Report of the
Historical Committee
The minutes of the second meeting of our denomination record the following:
“In the second session, held on May 28, 1860, in the Meeting House in Upper Milford Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, nothing of importance was decided.”
This frank assessment of their meeting might serve to summarize the year’s activity for the Historical Committee. Actually, while little was done, we are not without significant accomplishments.
One very large undertaking has been completed. The Annual Conference Minutes are now available in their entirety on our website. This work of preservation moved along to completion largely because of the efforts of Roy and Diane Hertzog who scanned and edited them for publication. This valuable collection is now available to anyone who wants to research decisions of our Annual Conference. You will find these minutes at our website, www. BFCHistory.org.
Another undertaking is about to begin. The Historical Committee has contacted the retired pastors of our denomination to ask them to share significant stories of their ministries. Our goal is to publish these stories so that they will be preserved and available to those who want to know what we are really like.
The Historical Society will meet this year at Terre Hill. We will hear the story of the Terre Hill Church as researched by its pastor, Kevin Kirkpatrick. Jill Davidson, Chairperson of the Historical Committee, will present a paper that will identify and present significant lay persons who have been part of our history. You are invited to this meeting which will be held Saturday, October 30, 2004.
Don’t let the story contained in your records and documents be thrown out in someone’s dumpster. Gather up your church’s older records and papers and place them in the denominational archives where they will be preserved and made available for research.
The Historical Committee: Jill Davidson, Chairperson; Richard E. Taylor, Archivist, Secretary; Carl C. Cassel, Harold P. Shelly, Robert W. Smock, David E. Thomann