REPORT TO THE ANNUAL MEETING – 2005
This year the Society, for the first time, was invited to make a
presentation to the Council of Synod and, as a result, the Society has
been recognised as an Agency of the Synod.
Next year we are planning:
- a Twilight Walk in the Norwood area on 31st March
- a lecture in May by the Rev Keith Smith
- involvement in the History Week promoted by the History Trust of SA (to be held in May)
- the Gordon Rowe Memorial Lecture in November to be given by Dr Ian Breward.
The work of unpacking and sorting a myriad of boxes continues. To
date over 600 books have been catalogued, most of the printed material
has been sorted into denominational categories (although still awaiting
cataloguing) and the contents of filing cabinets and many of the
photographs have been listed.
A project which has taken two volunteers over a year to complete is the
extracting of biographical material (particularly obituaries) from the
South Australian Methodist newspapers (going back to the 1880s).
It is intended to create a database of this material to enable quicker
identification for the benefit of enquirers. A further project
will be a similar exercise for churches – particularly significant
celebrations which were reported in the newspaper.
We see it important to increase the membership of the
Society. Our membership fees are small – only about 25c.
per week for individuals. It is also possible for a congregation
to become a member. Please encourage others to
consider membership of the Society.
Last weekend, I was privileged to go to Sydney as SA representative
to take part in the triennial meeting of the
Assembly Historical Reference Committee. It was a great
experience to meeting with the various Synods archivists and talk
about, not only the historical records of the past but also the future
archiving of material. Electronic archiving is a term about which
we will be learning more in the future. The Assembly
Archivist (Christine Gordon) has produced a very valuable document
recording the location of historical material either owned by the
Assembly or lodged in various libraries (e.g. the Mitchell in Sydney)
relevant to research on the Uniting Church and its predecessors.
The document will need updating as more material is added.
We continue to receive enquiries via our website from overseas,
interstate and locally. We have also fielded many enquiries from
people who have visited the Centre during the year.
Val Canty
President
18/11/05
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