








































Presbyterian and Reformed


33

Presbyterian and Reformed
Virginia Dearborn, Princeton Theological Seminary, Secretary

MEMBERS PRESENT

• Christopher Richardson, Union Presbyterian Seminary, Conve-
ner

• Margaret Alkema, Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary
• Steve Jamieson, Covenant Theological Seminary
• Andrew Stout, Covenant Theological Seminary
• Andy Thomas, Covenant Theological Seminary
• Becky Givens, Covenant Theological Seminary
• Denise Pakala, retired, Covenant Theological Seminary
• Jim Pakala, retired, Covenant Theological Seminary
• Virginia Dearborn, Princeton Theological Seminary

ABSENTEE MEMBERS

• David Schmersal, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
• Ed Hughes, Memphis Theological Seminary
• Bart Voskuil, Mid-America Reformed Seminary
• Sharon Taylor, Shadyside Presbyterian Church
• John Shaffett, Shorter University 

AGENDA

Chris welcomed everyone to the virtual meeting and invited at-
tendees to introduce themselves, share library news and other in-
stitutional updates, and offer key takeaways or insights from this 
year’s conference. There was an in-person gathering during the 
conference, but the group agreed to hold the primary meeting on-
line after the conference and received no notes or reports about 
the in-person meeting. 

There was some preliminary conversation about the increas-
ing number of non-Presbyterians enrolled and/or employed at his-
torically Presbyterian institutions, and some closing conversation 



34    ANNUAL Y E ARBOOK

about Michael Farrell’s conference paper, Slavery, The Spirituality 
of the Church, and American Presbyterianism.

ROUND ROBIN REPORTS

Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary (Hamilton, Ontario, 
Canada) – Margaret Alkema, Librarian, shared that although the 
pandemic initially sent courses online, there is a pull to bring class-
es back to in-person only or to require at least 50% of the 4-year 
degree program to be completed in person.

Covenant Theological Seminary (Creve Coeur, Missouri, USA) – 
As the only attendee who had also attended the in-person confer-
ence this year, Andrew Stout, Public Services Librarian, mentioned 
that he spoke with Michael Farrell (who gave a talk entitled Slav-
ery, The Spirituality of the Church, and American Presbyterianism), 
Brian Shetler (new Head of Special Collections and Archives at 
Princeton Theological Seminary, and fellow denominational group 
member Sharon Taylor.

Steve Jamieson, Library Director, talked about the library’s part-
nership with the Internet Archive and its Open Libraries project, 
http://openlibraries.online/libraries/, and providing a digital loan 
service, https://library.covenantseminary.edu/digital-loan. Some 
classes were already being offered online or hybrid prior to the 
pandemic, so it wasn’t quite as much of a shift as at many other 
Atla institutions.

Becky Givens noted that the Internet Archive MARC records 
weren’t very good and required additional work.

Denise Pakala retired from technical services but works part 
time a few hours a week on special projects. Right now she’s inven-
torying the rare book room. Jim Pakala, Denise’s husband, is also 
retired but remains active in Atla and MOBIUS.

Princeton Theological Seminary, Wright Library (Princeton, 
New Jersey, USA) – Virginia Dearborn, Discovery and Web Ser-
vices Librarian, mentioned the library’s recent naming in October 
2021 for Princeton Theological Seminary’s first African American 
graduate, Theodore Sedgwick Wright (Class of 1828). He served as 
the pastor of the Shiloh Presbyterian Church of New York City (for-
merly First Colored Presbyterian Church of New York City) from 
1829 until his death in 1847. Wright was one of the founders of the 
American Anti-Slavery Society and served as chair of the New York 

http://openlibraries.online/libraries/
https://library.covenantseminary.edu/digital-loan


Denominational Group Reports    35

Vigilance Committee, which worked to prevent the kidnapping of 
free African Americans. 

Christopher J. Anderson joined the staff as Head of Public Ser-
vices in October 2021. In this new role, he also serves as the li-
brary’s reference librarian. In December 2021 library staff member 
Lydia Andeskie was appointed Archivist. Although the seminary’s 
emphasis remains on in-person formation, there is more openness 
to online/hybrid learning than in pre-pandemic times, which has 
implications for the library in terms of collection development and 
access.

Union Presbyterian Seminary (Richmond, Virginia, USA) – Chris-
topher Richardson, Seminary Librarian, shared that Union Presby-
terian had hosted two decennial accreditation site visits in March 
2022 (ATS-COA and SACSCOC).  Based on the findings of its Self-
Study, the Seminary is working to increase diversity in a number 
of ways and to attend to matters of equity across its two campuses.  
It is also working to make physical and digital resources more ac-
cessible to an increasingly diverse and distributed student body. A 
Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) submitted to SACSCOC focuses on 
“enhancing the information fluency of seminary students.” Mor-
ton Library in Richmond is also about half-way through a large 
reclassification project (from Pettee to LC) which will make things 
easier going forward but it is a heavy lift at the moment.

OTHER

Chris also invited discussion about Michael Farrell’s presentation 
at the conference. There was interest among the group in read-
ing the conference proceedings when they come out; Andrew had 
attended the talk in person but had to leave our denominational 
Zoom meeting a little early.


