2007 Colloquium Report
The CSS colloquium "John Calvin and Roman Catholicism" was held at the University of Notre Dame, April 12-14, and was a great success. A list of the presenters and their topics is available on this here.
Welcoming the participants were Randall Zachman who was in charge of arrangements at Notre Dame, Karin Maag, the CSS President, and John Cavadini, Chair of the Theology Department at Notre Dame.
This was the second time that the CSS met at Notre Dame; in 2003 the theme was "Calvin and the Company of Pastors." At that time Tony Lane proposed the topic of "Calvin and Catholicism" and suggested that we might be able to meet at Notre Dame again. The CSS is delighted that Tony's suggestion came to fruition.
The Business Meeting of the Society was held on Friday morning and included the following items:
1. President Karin Maag thanked our hosts at Notre Dame and acknowledged the support of the Henkels Lectureship, The College of Arts and Letters, the Nanovic Institute for European Studies and the Department of Theology. These Notre Dame grants totalled $23,500.
Karin also thanked Randall and Ray Mentzer, Vice-President and Program Chair, for their work in planning the Colloquium.
2. Karin announced the following nominations for officers and Board members:
For Vice-President (and 2009 Program Chair):
Amy Nelson Burnett, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
For Secretary-Treasurer:
David Foxgrover, Congregational Church UCC, Batavia, IL
For THREE members-at-large:
Tom Davis, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis
Gary Hansen, University of Dubuque (Iowa) Theological Seminary
Ward Holder, Saint Anselm College, Manchester, New Hampshire
Donald McKim, Westminster/John Knox Press
Victor Shepherd, Tyndale College, University of Toronto
Yudha Thianto, Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights, Illinois
Finishing their terms on the Board are Karen Spierling and Herman Selderhuis. Tony Lane resigned from the Board.
Voting will be done by email. Please email David Foxgrover your votes for three of the six nominees for member-at-large. Deadline for voting is May 29, 2007.
3. David Foxgrover reported on finances. The CSS checking account has a balance of $250. However, the Society still owes $800 to CRC Product Services of Grand Rapids for the publishing of the 2005 papers, the 2000 and 2002 papers from the Columbia Seminary Calvin conferences (these three were bound as two books in one volume), and the papers from the 1998 International Congress on Calvin Research held in Seoul, Korea.
Support for publishing these volumes was received from Columbia Theological Seminary, the International Congress on Calvin Research, and the Office of Theology and Worship of the Presbyterian Church USA. Total cost was $12,500.
David added that he will be doing a mailing to the libraries of the ATS, which he expects to bring in quite a few orders.
David also repeated his commitment to filing the papers for the CSS to become a 501C3 corporation which is essential for the CSS to apply for grants and to receive tax-deductible gifts.
4. Randall Zachman reported that he has been consulting with the Notre Dame University Press about publishing the 2007 papers, and that he has also talked with Baker Press about publishing the papers.
5. Karin announced that the 2009 Colloquium will be held at the Meeter Center at Calvin College and Seminary, April 16-18 (Easter is April 12). A discussion followed about possible topics. Suggestions included: "A Review of 500 Years of Calvin Scholarship"; "Calvin and Other Religious Traditions"; "Calvin, Democracy and the New World"; "Calvin and Luther"; and "What If Calvin Came Back?"
The topic chosen was "Calvin: Myth and Reality." It was deemed that this topic would prompt interest and that it was broad enough to include a wide range of issues.
Ray Mentzer reported that the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference will be meeting in Geneva in May, 2009. Also in May, 2009, the Society for Reformation Research and the Society for Church History will be organizing sessions in conjunction with the celebration organized by the University of Geneva. This Genevan conference will immediately follow the SCSC meeting.
A participant asked about the plans of Columbia Seminary and Erskine Seminary for conferences in 2009. David Foxgrover said he will contact Charlie Raynal at Columbia and Richard Burnett at Erskine.
6. Don McKim distributed an announcement about the "Calvin's Institutes Corrections Project." A web site has been established for Calvin scholars to submit suggestions for corrections to the Battles' translation of Calvin's Institutes (Westminster Press, 1960).
Operating the web site are David Wright, University of Edinburgh, and Jon Balserak, University of Birmingham, England.
Mimako Saito announced that there will be a Calvin Conference in Tokyo on August 24, 2007.
Ray Mentzer informed the group about the Commission Internationale de l'Histoire Ecclesiastique Comparee for which he serves as the North American representative. The Commission organizes several international conferences each year--a conference on Christian liturgy will be held in Paris this coming July--as well as sessions for the International Congress of Historical Sciences, which meets every five years. Anyone interested in further information should feel free to contact Ray.
The 2007 CSS Colloquium closed with a delicious luncheon, words of thanks from Randall and Ray, and an invitation from Ray to convene again in 2009 at the Meeter Center on the campus of Calvin College and Seminary.
Please email us your comments and questions.
Cordially,
David Foxgrover
P.S. Following the ND Colloquium, Jim DeJong represented the Meeter Center at an international consultation on the "Calvin Jubilee, 2009" and sent a report to the Meeter Center Report. The consultation was held at the John Knox International Reformed Center, April 15-19. Jim's report is very thorough, and we would be glad to email a copy of it upon request. The consultation is in the process of establishing a web site
www.Calvin09.org/ch