Attending: 71 persons
Meeting Convened: 5:02 p.m.
1. Minutes of the Meeting. Charles Lippy moved, Daniel Bornstein seconded the approval of the minutes to be published in Church History. Approved by acclamation.
2. President's Remarks. President Richard Heitzenrater introduced the former presidents who were present at the meeting: Amanda Porterfield, Hans Hillerbrand, Charles Lippy, Grant Wacker, Peter Williams, Jan Shipps, and Mark Noll. Heitzenrater noted that 2010 had been “a good year” for the society and, for example, the annual meeting in 2011 attracted more than three hundred attendees. He thanked Elizabeth Wilson and Daniel Hoover, assistants to the Executive Secretary, for their work in helping to make the year a success. Heitzenrater also thanked individuals who have made a variety of contributions to the society in the past.
Heitzenrater drew attention to several important developments. First, the membership numbers are down from past years, but the membership list is the most accurate it has been for several years. Second, the society will begin a development campaign in the near future in connection with the upcoming 125th anniversary of the ASCH; Charles Lippy has been asked by the Council to chair the development campaign committee and has accepted the task. Third, that he would be working on the ASCH constitution and by-laws over the coming months so that the published version incorporated all the changes passed at previous business meetings and conformed to present practice. Last, the ASCH website has undergone several improvements; it is now possible to register for conferences through a secure server, and members have access to electronic copies of every article from Church History.
3. Executive Secretary's Report. Executive Secretary Keith Francis also thanked his assistants Elizabeth Wilson and Daniel Hoover for their “sterling work” over the last two years. Francis drew attention to one point he had made in his report. He noted that the society would always be financially stable if all members paid their membership dues and all attendees at ASCH meetings paid their registration fees.
4. Church History Editors' Report. Editor Amanda Porterfield introduced and welcomed Laura Etheredge, editor for Church History at Cambridge University Press, and Tammy Heise and Brooke Sherrard, administrators in the Church History office at Florida State University. Porterfield drew attention to the changes in the physical style and presentation of the journal, the color picture on the cover being one of example of this. Porterfield noted that the editors would like to receive more article submissions in the areas of Early Christianity and World Christianity and from authors residing in Asia and Africa.
Editor John Corrigan stated that there had been more than 120 article submissions in 2010, 29 from authors outside the United States. Corrigan noted that the profit share between Cambridge University Press and the ASCH had been very good in 2010, with the society receiving approximately $12,000 more than the amount that Cambridge University Press had initially predicted.
Daniel Bornstein asked whether Church History was accepting submissions in languages other than English. Corrigan replied that this was not the case at present but the editors had begun reviewing books published in languages other than English.
5. Committee Reports.
A. Membership: Interim committee chair Peggy Bendroth drew attention to the “cleaning up” of the membership database. Bendroth reported that the society had approximately 1,400 members at present, somewhat higher than the number in her report, which was based on the figures at the end of November.
B. Nominations and Personnel: Committee chair Charles Lippy thanked the members of the committee for their efforts in securing nominations for the vacant positions; he noted that the committee had been one of the most active in several years. Lippy reported that the committee had recommended an increase in the stipends for the executive secretary and the assistants to the executive secretary and that the council had approved bonuses of $2,000.00 for the executive secretary and $1,000.00 each for the two assistants to the executive secretary.
Lippy announced the new officers for 2011: Finance Committee—Hans Hillerbrand, chair (Duke University); Research and Awards Committee—Scott Billingsley (University of North Carolina at Pembroke), Mickey Mattox (Marquette University), and Leigh Schmidt (Harvard University); Membership Committee—Peggy Bendroth, chair (Director of the Congregational Library, Boston), Lynn Neal (Wake Forest University); Council Class of 2013—James Byrd (Vanderbilt University Divinity School); Esther Chung-Kim (Claremont School of Theology), Christine Shepardson (University of Tennessee at Knoxville), Andrew Stern (independent scholar), Jonathan Strom (Candler School of Theology, Emory University); President Elect—Laurie Maffly-Kipp (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). On behalf of the committee, Lippy moved for the acceptance of the new officers: approved by acclamation.
President Heitzenrater read out a solicitation for nominations for the President Elect for 2012 and the Council Class of 2014. In the case of the President Elect, the person should be a well-known scholar, have experience of working on ASCH committees such as the council, and have some administrative experience. In the case of the Council Class of 2014, the nominees should be members of the society in good standing.
C. Research and Awards: Committee chair Daniel Bornstein thanked the members of the committee for their hard work over the past year and acknowledged in particular the members whose term was complete—Jennifer McNutt (Wheaton College), Reiner Smolinski (Georgia State University), and David Weir (Nyack College).
A member asked whether the committee would accept books written in languages other than English for the society's prizes. Bornstein replied that they would not. Bornstein encouraged members to submit nominations for prizes such as the Douglass Prize. Either a book chapter or a journal article can be nominated for the Douglass Prize.
Bornstein presented the awards: Brewer Prize—Andrew Finstuen for his book, Original Sin and Everyday Protestants: The Theology of Reinhold Niebuhr, Billy Graham, and Paul Tillich in an Age of Anxiety (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009); Mead Prize—Joseph Stubenrauch for his essay, “Silent Preachers in the Age of Ingenuity: Faith, Commerce, and Religious Tracts in Early Nineteenth-Century Britain,” which will appear in the September 2011 issue of Church History; Douglass Prize—Andrea Sterk for her article, “Mission from Below: Captive Women and Conversion on the East Roman Frontiers,” Church History 79, no. 1 (March 2010): 1–39; Outler Prize—Jerrilynn D. Dodds, María Rosa Menocal, and Abigail Krasner Balbale for their book, The Arts of Intimacy: Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Making of Castilian Culture (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2008).
D. Finance: On behalf of the committee, chair Hans Hillerbrand moved the adoption of the budget for 2011: approved by acclamation.
Hillerbrand drew attention to the committee's three recommendations that had been adopted by the council: (1) that the society acquire professional management of its endowed funds; (2) that the society begin a development campaign in the near future; (3) that the society look again at the schedule of membership fees.
E. Winter Meeting Program: Committee chair Barbara Newman thanked the members of her committee: Douglas Burton-Christie (Loyola Marymount University), Marie Griffith (Harvard Divinity School), Michelle Molina (Northwestern University), Charlotte Radler (Loyola Marymount University), and Jonathan Strom (Emory University).
F. Representatives to the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS): Delegate Charles Lippy informed the meeting that he had not yet received information about whether any ASCH members had won a fellowship from the ACLS.
6. In Memoriam. President Richard Heitzenrater proposed a moment of silence to remember the passing of ASCH member Robert Kingdon, a recipient of the Distinguished Career Award in 2004.
Meeting Adjourned: 5:58 p.m.
