Some of us were cautiously optimistic when we went to Birmingham to plead the cause for the Historical Foundation at Montreat. Overtures from twenty-one presbyteries, representing Presbyterians in ten states, had protested the closing of this valued institution, which had served the church since 1927, by the Committee of the General Assembly. Eleven advocates were attending the assembly to speak on behalf of these presbyteries, including myself, an advocate for Coastal Carolina Presbytery.
The Friends of the Historical Foundation had been working for more than two years to find a way to preserve the Historical Foundation. In less than three months the Friends raised nearly a million dollars in conditional pledges, a portion to be used for initial operating costs and the remainder for a self-sustaining endowment. An equal amount of endowment funds for the Historical Foundation was held by the Presbyterian Foundation. The Friends had also secured the promise of volunteers to staff the Historical Foundation. The value of their time was estimated at $200,000 annually. We were hopeful that the Salem overture, which provided two additional years for raising endowment funds, would be adopted, thereby assuring the continuing operation of the Historical Foundation.
Advocates learned during orientation that our access to the Committee on Procedures would be highly structured and very limited. We would have about thirty minutes to present our case and a few additional minutes to respond to questions from the committee.
The Office of the Stated Clerk, headed by Clifton Kirkpatrick, was given a generous amount of time to make a power point presentation to the committee, putting a friendly face on all departments in this office and describing the extensive responsibilities of the Stated Clerk. In his initial remarks Kirkpatrick stated that the Historical Foundation was a bit of unfinished business from the days of reunion and should have been resolved long ago. He then introduced an entourage of staff members, including lawyers, financial analysts, constitutional authorities, the Director of the Historical Society in Philadelphia, and members of COGA. Staff at the Montreat location had been discharged months before the meeting in Birmingham. Sweeping aside the claims for broad support throughout the southeast as well as projected plans for financial viability of the Historical Foundation, Kirkpatrick and the others pronounced all but one overture unconstitutional and declared further that the Historical Foundation could not continue without raising per capita assessments.
The constitutional issue was raised because section G-9.0406 of the Form of Government states that minutes and all other official records of governing bodies are the property of these governing bodies. Those not required for frequent reference are to be deposited for preservation and servicing with the Department of History or a seminary of our church. It states further that it is the responsibility of the stated clerk of each governing body to make recommendations to governing bodies for the permanent safekeeping of these records. Friends of the Historical Foundation maintained that a substantial part of the collection at Montreat was not “official” records of governing bodies. The Stated Clerk and other resource people of this office made no concessions to the overture advocates and offered no compromise that would bring overtures into conformity with this section of the Form of Government.
Nearly everyone present was surprised when a motion to answer the recommendations of COGA in the negative was adopted by a vote of 25 to 20 with three abstentions. The committee adjourned for dinner and returned that evening to give attention to other items on their agenda. However, a motion to reconsider the vote of the committee was passed in the evening session. As the hour grew late and with continuing pressure from the Stated Clerk and resource persons, the committee reversed itself and answered all overtures in the negative. A motion was adopted to distribute archives between the Department of History in Philadelphia and Columbia Theological Seminary, leaving a few artifacts at the Montreat location.
When the Committee on Procedures made its report to the commissioners on Wednesday evening, the same arguments for the closing of the Historical Foundation were presented, with scant reference to the successful fundraising efforts of the Friends and the valued service of the Historical Foundation to Presbyterians throughout the southeast. A substitute motion to preserve the Historical Foundation was defeated. Debate was very brief, especially when compared with the inordinate amount of time given to personal announcements at the beginning of the evening session. The moderator called time on Marj Carpenter as she was recalling the assurance given at the time of reunion that the Historical Foundation would be preserved. With commissioners waiting at microphones to make use of the allotted three minutes, the moderator received a motion to call the question, which was adopted. The recommendations of the committee were adopted by a vote of 348 to 147.
I had made a prediction when addressing the committee that the closing of the Historical Foundation would bring a cloud of bewilderment and malaise upon a large part of our Presbyterian family. There is disappointment and frustration, to say the least. It is not likely that the consolidation of archives in Philadelphia and the creation of a history center at Columbia Theological Seminary will fill the void that many Presbyterians will feel with the absence of this cherished institution at Montreat. In the coming years many of these resources will be on line, but Presbyterians throughout the southeast will miss their pilgrimages to Montreat, where they could see and touch the revered documents and artifacts that brought their heritage to life. It is doubtful that they will make such pilgrimages to the metropolitan centers of Philadelphia and Atlanta, where crowded interstates, jammed air terminals, and busy city streets can be very intimidating.
We may have saved our churches a few dollars in per capita assessments, but at how great a cost?
Thomas K. Spence Jr. of Sanford, N.C., served as chair of the Financial Campaign for the Friends of the Historical Foundation at Montreat.
