Successful Historical Society Meetings!

This past weekend, May 15 and 16, the Seventh Day Baptist Historical Society held its Board of Directors and Society Annual meetings at the SDB Center in Janesville.

The Board of Directors (pictured above during the 2009 meetings--Janet Thorngate, Salem, WV; Judy Parrish, Battle Creek, MI; Norma MacLuskie, Newport News, VA; Ruth Burdick, Seattle, WA; and Paul Green, Milton, WI) held their meetings after the Sabbath on the 15th and before and after the Society's Annual meeting on Sunday the 16th. The Board reviewed all the business of the Society for 2009 and so far in 2010, set priorities for the remainder of 2010 and 2011 and began setting out a strategic plan for 2011 to 2015. In addition to this review of the Society's business, the Board also prepared a budget and conducted performance reviews of the Society's employees. Though the meetings are always filled--reviewing all the Society's work in a few short hours is tough--the meetings were a productive time of fellowship and work.

The Society's 2010 Annual Meeting was held at 2:00pm on Sunday the 16th. At the meeting, the Society formally inducted 12 new life members (!), as well as adopting the 2009 Annual Report, which will be printed in the 2010 General Conference Yearbook. Updates were given for the members in attendance about the ongoing work of the Society. In addition, the Society voted to adopt a new vision statement: "Remembering our past to inform the present and envision the future." The Society voted to make a revised version of the Society purpose statement the Society's new mission statement. Elections for officer positions, the re-election of Janet Thorngate for a 5-year term as a director of the Society, and the 2010-2011 nominating committee were also held. A brief presentation was also made about the SDB presence at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, and how history is often the cobbling together of scraps of information. A time of fellowship followed the meeting.

We are grateful for the support of Seventh Day Baptists for the continued ministry of remembering our history. We thank those of you who prayed for our meetings--your prayers were answered! Please continue to pray for the work of the Society in the months ahead. If you would like to be added to an email list to receive specific prayer items for the Society's work, please send us an email (sdbhist@seventhdaybaptist.org) with your request to be added!