10 Aug GS 2010 art 105

Posted at 21:13h in CanRC, GS 2010 by

GS 2010 Article 104 – Archives of General Synod

1.         Material

  • 1.1       Report from Burlington-Ebenezer as Archive Church for general synods (8.2.0.i).
  • 1.2       Letter from Burlington-Waterdown concerning inspection of the archives (8.2.o.ii).
  • 1.3       Letter from Burlington-Ebenezer re: request from SCBP (8.2.o.iii).

2.         Observations

  • 2.1       Burlington-Ebenezer reports as follows:
    • 2.1.1    There have been no activity or inquiries about the archives since Synod 2007.
    • 2.1.2    The General Synod Smithers 2007 documents have been added to the archives.
    • 2.1.3    Burlington-Waterdown inspected the archives of General Synod 2007.
    • 2.1.4    Br. K. Spithoff has been appointed as archivist, replacing br. J.H. Harsevoort.
    • 2.1.5    A fireproof room has been built to house the archives as per synod instruction at a cost of $5187.55.
  • 2.2       Burlington-Waterdown reports that the archives of General Synod 2007 kept by the Ebenezer Canadian Reformed Church of Burlington and maintained by the archivist br. J.H. Harsevoort were found to be complete and in good order.
  • 2.3       Burlington-Ebenezer received a request from the SCBP that the SCBP archives which had been stored with the synodical archives be released to them. Burlington-Ebenezer agreed to this request on the basis of Article 165 of Synod Smithers 2007, which records that Synod noted with thankfulness the setting up of SCBP archives by the SCBP.
  • 2.4       Burlington-Ebenezer also requests Synod 2010 to clarify whether it is the Archive Church for general synods only, or also for synodical committees.

3.          Considerations

  • 3.1       Seeing that the SCBP has established its own archival system, it was appropriate for Burlington to release SCBP materials to the SCBP.
  • 3.2       Most synodical committees (e.g., CCCNA, CRCA, CBT) currently maintain their own archives. Ready access to archival material of the recent past can be important for the ongoing work of these committees.
  • 3.3       Storing archival material from the more distant past could be challenging for synodical committees to do on their own due to regular changes in committee membership and because of space requirements.
  • 3.4       Not all committee material is worth archiving. The substance and conclusions of committee work over the years are contained in the accumulated reports to Synod which are already part of the archives of General Synod. It would be wise to let individual committees determine what material warrants preservation in the archives of General Synod.

4.         Recommendation

That Synod decide:

  • 4.1       To thank Burlington-Ebenezer for its work as archive church, including work done to build a fireproof room.
  • 4.2       To thank Burlington-Waterdown for examining the archives and reporting to synod.
  • 4.3       To reappoint Burlington-Ebenezer as archive church and to reappoint Burlington-Waterdown to inspect the archives.
  • 4.4       To mandate Burlington-Ebenezer to gather and manage the longterm archives (older than ten years) of all synodical committees with the exception of the Standing Committee for the Book of Praise, but to leave the content of archival material to the judgment of each committee.
  • 4.5       To mandate Burlington-Ebenezer to send a requisition notice for archive material to all synodical committees within three months following each General Synod.

ADOPTED

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