20
July/August 2015 • SR
SR
On May 17, at the SDB Center in Janesville, more than
four years of careful consideration ended with a decision
from the membership of the SDB Historical Society to
merge with the General Conference by a vote of 85-6.
The vote centered on the completion of the merger by the
adoption of the documents which will make the merger
official. Society members were given the opportunity to
vote either in person or by proxy.
This vote was a final response by the members of the
Society to a request from the General Conference to
consider merger in 2010 in response to the report of the
Ad Hoc Committee on Denominational Organization and
Structure. The Society has carefully sought questions and
feedback from its membership and other stake holders
over the past four years, moving as directed by the mem-
bership towards this final vote. The final tally reflected
nearly exactly the vote at last year’s meeting encouraging
the Society to seek out a merger agreement.
The final vote included the adoption of the official legal
merger agreement, as well as an additional document
which outlines the bylaw revisions necessary to integrate
the Historical Society into the General Conference. The
document recommends the creation of a new Council on
History to take over the work of the Historical Society
under the new arrangement. If the recommendations in
the document are adopted by the Conference, the new
Council will retain the same number of members as the
current Board of Directors of the Historical Society, and
potentially, the same leadership. In addition, the support-
ing documents reaffirm the conditions of the merger,
including the continued dedication of current Historical
Society endowments solely to historic preservation and
communication work in the future.
In addition, the supporting documentation adopted by
the Society provides for supporter categories analogous
to the current Society membership structure, with Life
Members of the Society becoming Patrons of SDB History,
and Annual Members of the Society becoming Friends of
SDB History. An additional category (Legacy Partners)
was also adopted by the Society to honor those who
make significant contributions of more than $5,000 to
the Centennial Fund.
The next step in the completion of the merger process
will take place at the corporate meetings of the SDB
General Conference the week of July 26 – August 1, 2015,
at Lancaster Bible College, Lancaster, PA, when the
General Conference in session will vote with respect to
the merger. If the merger vote is successful at Conference,
the two organizations will legally finalize the merger, likely
sometime early in 2016 — which is the 100th anniversary
of the Society's founding in 1916.
Besides the merger vote, Life Members were officially
admitted to the Society by vote, in accordance with the
bylaws. Also, the Society re-elected current President
Janet Thorngate to another five-year term as a Director,
and the Officers for the Society were also elected. The
Society accepted, with regrets, the resignation of Rev.
Brent Hannah from the Board of Directors (and as first
Vice President), and elected Kim Merchant (Alexandria,
VA; Central Maryland SDB Church) to the Board to com-
plete the remaining 3 years of his term and fill his role as
VP. In general, summaries were given of the ministries
and finances of the Society. It was an encouraging time,
even in the midst of organizational change.
Historical Society
has Annual Meeting;
Votes to Merge with
General Conference
Historical Society
Rev. Nicholas J. Kersten
Director of Education and History
