Brethren Historical Committee encourages preservation of records.

The Brethren Historical Committee met in Elgin, Ill., Nov. 5-6. The role of the committee is to encourage Brethren historical research and publication, promote the preservation of Brethren historical records, and approve general policies for the General Board's Brethren Historical Library and Archives (BHLA).

Topics on the agenda included the microfilming of Brethren periodicals from the 1800s, the preservation of 16-millimeter films produced by Brethren agencies in the 1900s, the preservation of congregational records, repositories for congregational and district records, an index to Annual Conference minutes, and plans for an insight session at the 2005 Annual Conference. "The committee is especially concerned about where and how congregational and district records are being preserved and made available to researchers," reported BHLA director Ken Shaffer. "If the records of a disorganized congregation are not preserved, there is no documentation that the congregation ever existed."

Members are chair William Kostlevy, Jane Davis, Marlin Heckman, and Kenneth Kreider. Also meeting with the committee were Shaffer; Judy Keyser, the board's executive director of Centralized Resources; and Mary Beliveau, volunteer archival assistant. The committee planned its next meeting for Nov. 4-5, 2005, in McPherson, Kan. For more information contact Shaffer at 800-323-8039 ext. 294 or e-mail kshaffer_gb@brethren.org.

Source: 11/19/2004 Newsline