website for key governance information. All inquiries will be noted and we will endeavor to respond after the staff return to the Archives.

Non-research and non-reference questions may be sent through the Archives' Contact Form.  We wish everyone the very best in these challenging times and look forward to having the Archives research desk restored as soon as safely possible.

August 23, 2019

On August 14 the Archives and the Seminary of the Southwest announced the opening of an exhibit to mark the anniversary of Jonathan Daniels' death.  Entitled Jonathan Daniels: Called to be Fully Present, the exhibit draws on the Archives collections received in part from the recent acquisition of the Episcopal Divinity School Archives.  The exhibit features original source material and a narrative of Daniels' early life, his awakening, and death.  Special acknowledgment goes to intern archivist, Noble Brigham, who led the production and design team.  Noble is a senior at Episcopal Academy in Newtown Square, PA.  The exhibit is part of an extended online exhibit, The Church Awakens, telling the story of African American Episcopalians from an historical perspective. Visit The Church Awakens to learn more about the life of Jonathan Daniels.

February 06, 2018

The Archives of the Episcopal Church has chosen Arkivum PERPETUA as their data archiving, preservation and safeguarding solution.  Arkivum PERPETUA is a leading end-to-end digital preservation solution that utilizes open standards and open source components to address the unique requirements and challenges of cultural heritage institutions.  [read more].

April 20, 2017

The Episcopal Church has selected Cielo Property Group to partner in the development of a church-owned city block in downtown Austin that will incorporate space for The Archives of the Episcopal Church as the future home of its repository and research center.  The Archives will be part of a lively downtown area and will incorporate an adjoining mixed-use project.

October 11, 2016

The Archives of the Episcopal Church announces the update of official governance documents held in the Digital Archives of General Convention. The Acts of Convention adds 315 resolutions from the 78th General Convention in Salt Lake City held in June and July, 2015 to the existing online database that begins in 1976.

July 25, 2016

In conjunction with the Utah State Historical Records Advisory Board, a group of dedicated Diocese of Utah volunteers has indexed early Diocesan records from decommissioned parishes and the personal journals of the Rt. Rev Daniel S. Tuttle, the Rt. Rev. Abiel Leonard, the Venerable Lawrence B. Ridgley, and the Rev. Pierre McDonald Bleecker to come up with a first for the history of Utah, a database of early Episcopalians in Utah.

May 04, 2016

The Archives of the Episcopal Church announces the release of their newly designed and content-rich website.  The principal feature is the opening of a major exhibit on the life and work of the 23rd Presiding Bishop, John Maury Allin.  Entitled Venture in Ministry, the exhibit weaves historical text and rich media into an exploration of Bishop Allin’s ministry as he navigated the Church through arguably its greatest period of institutional change in the 1970s and 80s.

March 29, 2016

Efforts by The Episcopal Church to construct a home repository for the Archives have reached a promising point with the announcement of negotiations to identify a favored partner to develop the Church­-owned land in downtown Austin.