From the Archives
Phil Weber, Rosedale Network historian
Rosedale Network has accumulated a considerable archive of documents, photographs, and audio recordings since its founding in 1910. There is a lot to learn from and enjoy in these words and images of people like us who lived in many of the same places we do now, but in very different times.
The links on this page are just a sampling of resources from the archives. They are here for your enjoyment and encouragement.
Check back on the first of each month to view new content!
2025
While sorting through the documents in the archives, I chanced upon a letter written by Orie Kauffman to the leaders of Rosedale Network of Churches in 1970. It struck me as surprisingly relevant for 2025, and since Orie was also the father of two widely recognized men in the network—Lloyd Kauffman and Paul (Pablo) Kauffman—the letter and its author got the nod for this month in the Beacon. You can listen to Orie’s 1969 conference sermon here, or by following the link at the bottom of this page.
This month, we mark the passing of a man whose life was closely linked to Rosedale Network and its biblical training institute for the better part of five decades. Willard Mayer (1926-2025) led or assisted with the ordination or licensure of 100 RNOC ministers between 1958 and 2007. He began teaching at what is now Rosedale Bible College in 1952, and with only a few exceptions, taught every year until 2001. Check out a few pages of the notes and lists he left behind in this edition of From the Archives.
October
The Missionary Bulletin was the predecessor of the Brotherhood Beacon (now Beacon), and the August 1968 edition is a window you might enjoy peering through. Did you know our conference was sending people to Ethiopia, Costa Rica, Luxembourg, Germany, and Nicaragua as well as multiple outreach locations within the States? Can you locate anyone you know among the families pictured? And if Dorcas Miller’s poem is any indication, some things haven’t changed much in the intervening decades!