wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Looking forward to preserving the past

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Note #8079 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Looking forward to preserving the past
04031
January 20, 2004

Looking forward to preserving the past

Task force charting the future of Presbyterian Historical Society

by Sharon K. Youngs
Communications Coordinator
Office of the General Assembly

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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