Report of the

Historical Committee

            If one were to rank reports which create controversy and generate discussion at the Bible Fellowship Church Conference, the report of the Historical Committee would most likely be near the bottom of that ranking. We could stir things up by suggesting that Quakertown, not Zionsville, was the first church. We could light a fire by suggesting that our founders did not set out to start a church. We could create a buzz by offering that our preachers were not always models of pastoral propriety. But, other reports will probably rise higher on the excitement list regardless and some will press on to the reports of more pressing matters and issues.

            You have probably heard about those who ignore history. They are doomed to repeat it, say some. An organization cannot learn if it has no memory, others add. Heroes and their exploits are forgotten, observers note. For those who see no significance in history, these discussions are irrelevant.

            But it is all true. History learns from the past. History listens to the present. History leads for the future. History helps us put it all together. Because of that, the Historical Committee will continue the work of uncovering significant historical materials and interpreting them. We will seek to make what we learn available to others. We will apply lessons learned from the past to situations faced today.

            We have resources available to those who wish to use our history as a springboard to the future. We have a number of materials in print. We recommend that those who would to dig into our past read Dr. Harold Shelly’s book, The Bible Fellowship Church. Our on line library at www.BFCHistory.org contains hundreds of files that provide resources for those seeking to learn about our past. Included in the resources are the minutes of past conferences, reports of our various study committees, a library of papers presented at the Historical Society, individual church histories, and various data files such as pastoral assignments.

            The Historical Society met this year on October 29, 2011, at Bethany Bible Fellowship Church in Whitehall, Pennsylvania, to hear Richard Gehman make two presentations of significance. In the first, he surveyed the background of Christianity in Germany and followed those roots to the Mennonites of eastern Pennsylvania. In the second, he presented how this Germanic heritage played out in his own family through his father, Pastor Rudy Gehman.

            On Saturday, October 27, 2012, the Historical Society and those interested in our past have been invited to Hatfield to hear presentations concerning our background of non-resistance / pacificism and the history of church buildings in our denomination.

Historical Committee: Jill Davidson, Chairperson; Richard Taylor, Archivist & Secretary): Carl Cassel, Ronald Hoyle, Ronald Kohl, Harold Shelly.