The past has a strangely nebulous yet powerful hold on the present. Human groups quickly forget all but a few of the many events and Ideas that shape them. Those same events and ideas, however, create traditions and patterns of acting and thinking that persist for decades and even centuries. The very fact that these patterns are forgotten makes them all the more powerful. Their influence goes unchallenged and remains beyond conscious control. Past experience, past events, and past thinking, then, play a largely unseen but potent role in how people think and act in the present.

History, the critical study of the past, provides an opportunity to rediscover the hidden past and its influences over the present. Such study raises vital questions about how humans change and fail to change. The histories of living nations and institutions, therefore, do not belong to historians. They belong, rather, to the peoples whose stories they tell. Historians are merely stewards of those stories, the ones who listen, who question, and who 'put together' what they hear.

When I first proposed the idea of this history to the Session of the Laurel Presbyterian Church, Laurel , Maryland , in the Fall of 1984, I did so on the basis of the above ideas and my experience in researching and writing local church histories in Thailand and Australia . The churches it was my privilege to work with in those two nations taught me that the past, its triumphs and its hurts, plays a vitally important role in shaping the lives of local churches. I learned from them that, if approached circumspectly, congregational-wide studies of a church's past can help churches understand themselves and reflect upon the nature of their Christian commitment as a church. Such studies can also help churches heal the wounds of old fights and long-remembered misunderstandings.

These have been, then, my goals as I researched and wrote this history: to provide an opportunity for the Laurel Presbyterian Church to rediscover and reflect upon its past; and to allow it, where possible, to learn from its own experience. Such learning, reflection, and rediscovery are not ends in themselves. They are means to a much more important end: the discovery and affirmation of peacemaking ministries that allow a church such as LPC to demonstrate in concrete, effective ways God's love for the world.

For those who read this history, you should understand that in your hands is not a history 'textbook,' which has the purpose of marshalling facts and dates in neat (but boring) rows across tightly printed pages. This is a manual for reflection. It is intended primarily for the use of LPC. The facts and the dates are in here, but so are trends and patterns that should cause every member who reads this book to think about the meaning of LPC's past... for its present... and its future.

This history also contains a pastoral component. It is an exercise in pastoral listening, the primary concern of which is not factual accuracy for its own sake but healing, growth, and the spiritual journey committed Christians must take. I am firmly convinced, nonetheless, that a 'pastoral history' demands of the pastoral historian the same high historiographical standards expected of all historians. Otherwise, the work of the pastoral historian simply perpetuates misunderstanding and fails to expose the reality of the hidden past. It is my feeling that, as I have tried to chart a careful course which tells the story of LPC honestly and pastorally, this history accurately reflects the most important patterns of behavior and belief of the Laurel Presbyterian Church. If it stimulates reflection and discussion on the congregation's historical experience, I will feel that it will have successfully completed the course it charts.

As is customary in introductions, I want to take this opportunity to thank a number of individuals and groups who have assisted me in completing this study. Don't blame them, however, for any shortcomings!

Frank Hayes, the pastor at LPC, has been instrumental in initiating, sustaining, and bringing to fruition this study. We have spent many hours sharing our reflections on it. The Reflection Committee, appointed by the Session to support this research project, deserves special commendation for their constructive, critical review of this text. A significant number of members, former members, former pastors, and friends of the church took time to talk with me, and they provided invaluable information. The entire congregation, particularly members of the Session, showed interest in and supported my research.

Doris Bowie, Martha Garrison, and Blackie Blackstock devoted hours of time to proof reading draft copies. The church secretary, Joan McNeil, assisted the research and writing of this history in many ways. John Wayne provided assistance in printing the final text. The Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia and the Union Theological Library in Richmond both supplied research materials and answered reference inquiries in a polite, efficient manner.

To all of these individuals this study owes a large debt of thanks. And, even beyond them, my deepest thanks goes to Warunee, whose boundless patience, love, and interest upholds it all.

Herbert R. Swanson
Laurel
April 1986