Anglican and Episcopal
MEMBERS PRESENT
- Mitzi Budde, Virginia Theological Seminary
- Susanah Hanson, Trinity School for Ministry
- T. Patrick Milas, New Brunswick Theological Seminary
- Alison Poage, Seminary of the Southwest
- Vincent Williams, Virginia Theological Seminary
Agenda
- Year in Review – Conference Presentation
- Round Robin Reports
- Other
- General Discussion
- Group Convener/Chair
Year in Review
The Anglican and Episcopal Denominational Group sponsored morning worship on June 15, 2023, during the Atla Annual Conference in Ft. Worth, Texas. The service of Daily Morning Prayer derived from the Episcopal Church’s 1979 Book of Common Prayer, pages 75-102. Hebrew Bible, Psalm, and Gospel readings were appointed for use in the Episcopal Church on June 15, 2023. Hebrew Bible and Gospel readings followed the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible. The Psalm was from the Episcopal Church’s 1979 Book of Common Prayer. Readers included T. Patrick Milas (New Brunswick Theological Seminary), Alison Poage (Seminary of the Southwest), Susan Ebertz (Wartburg Theological Seminary), and John Kutsko (Atla). Milas reported that over 30 Atla Annual participants attended, but wondered if there might have been more if the event were also offered in a hybrid format. Poage thought that the on-site location within the conference hotel contributed to the event’s attendance. Budde would have attended if offered online. Hanson thought a Zoom option would be beneficial. Milas resolved to contact Atla staff about the feasibility of hosting a hybrid event in Long Beach, California for Atla Annual 2024.
ROUND ROBIN REPORTS
Virginia Theological Seminary - Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) has been in the midst of accreditation self-study. It has affiliated with General Theological Seminary (GTS) in New York City. Melissa Chim of GTS left in January to go to New York University. VTS deployed a librarian to the GTS site in New York City until GTS’s Keller Library closed in May. As a result of the affiliation with GTS, VTS’s curriculum had to change to include a low residency, hybrid Master of Divinity degree program. VTS maintains digital library resource subscriptions to facilitate library services for distance students. Reference services are provided for GTS coursework. VTS is now assessing its collection, especially rare books and archives. There is a new archivist, Joshua Waits. And a new Cataloger and Rare Book Curator, David Burresh (who had also been helping in New York City). Vincent Williams is the new User Services Librarian; he received an MLIS in December 2022. And he presented at the 2023 Atla Annual.
Trinity School for Ministry - Trinity School for Ministry recently received a large donation of books, the personal library of David Holmes. Hanson is a solo librarian, with student worker support. The new Dean President is Brian Holland from Malone University. The Academic Dean retired in December 2022. There is a new interim dean. Changing expectations have been challenging. A new recruitment professional has been hired. On a personal note, Hanson passed her comprehensive exams and hopes to complete writing within a year.
New Brunswick Theological Seminary - New Brunswick Theological Seminary (NBTS) has a new Executive Vice President, Dr. Neal Presa. Access Services and Reference Librarian Deanna Roberts left for Emory University in December 2022. Plans are underway to re-envision access services for the next fiscal year. In February, Sage Library welcomed the new Archivist of the Archives of the Reformed Church in America, Dr. Elizabeth Pallitto. Cataloging Assistant Fiona Hinds left for St. John’s University at the end of April 2023. We are exploring sharing an instance of ArchivesSpace for the repositories of Sage Library and the Archives of the Reformed Church in America. The results of our ATS self-study are now official, we are reaccredited by ATS.
Seminary of the Southwest - The Booher Library remains under construction, operating out of the Deanery. The plan is to move into the new building in August or September. There is a ribbon-cutting on September 13th. The Library will be renamed to be the Bishop Deana A. Harrison Library (Diocese of Texas). The Booher Library shares Voyager with Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary but is migrating to Koha, hosted by Bywater Solutions. The Library began the ATS self-study process, having just finished the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools reporting. Marlon Patterson is the Access Services Librarian. Duane Carter is the Electronic Resources Librarian and Assistant Director. There are some part-time interns from the nearby school of Library and Information Science. Library traffic has been up post-pandemic.
Other
Patrick Milas called for nominations for the role of convener. Milas was encouraged to continue serving as convener. He affirmed that he would continue.
Participants discussed a variety of relevant topics including the Atla Reciprocal Borrowing Program, the real cost of processing donations, weeding collections, selling/recycling materials, and paid/unpaid internships.