| LOUISVILLE —
The Presbyterian
Historical Society (PHS) is kicking off the new year by launching
a campaign to increase its visibility and better serve the Presbyterian
Church (USA).
The society is acting on recommendations made in 2001 by a consulting
team hired to study its future. The Warner Yakel report was accepted
by the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA)
and reviewed by the Committee on the Presbyterian Historical Society
(CPHS).
The recommendations, many of which are already being implemented,
call for changes in the PHS’s funds-development structure,
development of a new operatons model, and a realignment of staff
responsibilities.
A task force has been created to look into two subject areas
— the society’s technology needs in a digital age,
and a possible consolidation of PHS operations in Philadelphia.
It now has facilities there and in Montreat, NC.
The task force is scheduled to report to COGA and the PHS governing
board next fall.
The task force met for the first time on Jan. 7, in Louisville,
and decided to gather public input at three locations: at Montreat
during the task force’s next meeting, scheduled for April
16-17; in Philadelphia; and in Richmond, VA, during this year’s
General Assembly.
“We’re looking forward to meeting with a variety
of constituencies and discerning how PHS can best serve the denomination
in the 21st century,” said Anne Bond, an elder from Denver
who is the moderator of the Committee on the Presbyterian Historical
Society and a co moderator of the task force with the Rev. Katherine
Cunningham of Ridgewood, NJ, who also is the moderator of COGA.
The other task force members are: the Rev. Catherine Ulrich
of Fort Smith, AR, representing COGA; Burnett Kelly of Midland,
MI, representing CPSH; Walter Baker of Mound, MN, representing
the General Assembly Council; and three at-large representatives
— Jim Henderson of Montreat, the Rev. Richard Ray of Bristol,
TN, and the Rev. Cliff Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the General
Assembly. PHS Director Fred Heuser and Deputy Director Margery
Sly are serving as staff.
The PHS is the national archive and research center of the PC(USA).
Its mission is to collect, preserve and share the history of the
American Presbyterian and Reformed tradition. It also serves as
a resource for scholars, genealogists and the public. Its collection
shows how American Presbyterianism is woven into the culture,
politics and history of the nation.
For more information about PHS, visit its Web site: www.history.pcusa.org.
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