North American Patristic Society
Executive Board Meeting Minutes
Loyola University, Chicago
 May 25, 2000

Attending: Susan Harvey (Pres), Joseph Lienhard (VP), John O'Keefe (Sec/Treas), Theresa Shaw (MatL), Rebecca Lyman (MatL), Maureen Tilley (MatL), Dennis Trout (MatL), James Goehring (Nom), Patout Burns (Ed), Elizabeth Clark (Ed), Ken Steinhauser, Dan Williams.

Susan Harvey called the meeting to order.

1.                The board approved the minutes from the 1999 meeting held in Oxford.

2.                 Treasurer's Report (J. O'Keefe)

.         The Society continues to enjoy a strong financial position. Last fiscal year the revenues exceeded expenses by 10,871.43.  This is due to the great success of the Journal of Early Christian Studies.

.         Liz Clark asked that board continue to raise the subsidy it provides the JECS editorial assistant (currently $5000) up to around $10,000 or $11,000.  The board agreed that raising the subsidy was important but that it would depend on the Journal's revenues from year to year.  The issue will be revisited. O'Keefe asked if the editorial assistant was an employee of NAPS and, if so, how that would impact our taxes.  He recommended that the next Secretary/Treasurer look in to this.

.         The treasurer suggested that the Society invest $20,000-$25,000 from our cash reserves.  The board agreed that we should do this after the bills from the conference are paid.

.         The next Secretary/Treasurer will need to prepare a membership directory.  O'Keefe recommended that the directory use the database maintained by JHUP.  The next newsletter will include instructions for updating personal information with John Hopkins. The Society will not send out a separate mailing to collect personal data for the directory.

3.                 Web site

.         The board appointed John O'Keefe to maintain the society's web site for the next two years.

4.                 Conference Reports

.         Jo Lienhard - Only members were permitted to offer papers at the conference. The program had 130 slots available, 125 papers were accepted, up from 120 two years ago.  There was some discussion about whether the society should have a more rigorous selection process.  The board decided against this since there was no evidence that our open policy was producing papers of poor quality.  The board also agreed to revisit the question in the future, if necessary.

.         Ken Steinhauser – conference director;s report.  There are 207 people registered for the conference. 134 people bought banquet ticked, which means we are starting to outgrow McCormick hall.  There had been some difficulty accommodating married people because Loyola wanted to create only men's floors and women's floors only. Steinhauser plans to implement a policy of no cash payments at the conference: fees must be paid in full before the conference begins.  He plans to ask the incoming Secretary/Treasurer to look in to accepting visa payments.  Finally, he will implement a late or changed registration fee of $20.00. 

.         Dan Williams – book exhibit.  This year we have 15 exhibitors. Because the conference has grown, we have more publisher representatives attending.  We also may soon outgrow this space.

5.                 Publication Committee

.         Liz Clark – The Journal of Early Christian Studies continues to thrive financially and academically.  There are plenty of good submissions.  Since the Oxford meeting there have been 16 articles accepted and 21 rejected, with 8 in the revise and resubmit category.  Patout Burns is now co-editor and is sharing responsibilities with Clark.  Burns will be particularly responsible for the more theologically oriented articles.  Clark said we should encourage more submissions of theologically oriented articles.

.         Dan Williams – The search for new Patristic Monograph Series editor is underway.  As few folks have expressed interest, Williams asked that nominations for new editor be directed to him.  A full job description is available. He asked the Secretary/Treasurer to publish the call in the next newsletter.  He also suggested that the society raise the reader's honorarium to $150.

.         Joe Lienhard – Lienhard recommended that a new board be selected for the monograph series.  He asked that a list of old PMS volumes be made available in the next issue of Patristics.  These volumes are on sale at a 20% discount to members, and 25% for all members who place a standing order. He also suggested that a call for submission of manuscripts should be made at some time.

6.                 First Article Prize (S. Harvey for R. Wilken)

.         The best first article prize was awarded to Kenji Doi for his article "Ist Gott leidenschaftlos? Pathos und Apatheia bei Origenes," that appeared in Theologische Zeitschriftm 54 (1998).  The number of contributors was off this year; the board agreed to increase publicity about the prize.

7.                 Nominations Committee (J. Goehring)

.         Goehring reported that the committee attempted to create a slate that reflected the diversity of the Society. With that in mind, the committee nominated J. Rebecca Lymann for Vice-President, Clayton N. Jefford for Secretary/Treasurer, Paul Marion Blowers for Member At Large, and David Brakke for Member At Large.

8.                 Meeting May 2001

.         The NAPS conference will be held at Loyola University's Lake Shore Campus in Chicago May 24-26, 2001.

Respectfully Submitted,
John J. O'Keefe
June 30, 2000