Friends of the Historical Foundation
at
Montreat, Inc.
Contact: Thomas Spence
tom-brenda
{at} charter.net
NEWS RELEASE
MONTREAT, NC, APRIL 5, 2006 — Announcements today at a meeting of the local group of Friends of the Historical Foundation at Montreat, Inc. indicate that support for keeping history at Montreat is growing in the PCUSA. Twenty-one presbyteries have sent overtures to the 2006 General Assembly to support and develop the ministry of the Historical Foundation. In addition, a conditional pledge campaign has been launched to support the proposals in the overtures for independent board oversight and funding for the Historical Foundation at Montreat.
James A. Cogswell, chair of the Friends board, said: "Not only do the overtures call for keeping these historical documents and artifacts safe for scholars, families, churches, and governing bodies; more importantly they would keep them accessible for a large segment of the PCUSA membership."
The Friends group was organized and the overtures were adopted in response to action in the fall of 2005 by the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) to close the Montreat office of the Presbyterian Historical Society and move the holdings to the Philadelphia office or to Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA.
Dr. Cogswell said the 21 overtures are from presbyteries in the Synod of the Sun (Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas); the Synod of Living Waters (Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi); the South Atlantic (Florida, Georgia and South Carolina); and the Synod of Mid- Atlantic (North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware).
Thomas K. Spence, Jr., chair of the Financial Campaign for the Montreat group, said: "The Friends of the Historical Foundation at Montreat have found wide support for this facility throughout the denomination, not just in the southeast. We intend to demonstrate before the June meeting of the General Assembly that Presbyterians will pledge their financial support for the continued operation of the Historical Foundation at Montreat. Even now, we have the promise of substantial gifts that will inspire further generosity.”
Posted: 11-Jun-2006 8:42 PM
