The Annual Meeting was opened at 12:34 p.m. by Jackson Carroll, President. Persons in attendance introduced themselves. There were 45 persons present.

The Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Association in Providence, RI, October 23, 1982, were distributed and APPROVED.

The Chairperson of the Nominating Committee, Kirk Hadaway, announced the results of the 1983 RRA election and reported on the response rate associated with the balloting. Elected to Offices and other positions of leadership on the Board are: President-Elect, Constant Jacquet Jr.; Secretary, James Wood; Program Chairperson, Larry Ingram; Finance Committee Chairperson, Russell Dynes; Director-at-Large, Mary Mattis and Stan Weed; Nominating Committee, Ross Scherer and K. Peter Takayama.

The President began by congratulating Gillian Lindt, former member of the RRA Board, on her appointment as Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Columbia University. He thanked outgoing Board members for their service to the Association. The death of Ross Sanderson was noted. During his distinguished career, Ross Sanderson founded the Religious Research Fellowship, a forerunner of the RRA.

It was reported that the proposed revisions of the Association's By-Laws had been passed and that these are now in effect. In particular, changes in the By-Laws regarding the Presidency of the Association were discussed. As part of the changeover, for this period only, there will be a Past-President, President, and President-Elect. In the future, we will have, coterminously, a President and President-Elect only. Jack noted that his upcoming President's letter will contain information about how members who are interested may obtain copies of the new By-Laws.

The President's report continued with a discussion of the moving of the Association's office to Storrs, CT. Lorraine D'Antonio has been extremely helpful in her new-position as Business Manager of the RRA and the transition was a smooth one. Appreciation was expressed to persons who had handled the affairs of the Association over the years on a voluntary basis and to the Office Transition Team: Constant Jacquet, Everett Perry, Jackson Carroll, Lorraine D'Antonio and Mary Mattis. Special thanks was also expressed to Alan LaPayover who served the Association for several years as Office Assistant and who assisted with the transition from New York City to Storrs.

Jack noted the financial health of the Association but also mentioned the need to continue working to increase the membership. Constant Jacquet, the current Chairperson of the Development Committee has proposed a plan for increasing membership, however he will not be continuing in this position due to his election to the Presidency of the Association.

The President-Elect, William McKinney, gave a brief report stating that the main responsibility of this newly created position is to relate to the Editor of the Review of Religious Research. In the past year, the Association has selected a successor to the current Editor, Hart Nelsen. He is Ed Lehman who, in April, was proposed to the Board by a special Selection Committee. Subsequently, Ed was elected to the position of Editor by a unanimous decision of the Board. Ed will begin his tenure as Editor with the September 1984 Volume. Hart Nelsen remains Editor and is currently working on his final volume of the Review. Papers that are coming in now will be handled by Ed. Those received previously will be Hart's responsibility. Bill stressed the need for articles from practitioners if the Review is to reflect the interests and activities of the full spectrum of the RRA's membership.

The Secretary, Mary Mattis, presented her report outlining the process used for the election and describing the activities of the Transition Team who had oversight of the move to Storrs. She reported that an analysis of the membership and subscribers was carried out in conjunction with the membership renewal process and that a comparison of data with that collected in 1981 was presented to the Board at its meeting earlier in the week. Detailed information from members and subscribers will not be requested next year but this type of survey will be repeated periodically for determining characteristics of the membership, changes therein, and for use by the Chairperson of the Development Committee.

The Treasurer distributed his report and reiterated the President's comments about the sound financial situation of the Association at this time. A new income figure of just over $22,000.00 was reported for the fiscal year. The increase in dues that went into effect just over a year ago has just begun to prove effective. The income figure reported does include some income that should be attributed to next year's budget but this does not affect our financial situation for this year in any significant measure. The Storrs operation has proved to be very cost-effective for the Association.

The Chairperson of the Finance Committee distributed projections of income for the future. He explained that the Finance Committee has as its responsibility to insure that the audit has been done and to work with the President in relationship to the Association's reserves. He reported that the Board had voted to consolidate the roles of the Treasurer and the Chairperson of Finance and that the membership will be asked to vote on this in the coming year. He thanked Everett Perry, the Association's Treasurer, for all of his work on our behalf.

The Program Chairperson for this year's Meeting, Ed Lehman, called attention to the Program, which constitutes his report. He noted that all of the persons that he had approached in the process of developing the Program had been supportive and had followed through with their responsibilities. Working with Cheryl Gilkes, the SSSR Program Chair, had gone very well. Members were reminded of the H. Paul Douglass Lecture and the reception following the Lecture which is co-sponsored by the RRA and the SSSR. Ed expressed an apology to Hart Nelsen for an error in the Program which incorrectly listed Ed as the Editor of the Review.

The Program Chairperson for 1985, Michael Welch, distributed a Call For Papers, and reported that work was fairly far along in planning for next year's Program. The original SSSR Chairperson for 1985 resigned and has been replaced with Dean Hoge. The theme of the Program is : Religion and the Public Conscience.. He encouraged members to submit papers. They do not have to be limited to topics relating to the Program theme. Also, work is underway to select the H. Paul Douglass Lecturer for 1985. The SSSR has selected Savannaugh as the site for the 1985 Meeting.

The Editor of the Review of Religious Research, Hart Nelsen, distributed a written report and discussed the number of articles that had been received as well as other aspects of the work that he was currently doing for his final Volume.

The Chairperson of the Publicity Committee, David Roozen, reported on activities related to media coverage of this year's Meeting. He urged persons to respond when contacted by media persons, noting that an article about the Meeting would be carried in a local newspaper tommorrow.

The Chairperson of the Development Committee called attention to the RRA display in the lobby of the hotel. He said that the records show that membership is currently at about 331 (it was 434 in 1982) but there are approximately 100 membership reneweals outstanding that are expected within the next few weeks, if they are not already in the office. The Association will be employing several tactics to increase its membership including use of selected mailing lists and advertisements in appropriate journals which reach persons who might be candidates for membership in the RRA. In closing, he described the letters which were sent requesting funding for the H. Paul Douglass Lecture and thanked persons who had contributed to this cause.

New Business The President reported that a new policy had been adopted by the SSSR which was presented to our Board for consideration and recommendation to our membership. It requires that persons presenting papers at the Meeting be pre-registered in order for their papers to be announced in the final Program. (Not all co-presenters have to be registered.) A motion was made to affirm this policy. It passed unanimously. This means that persons who are not pre-registered will not be listed in the Program as presenting a paper although they will be allowed to present the paper.

The meeting adjourned at 1:26 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary C. Mattis

SECRETARY