Collections : [Archives of Michigan]

This series documents the history of one of Covert’s earliest churches. The Covert Congregational Church officially organized in 1870. The Sunday school began two years earlier, in 1868. Church services were initially held in a barn and then moved to Pachard’s Hall in 1873. The Church continued meeting at the hall until the Congregational Church dedication in 1879.

Congregational Church materials include meeting minutes, financial information, Sunday school reports, membership statistics, and correspondence, copies of Church constitutions and amendments and newspaper clippings. The records also document baptisms, marriages and membership information. Names of pastors and Church officers have also been recorded. Charity work and donations and anniversaries (including anniversaries of the Sunday School, Church and Church building) are reflected within the records as well.

Much of this information is recorded in volumes labeled “record books.” Record keeping practices differed at various times, however. The reports from the Church treasurer, cradle rolls and Sunday school records are among the series that were sometimes included in record books and other times documented separately.

The Church record includes documentation (Subseries 2.2) of the “the Ladies Aid and Benevolent Society of Covert” (1884-1894) and its successor group, the Covert Congregational Church Women’s Club, which began in 1927. The Ladies Aid and Benevolent Society documentation includes meeting minutes, financial information and membership lists. The Society raised money for the Church and for Missionary Societies and embarked on charity work. It also made quilts and sponsored events such as picnics and temperance lectures.

The constitution of the Covert Congregational Church Women’s Club states that its object was “to promote the welfare of the church and community.” Minutes of the first meeting note that the “Ladies Aid Society” had agreed to disband. The minutes state that the new club was formed “to interest more people, the younger ones especially, and to accomplish more things by co-ordination.” Women’s Club materials (1927-2000) include meeting minutes, financial records, membership lists and annual reports. Many of these items appear in “record books,” and materials are arranged chronologically. The records document fundraising and disbursement of funds. Fundraising ventures included bake sales, bazaars, banquets and socials. Money typically went toward missionary work, charity, church expenses and college endowment funds. Club activities included social gatherings to honor specific groups of people, such as veterans and Sunday school teachers. A photograph album spans 1980-1994, with a few items from 1963