Note: Annual business meeting notes for 2010 coming soon.
Following are the minutes of the 2009 ASM annual business meeting: American Society of Missiology Annual Business Meeting of the Society Saturday, June 20, 2009 - 4:00 p.m. - Techny Towers President William R. Burrows, Presiding Call to Order: President Bill Burrows convened the meeting at 4:05 p.m. and opened with prayer. He determined that a quorum was present. Noting of the minutes of June 21, 2008: The minutes of the Society's business meeting of June 21, 2008 were unanimously approved. Report of the Secretary-Treasurer: Arun Jones presented the Society's 2008 financial statement. There was discussion about the report. The Editor of Missiology and the Secretary-Treasurer are going to coordinate with the CPA firm in order to get clarity on some of the numbers in the report. The Secretary-Treasurer apologized for not sending a mailing to the membership the previous year to check for names and addresses. That mailing will go out in the fall of 2009. He also informed the members that this year's annual meeting mailing was delayed due to the fact that his assistant, Hilda Harnden, had left the employ of Austin Seminary just before the mailing was to go out, and he was doing research overseas during most of March. It was moved, seconded and carried to receive the report. Report of the Board of Publications: Phillip Huber, chair of the Board of Publications, asked Darrell Whiteman, the Society's Publisher, to give a report. Darrell Whiteman introduced Angelyn Dries, Chair of the ASM Series Committee. ASM Series. Angelyn Dries reported that the Committee had selected Darrell Whiteman and Gerald Anderson, eds., "World Mission in the Wesleyan Spirit," for 2009. The 2008 selection was Robert Gallagher and Paul Hertig, eds., Landmark Essays in Mission and World Christianity, and next year's selection is Gary McGee's These Signs Shall Follow: Miracles, Missions and Pentecostalism. She thanked the other members of her committee, Jonathan Bonk, Scott Sunquist and Bill Burrows, and Darrell Whiteman, the Publisher. ASM Scholarly Monograph Series. Darrell Whiteman reported for Michael Rynkiewich, Chair of the Scholarly Monograph Series. Recent publications in the series are Ken C. Miyamoto, God's Mission in Asia: A Comparative and Contextual Study of This-Worldly Holiness and the Theology of the Missio Dei in M. M. Thomas and C. S. Song (2007); Edley J. Moodley, Shembe, Ancestors and Christ: A Christological Inquiry with Missiological Implications (2008); Roberta King, Pathways in Christian Music Communication: The Case of the Senufo of Cote d'Ivoire (2009); Jay Moon, Using Proverbs to Contextualize Christianity in the Builsa Culture of Ghana, West Africa (2009); and Auli Vahakangas, Christian Couples Coping with Childlessness: Narratives from Machame, Kilimanjaro (2009). Also approved for publication are Wilbur Stone, The Diffusion of Christianity among Urban Chinese People in Diaspora: The Case of Metropolitan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; E. Paul Balisky, Wolaitta Evangelists: A Study of Religious Innovation in Southern Ethiopia, 1973 - 1975; Colleen M. Mallon, Traditioning Disciples: The Contributions of Cultural Anthropology to Ecclesial Identity; and Gary Burlington, I Love Mary: The Relationship of Private Motives to Public Meaning in the Genesis of Emilio Mulilani Mutima Church. These monographs can be ordered directly from the Wipf & Stock, the printer. Missiology. Nelson Jennings, the editor of Missiology, reported that approximately 30% of the articles submitted to Missiology over the past year had been accepted for publication. Charles Farhadian, the book review editor, was recognized. Those who wish to review books need to fill out a form and submit it to the Missiology office. A proposal from SAGE Publications to take over the publishing of Missiology was seriously considered, but in the end was not accepted. Nelson Jennings apologized for the incomplete list of the membership that was printed in the April 2009 issue. A software problem and Mr. Jennings' incapacitation for medical reasons was the cause of this problem. Finally, while subscriptions were down somewhat in January to 1,340, an effort to contact past subscribers had yielded 125 more subscriptions. E-publishing. Phil Huber reported. Before discussing the issue of e-publishing, he informed the members that steps were being taken to eliminate typographical errors from books published in the Monograph Series. The redesign of the website design has been delayed because of previous philosophical differences within the E-publishing committee. There were those who wanted to define exactly what the website should do before the redesign, and those who wanted to go ahead and redesign the website with the understanding that it could be reshaped in the future according to the Society's developing needs. A decision was made this year to go ahead and redesign the website. A new committee, called the Electronic Media Committee, and consisting of the Publisher, the Editor of Missiology, the Chair of the Board of Publications and the Secretary-Treasurer, has been formed and is replacing the previous E-publishing Committee. The Board of Directors has allocated $10,000 for this committee to use in the redesign of the website. George Hunsberger has resigned as webmaster, and the Secretary-Treasurer and the Missiology Editor will jointly manage the web. It was moved, seconded and carried that the report of the Board of Publications be accepted. Report of the Board of Directors: President Burrows reported that as mentioned by Phil Huber, the Board approved $10,000 for the development of a new website. The Board also agreed on a budget of $3,000 for the program of the annual meeting. Finally, the Board reaffirmed its institutional membership in the International Association of Mission Studies (IAMS), and authorized a one-time $500 donation to IAMS due to its financial crisis. Gerald Anderson moved that due to the severity of the financial crisis at IAMS, the ASM donate $1000 this year to IAMS. The motion was seconded and there was discussion, after which the motion carried. It was moved, seconded and carried that the report of the Board of Directors be received. Election of Board Members and Officers: Mikeuel Peterson, on behalf of the Nominating Committee appointed by the President (Steve Bevans, Roman Catholic; Charles Farhadian, Protestant Conciliar; and Mikeuel Peterson, Independent) presented the following slate of nominees for positions in the Society due to be filled. For President (Conciliar Protestant): Miriam Adeney For 1st Vice President: (Independent) Robert Gallagher For 2nd Vice-President: (Roman Catholic) Roger Schroeder For Board of Directors, Conciliar Protestant, Class of 2012: Charles Van Engen For Board of Directors, Roman Catholic, Class of 2012: Angelyn Dries For Board of Directors, Independent, Class of 2012: Robert Priest For Board of Publications, Conciliar Protestant, Class of 2013: Phillip Hubert For Board of Publications, Roman Catholic, Class of 2012: William Burrows Mary Mott For Board of Publications, Independent, Class of 2012: Howard Snyder The president asked if there were any further nominations from the floor. There being none, it was moved, seconded and carried that all the nominees be elected by unanimous consent. Date and Venue of future Annual Meetings: The June 18-20, 2010 and June 17-19, 2011 meetings had previously been set for Techny Towers. The Board of Directors set the dates for the 2012 meeting to be June 15-17. The venue will be Techny Towers, unless another venue is agreed upon. New Business and Announcements: There were a number of announcements made of upcoming meetings and conferences that could be of interest to the membership. Recognition of the new President: Miriam Adeney, the incoming president, announced that the theme for next year's meeting would be "Colorful Initiatives: Confounding Hegemony in American Mission." It will focus on efforts of non-Anglo congregations doing mission, and will feature a number of case studies. Adjournment: It was moved, seconded and carried that meeting be adjourned. The meeting ended at 5:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted: Arun W. Jones, Secretary-Treasurer
Authorized for Distribution: William R. Burrows, President Miriam Adeney, 1st Vice-President