Minutes: 2006 Meeting

The National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion 
Minutes of the twenty-sixth Annual Meeting
18 November 2006
Washington Convention Center
Washington, DC

The twenty-sixth annual meeting of the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion was called to order by President Curtis Freeman. After a greeting, the association observed a moment of silence in honor of Henry Jackson “Jack” Flanders, Jr. (Baylor), who died the previous year. After the moment of silence and a benediction, Danny Mynatt, Executive Secretary, greeted members and guests and introduced the program for the meeting. Mynatt announced that the Dissertation Scholarship winners in the inaugural year of the award were Scott Becker and Kristian Angelov.

Pam Scalise introduced Curtis Freeman for the presidential address. Freeman’s address was entitled “Roger Williams Among the Baptists,” and it featured a historiographical review of Williams’s reputation as an advocate for religious liberty. Freeman honored Williams’s Baptist witness while opposing those who have interpreted him in a modernistic and individualistic framework.

Pam Scalise introduced the program, which featured a panel discussion on the topic “Baptists and the Ten Commandments.” Panelists were Walter Harrelson (Wake Forest University), Bill J. Leonard (Wake Forest University), and Glen Stassen (Fuller Theological Seminary).

 At 11:00, President Curtis Freeman convened the annual business session. After the 2005 minutes were approved, Executive Secretary Danny Mynatt gave the Executive Committee report. Mynatt updated the membership on the current status of the Endowment Funds, which posted a gain of +27.1% for the year. He also noted that dues-paying membership was up 30%. 
Mynatt reported on the NABPR strategy for meeting following the breakup of the AAR/SBL annual meetings. He presented a proposal for the new Annual Meeting format, which was decided by the NABPR News online poll. The proposal read as follows: “The Annual Meeting will now move to a time during the last half of May (the Sunday – Tuesday commencing with the 3rd Sunday in May has been suggested). The NABPR Executive Committee will appoint a program committee to create an agenda for the meeting, but it will include more program opportunities for academic papers and fellowship gatherings. The schedule for the meetings will occur in this rotation (after which, the rotation will repeat):
2008-Belmont
2009-Baylor
2010-Mercer
2011-AAR/SBL meets jointly-We will return to the traditional format for that year. Otherwise, this would be an “Open” year, for a new school to volunteer.” The association approved the proposal.

After the Executive Committee report, Assistant Executive Secretary Jimmy Byrd read the names of nominations for new members into the association. After the new members were approved, Curtis Freeman recognized the Association Nominating Committee, which offered the nominations of Pam Scalise for President and Tim Crawford for Vice President.  Curtis Freeman and Danny Mynatt led a discussion of a change to the NABPR constitution to allow for a Dissertation Scholarship Committee. The recommendation passed.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 am.

Respectfully submitted, Jimmy Byrd, Vanderbilt University