St. Luke's Episcopal Church, East Greenwich (Mss. Gr. 100)

Series 1. Annual Meetings, Rector's Reports, and Vestry Minutes, 1844 - 2001
5 box(es)
(2.5 linear feet)

Annual Meetings, Rector's Reports, and Vestry Minutes, 1844 - 2001, contains the records of the annual meetings held by the entire congregation once a year along with minutes of vestry meetings. Rector's reports on the status and goals of the church are included in the annual meetings. The annual meetings consist of annual reports of the treasurer, officers, and various committees of the church. The minutes from the 1950's and 1960s are typescript copies and are bound with other documents and reports relating to activities of St. Luke's. The minutes for the 1970s are on poor quality acidic paper.

Arrangement: The series is arranged chronologically by type of meeting or report. Duplicates for the years 1968 -1969, 1971, 1974, 1976 -1977 are in folder 15. 

Series 2. Clerk's Files, 1827-1992
6 box(es)
(3 linear feet)

The Clerk's Files series covers the bulk of the church's history from the mundane building concerns to controversies among its congregation. Also among the Clerk's Files are the Parochial Reports which offer statistics on the parish and transfers of parishioners. These documents were clearly prepared by the Clerk of the Vestry. The series is arranged by each clerk of the vestry beginning with the first and longest serving Clerk, William A. Browning. In the files are also some early treasurer's reports as Mr. Browning not only served as Clerk but also as Treasurer. He served almost to the time of his death in 1930. He was replaced by H. E. Cockrell.

Arrangement: Most of the records are in alphabetical order by subject as identified by each clerk. The exception are the files kept by Vernal S. Allen and David A. Jonah which are in a letter file A - W. There are a few files that were attributed to subsequent clerks, Clinton Norman, Marion E. Cliffe and George T. McDonald. At some time these files became separated from the bulk of the office files. These latter office files had no recognizable tie to a particular clerk and the files were organized into the Subject File series.

William A. Browning, 1800s?-1930
2 box(es)
(1 linear feet)

H. E. Cockrell, 1929-1932
1 box(es)
(0.5 linear feet)

Vernal S. Allen and David A. Jonah , 1932-1959
1 box(es)
(0.5 linear feet)

T. Dexter Clarke, 1874-1964
1 box(es)
(0.5 linear feet)

Clinton Norman, 1972-1973
1 box(es)
(0.25 linear feet)

Marion E. Cliffe and George T. McDonald, 1974-1976
1 box(es)
(0.25 linear feet)

Parochial Reports and Transfers, 1941-1992
1 box(es)
(0.5 linear feet)

Series 3. Church Registers, 1834 - 1995
3 box(es)
(1.5 linear feet)

The Church Registers contains, in bound volumes, a record of its services, listing of its communicants, marriages, baptisms and burials. There is an index of names up until 1943. There are also two guest registers for visitors for the years 1987.

Arrangement: The registers are arranged chronologicially

Series 4. Committees, 1874-1996
3 box(es)
(1.5 linear feet)

This Series consists of ledgers, minute books, files, and correspondence kept by the many ad hoc and standing committees of this very active church. These include Stewardship, Women's Auxiliary, Parish Aid Society, and Vestry Calling Committee which was formed as necessary to select new rector candidates. The activities and reports of various committees can also be found in Clerk's Files and in the Annual Meetings series.

Arrangement: The series is arranged alphabetically.

Series 5. Newsletters and Bulletins, 1900-2001
7 box(es)
(3.5 linear feet)

Series V contains the publications of the church. The Year Book, The St. Luke's Record, and The Messenger provide statistical and historical information about St. Luke's Church. The St. Luke's Record, 1903 - 1911 and the Yearbook was Rev. William Worthington's (rector from 1899 - 1915) labor of love. The publication contains many articles on the history of St. Luke's researched and written by Rev. Worthington. The Yearbook a compilation of the activities and statistics of St. Luke's was produced through funds received from advertisements and when the contribution became insufficient publication stopped. The Newsletter which replaced The Messenger in 1985 provided parishioners a listing of activities and topical information. The current newsletter is entitled The Anchor and began its run in 1990. The Sunday Church Bulletins span the most of two decades from 1974 - 1994 and are listings of the Sunday events. There is only one Bulletin for 2001.

Arrangement: The Series is arranged by publication and then chronologically.

Series 6. Subject Files, 1833-2000
5 box(es)
(2.5 linear feet)

In the Subject File are various anniversary publications, dedication programs, and the programs of St. Luke's Equestrian Society. Of particular interest is a biographical sketch of Alexander Rice Esty- architect of St. Luke's ,1872-1873. There is also a small account book in Swedish along with other documents from the St. Luke's Swedish Mission. The Swedish Lutherans split with their church in 1906 and came to St. Luke's to hold services and to be gradually assimilated into St. Luke's congregation.  This series also contains information on the Barbados Mission in the 1980s, a highlight of the rectorship of Rev. Alfred Burns (rector 1964 - 1986).

Arrangement: The Series is arranged alphabetically by title or topic and chronologically within each folder.

Series 7. Financial Records, 1833-2000
2 box(es)
(1 linear feet)

This Series contains account books relating to Sunday offerings, building and other funds, investment lists, documents, and treasurer's reports from 1833 to 2000 relating to the accounting and investment practices of St. Luke's. See also the Clerk's Files series, 1902, 1904, 1905, 1918, 1929 and the Subject File series, which contains a ledger book of the Swedish Mission and a ledger book Thomas G. Casey Benevolent Fund bound with Thomas Howland School Fund, 1859-1877. William A. Browning (clerk from 1880s to 1930) also served as treasurer for many years and kept his financial files intermingled with his clerk's files.

Arrangement: The records are arranged in alphabetical order by type of record or subject and chronologically within the folders.

Series 8. Pew Records, 1877-1930
1 box(es)
(0.5 linear feet)

Pew Records account for the sale and transfer of parish pews. There are significant gaps in the period covered by these records. See also Financial Records, Folder 1 and William Browning's records in Clerk's Files. The practice of selling/ assigning pews was abandoned in the 1930s.

Arrangement: The records are arranged chronologically.

Series 9. William Worthington, 1899-1913
3 box(es)
(1.5 linear feet)

This series contains scrapbooks and correspondence kept by Rev. Worthington, rector from 1899 until 1915. Shortly after leaving St. Luke's he gave these materials to the parish along with halftone printing blocks used in printing the The St. Luke's Record. The halftones are in Realia series. Rev. Worthington was passionate about his parish's history. The first parish newsletter, The St. Luke's Record was published between 1903 and 1911 and contained many sketches on the church's history written by him. He also compiled historical information on the church and its previous rectors to document the historical context for St. Luke's 75th anniversary celebration. Under Rev. Worthington, the Choir began singing at Christmas and Easter and he kept various mementos and clippings regarding this and other church activities. There are also a number of sermons delivered by Rev. Worthington. These and other loose documents were removed from the scrapbooks and placed in folders.

Arrangement: The records are arranged in alphabetical order by subject. 

Series 10. Photographs and Images, 1875-1990
2 box(es)
(1 linear feet)

The bulk of this series contains confirmation group photographs dating mostly from the 1960s and 1970s. There is 16mm movie film entitled " Bishop Coleman Arrives" dated October 1966 and several 35mm slides from the late 1970s that are dated but not identified.

Arrangement: The images are arranged in alphabetical order by activity or subject.

Series 11. Realia, 1903?-1936
2 box(es)
(0.75 linear feet)

This series includes among other objects, the lock box in which St. Luke's first Clerk, William Browning kept the parish files. There are also several halftone printing blocks that were given to the church by Rev. William Worthington. These printing blocks were used in printing The St. Luke's Record. 

Arrangement: There is no particular arrangement to this series.