2004 CSBS AGM Minutes

Minutes of the 2004 CSBS
Annual General Meeting

University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba
May 30, 16h00-17h00

Present: David Hawkin, Ehud Ben Zvi, Todd Penner, Gordon Matties, Michel Desjardins, Dietmar Neufeld, Cecilia Wassen, Christianna de Groot, Edith M. Humphrey, Daniel Miller, Anders Runesson, Russell Martin, John Horman, Keith Bodner, Lissa Wray Beal, Ellen White, Roy Jeal, Michael Kolarcik, Kathleen Robbins, Jo-Ann Brant, Tim Goltz, Susan Haber, Erin Vearncombe, Tony Chartrand-Burke, Phil Harland, Steven Muir, Frank Clancy, Ian Henderson, Karen Leonhardt, J. Richard Middleton, John L. McLaughlin, V. Philips Long, Iain Provan, Daniel Smith, J-Sebastièn Viard, Matthew Mitchell, Ken Penner, Derek Suderman, Ian Scott, Rene Baergen, Terry Donaldson, Bill Richards, Carl S. Ehrlich, Bill Morrow, Michael Gilmour, John Kloppenborg, Christine Mitchell, Glen Taylor, Marion Dugen, Murray Baker, Kenneth Fox, Andy Reimer, Harold Remus, Eileen Schuller, Steve Wilson, Lloyd Gaston, Glenn Wooden, Ken Ristau, Kimberly Stratton, Gary Knoppers, Michele Murray.

1. Approval of the Agenda
The agenda was approved as circulated.

2. Approval of the Minutes
The minutes of the last Annual General Meeting (May 29, 2003) were approved as circulated (McLaughlin/Morrow).

3. President’s Report
Gary Knoppers expressed his thanks to Michele Murray for her work on behalf of the society. Gary noted with sadness that Gerald Sheppard died this past year, and he requested participants to stand for a moment of silence to honour his memory. He announced that the 75th Anniversary Committee was established, with Michel Desjardins as Chair; 15 people volunteered to be part of this committee.

Gary reported that the Craigie lecture for next year will be given by Paula Fredriksen. He also noted that membership continues to be strong, as well as the finances. Finally, he thanked Glen Taylor for his work as Programme Coordinator, noting that it is a demanding job, which requires diplomacy. Glen did his job well, with a sense of humour that was much appreciated.

4. Executive Secretary’s Report
Michele Murray announced CSBS’s Congess dates for next year: Sunday, May 29 through Tuesday, May 31, at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. She also reviewed the list of upcoming Congresses: York University (2006); University of Saskatchewan (2007); University of British Columbia (2008); probably in Ottawa (2009) and Montreal (2010)—these two are still being negotiated.

She reminded members that our society is linked with other associations in Canada in two important ways: 1) through our participation in the Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion (CCSR), and 2) through our involvement in the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. The CCSR links us with several other societies engaged in the study of religion, and together we produce the journal Studies in Religion\Sciences Religieuses, and share in the maintenance of the CCSR web site—both of which are good resources for publication and information dissemination. Michele noted that in our association with the Federation, our society is joined with over 100 societies across Canada, thus the Federation can speak with a strong voice in the defence and promotion of scholarship in the Humanities. This past year, the central focus has been on the transformation of SSHRC. Thanks to lobbying by the Federation, the Canadian government agreed to accept input from scholars in the Humanities and Social Sciences for the changes that would be made. This imput was heard by Federation executive in March, and a draft report was created. In Winnipeg, Michele will attend a final meeting of representatives of associations for the fine-tuning of this report. Before the year’s end, SSHRC will develop a detailed report, incorporating the Federation’s response, and this will be submitted to the government.

Stephen Wilson provided an ESCJ update: Michele Murray’s Playing a Jewish Game just came out; Scott Brown’s book on Secret Gospel of Mark will soon follow, as will Richard Ascough’s edited volume derived from the Religious Rivalries Seminar on Sardis and Smyrna; there is another book on Rabbinic Traditions coming out; plus two further edited volumes, one by Leif Vaage and one by Willi Braun.

5. Student Liason Officer’s Report
Mona expressed her thanks to those who helped facilitate the student and new member lunch, especially to Glen Taylor for organizing food and drink, and to Daniel Miller for hosting the lunch. The lunch was well-attended, and so was the student session, “Facing the Post-Secondary Classroom: Preparing to be a Teacher.” Mona thanked André Maintenay, student representative for the CCSR, for helping to organize the session, and for hosting it. She extended a special thank you to the four panelists, Edith Humphrey, Michele Murray, Harold Remus, and Lissa Wray Beal. Mona highlighted the fact that students are very important to CSBS, with 1 in 4 members students, and 30% of the papers delivered at the meeting this year by students. She extended her congratulations to this year’s student essay prize winners, Susan Haber and Kenneth Ristau. Mona invited students to contact her with any ideas or concerns they might have.

6. Vice-President’s Report and Nominations
David Hawkin thanked Gary Knoppers for his fine job as President, noting that he handled the job with grace and humour. He then submitted the following slate for Executive positions: Bill Morrow (Queen’s University) as Vice-President (2004-2005), Christine Mitchell (St. Andrew's College) as Programme Coordinator (2004-2007), Mona Tokarek LaFosse (continuing) as Student Liaison Officer (2004-2005). With no other nominations coming from the floor, and following a motion that nominations close (Wilson/Humphrey), the three were elected by acclamation, then thanked for their willingness to serve and continue to serve the society.

7. Programme Coordinator’s Report
Glen Taylor thanked Gordon Matties for his work as local representative on the society’s behalf (confirming rooms, choosing a dinner locale, etc.). Glen thanked members for submitting paper proposals, and especially Francis Landry for organizing the Literature and Hebrew Bible session, which received more proposals than was possible to accomodate. He also drew attention to a few changes in the programme and gave instructions on where the bus would be to take us to the dinner (which was full to capacity).

8. Communications Officer’s Report
John McLaughlin reported that his current email list covers 93% of our membership; he requested that members who are not on the list send him their email addresses, and also that he be informed of news (such as book publications and the completion of dissertations) as well as email address changes. E-mail communication continues to be a money-saving mechanism, and an effective way to share information. The First and Second mailings were distributed via this list, and the electronic version of the Bulletin will soon be available. The paper edition of the Bulletin should be in members’ mailboxes by the time they arrive home from the Congress.

John explained that he is responsible for coordinating the 2 book prizes: he sends the nominated books to 3 judges who remain anonymous (even to one another). This year there were 4 volumes nominated for the 2004 Francis W. Beare Award and three for the R. B. Y. Scott Award. He encouraged members to recommend outstanding books in Christian origins for consideration for the upcoming Beare Award, and outstanding books in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and Ancient Near East, with formal notification of the awards to go out in the Fall in the First Mailing. Self-nominations are accepted, as are ongoing financial donations earmarked for these prizes.

John reported on the Poll results pertaining to the number of days and seminars of the Congress. The executive discussed the results, and decided that the goal will be to have 2 sessions but occasionally there will be 3; we don’t think at this point there is an issue about quality of papers; the third day will take the full afternoon but where the conference is taking place will be taken into account (e.g., when the Congress is located on the East coast or the West coast, people will need more time to travel so efforts will be made to have the third day of the conference end earlier). John announced that a new seminar on Travel and Antiquity headed up by Phil Harland will begin next year. The executive is working on coming up with specific guidelines regarding what is a seminar and what is a special session, and these will be distributed to members.

9. Treasurer and Membership Secretary’s Report
Dietmar Neufeld, acting as both Membership Secretary and Treasurer, touched on the following points:

n The society has a remarkably stable membership base: there are currently 293 members and this year 26 new members were nominated: Laura Alary, Bruce Waltke, David James Shepherd, Catherine Jones, Anders Runesson, Marylyn Ellen White, Allan Loder, Robin Baer, Mark Boda, Paul Evans, Matthew Anderson, David A. Reed, David Robinson, Ayse Tuzlak, Wayne Baxter, Russell Martin, Caroline Vander Stichele, Karen Leonhardt, Isaac Kalimi, Erin Vearncombe, Roxana Iavoschi, John Course, Annette Y. Reed, Olutola K. Peters, Tim Goltz, Joan Campbell. A motion to accept these people as new members (Wilson/Schuller) passed unanimously. Diet asked that members let him know their new address when they move.

n SSHRC renewed its travel grant of $4755 for this fiscal year. Diet distributed it among 33 people, using a formula of 40% percent for students and 20% for full members. He is grateful for a high membership renewal rate (85%) and that members continue to respond to his letters. A total of $2875 was donated to support various awards. Diet noted that this amount was down from past years: the trend seems to be that fewer people are giving larger donations, and that this is a bit worrying. He encouraged members to consider donating—for each donation, a tax receipt is given. Currently, the Wagner and Beare Awards are in deficit, as is funding for the Craigie lecture.

n Projected expenses for 2004-2005 will be fully covered by projected receipts. This is in large part thanks due to sound investment by the Endowment Committee, consisting of Harold Remus, Bill Klassen, Wayne McCready and Peter Richardson; we are moving toward the goal amount of $270,000 (we presently have $85,000); Harold Remus spoke highly about the financial advisor employed by the Committee.