Research inquiries can be submitted via phone or email.
Phone: 717-339-1317
Email: region8archives@uls.edu
Please be sure your research inquiry includes the following:
1. Name and Location of Congregation(s) or Name of Synod(s)
All of our records are indexed by names of congregations and synods. Thus, it is essential that inquiries include this information. Please note that more than one Lutheran congregation within a particular locality can have the same name (e.g., St. John, St. Paul, Trinity Lutheran, etc.). Therefore, we need as much of the following information as possible to identify the correct church: street address, city/town, county, and state where it is/was located. If researching a synod, only the name of the synod is necessary.
2. Nature of Research
Please be as specific as possible. If known, include the types of records you wish to research, such as parish registers, meeting minutes, reports, correspondence, etc. Also, be sure to include as much of the following information as possible if it is relevant to your research: full names of individuals (including birth/maiden names when applicable); known or approximate dates of births, confirmations, marriages, deaths, etc.; name of city/town, county, and state where individuals lived; and names of pastors who performed baptisms, marriages, etc.
Example: Do your collections include records for the St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Anytown, PA? I am seeking a marriage record for Richard and Jane Roe, married at this church on August 15, 1950. The pastor who performed the ceremony was Rev. John Smith.
We are in the process of adding archival collections into a new database. The goal of this database is to improve the view of what is held at the archives and make searching by keyword easier. This is an ongoing process.
The database can be accessed here:
ArchiveSpace
Please use the tabs above to browse the collections by state and county.
Some congregations have a finding aid that can be downloaded as a Word or PDF file
