History Repeats Itself! By Cathy Wilson, ARPWM Historian Dear fellow ARPs,
As your ARPWM Historian, I enjoy opportunities to do research in the Synodical Hall Library at Bonclarken. Recently, I found articles in old issues of The ARP that pertain to ARPWM historians of years ago as well as today. History does repeat itself! In the February 1981 (almost 46 years ago) issue of The ARP, Rev. Ray King of the Erskine Theological Seminary faculty and chairman of the Com- mittee on Historical Concerns answered the questions of ARP women related to collecting, writing, and sending their annual church history. He especially wanted to encourage historians in the newer churches to develop a system to collect materials and start writing their histories. He wrote encourag- ing and practical advice in this article:
• “Collecting and presenting your church’s history is an important, ongoing task… We tend to neglect this activity of preserving our heritage. We think we will remember aright, but we do not. We intend to do something with our old papers and pictures, but they get lost in our attics. We really mean to tape some conversations with old-timers, but somehow, we never take the time. Are we guilty of helping the church lose her memory? I am thankful that the Women of the Church are doing something systematic and constructive to keep amnesia from overtaking us. Let this work continue. Let it be broad enough to embrace the whole life of your church, not just women’s work.
• “Enlist people who display the gifts you need. Do not leave the work to one or two; you will soon give out. Use the tools you have… Beware, you may become a “history buff.” Why worry, though? Even if your friends start looking at you out of the corner of their eyes, you do not have a fatal disease. The God of history enlivens us as we remember.
•“Type three copies on acid-free paper, keep a copy for your church library (start one!), send the other copies.” (in 2027 to Presbyterial Historians for the Bonclarken Library and Montreat Heritage Center)
On the
arpchurch.org- tinent information for church historians under the Ministries Tab: ARP Women’s Ministries: Histo- rian Packet of Resources. Information for special . For any questions, please feel free to contact me and I hope that this look into the past will encourage all of us to preserve ARP history in our churches for genera- tions to come!
Serving Him together, Cathy Wilson
ARPWMhistorian@gmail.com
20
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
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