Overture wants Montreat Historical Center maintained
The Layman Online, January 23, 2006
The 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has been asked to overrule the Office of the General Assembly’s decision to disperse the historical collection at Montreat Conference Center to the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia and Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga.
The Office of the General Assembly closed the Montreat office in December as a cost-cutting measure with plans to move some of the archives to Philadelphia and some to Decatur. But an overture from the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee calls for the entire collection to be left intact at Montreat, a Presbyterian retreat and retirement center near Asheville, N.C.
The Montreat archives are especially important to Presbyterians who were members of the Southern denomination, the Presbyterian Church U.S., before the reunion with the Northern stream of the mainline denomination in 1983. Many supporters of keeping the archives at Montreat worry that much of the material will be discarded during dispersal.
The denomination has not said which archives will go to Philadelphia or Columbia Theological Seminary, which announced in December that it will house some of the material in its John Bulow Campbell Library. But Columbia also said it would need to raise more money to archive the material, which could delay its availability to the public.
Montreat has maintained a large collection of archival, library, and museum materials related to Presbyterian history and to the worldwide Reformed tradition. It includes a manuscript division, a library of bound books and a museum with artifacts of 500 years of Reformed history.
The Middle Tennessee overture says that material and much more should be maintained at Montreat. Specifically, it cites records and artifacts of Southern Presbyterians and annual congregational histories written by Presbyterian Women.
Breaking up the collection would “destroy a precious heritage that has great potential for the life and ministry of the total church, as well as of partner churches around the world,” the overture said.
The following is the text of the overture:
Overture 44. On Directing the Presbyterian Historical Society to Retain its Office in Montreat, North Carolina, and to Find Ways and Means to Fund Same – From the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee.
WHEREAS, the Historical Foundation at Montreat contains a remarkable and exceptionally rich collection of materials on the history of the Presbyterian Church and its worldwide Reformed tradition and relationships, housing resources that enable Presbyterians to understand the roots of our Presbyterian history; and
WHEREAS, the Historical Foundation is the primary place for holding the official records and artifacts of Presbyterianism in the South, including those of governing bodies such as congregations, presbyteries, synods, general assemblies and their missionary enterprise, but also priceless personal and family records, such as letters, manuscripts, paintings, photographs, tapes and memorabilia that reflect the life and mission of the church both here and abroad; and
WHEREAS, the Historical Foundation is the place where Presbyterian Women historians have for years placed annual histories of the life and work of their congregations, in confidence that this unique collection of primary source materials would always be conveniently accessible to their wide regional constituency; and
WHEREAS, the present facilities of the Historical Foundation are well designed and eminently suited for their specific purpose, and are visited each year by several thousand persons, including many researchers, scholars and congregational historians; and
WHEREAS, the Historical Foundation is located on the campus of the Montreat Conference Center, which is the largest conference facility of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and a major gathering place for Presbyterians from across the nation; and
WHEREAS, the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly has announced that, because of the ongoing decrease in the per capita income to the Office of the General Assembly, the Historical Foundation should be closed and its holdings distributed between the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia and Columbia Theological Seminary, with the present Historical Foundation building becoming a museum under the management of the Mountain Retreat Association; and
WHEREAS, such an arrangement would destroy a precious heritage that has great potential for the life and ministry of the total church, as well as of partner churches around the world; and
WHEREAS, there has been an outpouring of concern protesting the contemplated closing of the Historical Foundation from the spiritual heirs of the Presbyterian missionary enterprise, such as the Presbyterian Church in Korea, the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil, and the Presbyterian Church of Congo; and
WHEREAS, the Friends of the Historical Foundation at Montreat, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, is prepared to undertake the support of the Historical Foundation as a self-standing independent institution, relieving the General Assembly of responsibility for its restoration and continuing support; and
WHEREAS, the Historical Foundation at Montreat has legally existed as a North Carolina non-profit corporation under the name “The Historical Foundation of the Presbyterian and Reformed Churches, Incorporated”, beginning in 1927 and still existing until the present day, with the legal ownership of most or all of its assets still being lodged in the still existing North Carolina corporation;
THEREFORE, LET IT BE RESOLVED, That the 217th General Assembly (2006) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) directs that the Presbyterian Historical Society to retain its office in Montreat, North Carolina, at the Historical Foundation and to find ways and means to fund same.