The Archivists of Faith and Religious Organizations Group was founded in Edmonton in December 2004. Prior to the group’s creation, archivists of various faith and religious organizations in Alberta, had met for information sessions dealing with issues of common interest. As many found these sessions useful, the group was created to provide a formalized support network to other archivists working in or just coming into the faith and religious organization archives who had no previous training or archival experience. The Archivists of Faith and Religious Organizations Group meets monthly in a collegial and informal way in different venues without creating a structured organization with official board members. Meetings take place in various Edmonton faith and religious archives on a rotation system.

The objectives of the Group are meeting with colleagues, sharing ideas and solving problems most often related to recordkeeping, lack of funding and human resources, ownership and control, copyright, access and privacy legislation, as well as Indian Residential School research. Participants have included over time, representatives of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the United Church, the Anglican Church, Moravian Fathers, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton, the Lutheran Historical Institute, Franciscan Friars, Edmonton Catholic Schools, Sisters of Providence, Presbyterian Church, Jewish archives, Catholic Women’s League, and Knights of Columbus. A representative from the Provincial Archives of Alberta also attend the group meetings. The organization is still active today.