Museums, libraries and communities · For pastors, church historians and anniversary committees
A church history display your congregation can browse after services
The anniversary booklet and the photo board in the narthex each tell part of the story. Gather pastors, buildings, founding families and milestones on one touchscreen, and members can find their own family in the congregation’s history.
No account needed to start. Free to use. No payment details required.
What is a church history display?
A church history display shows a congregation’s story, including its founding, its pastors, its buildings and the families who sustained it, usually in a narthex, gathering space or fellowship hall. With HistoryShowcase, each pastor, building or milestone becomes a story with a year, a summary and photos, and members browse it on a touchscreen at church or from home.
Updated
- Made for
- Pastors, church historians and anniversary committees
- Where it goes
- Narthex or gathering space, Fellowship hall, The church website
- Layouts
- Timeline, Portrait gallery, Photo gallery, Honors ledger
- Visitors can filter by
- Era, Year
- Cost
- Free to use. No payment details required.
Every anniversary, someone starts the history over
Congregations usually write their history for an anniversary. A committee gathers photos, interviews longtime members and prints a booklet, and a board goes up in the narthex for a few months. Then the board comes down, the booklets go into drawers, and at the next anniversary a new committee starts again from whatever it can find.
A church history display keeps that work in one place and lets it grow. Pastors, buildings, ministries and founding families each become stories with photos and dates, and the next committee adds to them instead of starting over. Members browse after services, and families who have moved away can open the same stories from home.
How does a church history display compare with an anniversary booklet or narthex photo board?
| What matters | Anniversary booklet or photo board | HistoryShowcase |
|---|---|---|
| Keeping it current | Written once for a single anniversary | Add the next pastor or building project when it happens |
| Room for photos | A few pages or one corkboard | Galleries for each era and building |
| Finding a family | Read the whole booklet | Search by name |
| Taking it home | One booklet per household that kept it | A web address linked from the church website |
| Something to hold | A printed keepsake members treasure | Nothing to hold; scan the booklet in |
What to include in a church history display
The founding
Where the first services met, who gathered them, and the charter or minutes that record it.
Pastors and ministers
A portrait and profile for each, with the years they served and what changed during their time.
Buildings
Each sanctuary, addition and renovation, with cornerstone and dedication photos.
Founding and longtime families
The households that started the congregation and the names that appear in every directory since.
Ministries and missions
Choirs, Sunday school, outreach and mission trips, with photos from each era.
Anniversaries
Each jubilee and centennial, with the booklet scanned in and photos from the celebration.
How to organize your congregation’s history
Give pastors and buildings their own collections, since those are the questions members ask first, and keep one timeline that ties everything together.
Your siteOur Church History
- Our storyTimeline
Founding to today, one milestone per story.
- PastorsPortrait gallery
A portrait and profile for each pastor, in order of service.
- BuildingsPhoto gallery
Sanctuaries, halls and renovations, captioned with the year.
- AnniversariesHonors ledger
Each anniversary by year, with its booklet and photos inside.
Visitors can narrow it by
- Era
- Year
How do you set up a church history display?
Gather the old booklets first
Earlier anniversary booklets already hold dates, pastors and photos. Scan them, or upload them as PDFs and convert them into pages.
Ask longtime members to help
Add a church historian and a few volunteers by email as editors. Keep stories Private while someone checks names and dates.
Set it up where people gather
Open the live site full screen on a touchscreen in the narthex or fellowship hall, and link it from the church website.
Where should a church history display go?
- Narthex or gathering spaceMembers pass it on the way in and linger on the way out.
- Fellowship hallFamilies browse over coffee after services or during receptions.
- The church websiteMembers who have moved away can look up their family’s years in the congregation.
Church history display questions
Can a church use software made for schools?
Yes. HistoryShowcase began as a school tool, so setup asks for a school name and colors. Enter the congregation’s name and colors, and the editor, layouts and touchscreen work the same way.
We’re planning a centennial. Should we start now?
Yes. Build what you can before the celebration, show it at the event, then keep adding the photos members bring in afterward instead of filing them away.
What if a family doesn’t want their photos shown?
Mark the story Private and it stays off the live site while you ask permission, and goes live only if you change that.
Who should be able to make changes?
Add people by email as owners, editors or viewers. A small group of editors, with the pastor or a council member as an owner, is a simple way to start.
Related ideas
Keep your congregation’s story in one place
Free to use. No payment details required.
