Guide to the Presbyterians United for Biblical Concerns Records

Committee minutes, correspondence, and extensive subject files document how Presbyterians United for Biblical Concerns (PUBC) worked to create a network of evangelical Presbyterians within the church from 1965-1989.

The Committees series, 1965-1989, contains meeting minutes, correspondence, reports, and subject files created by the Board of Directors as well as the permanent and temporary PUBC committees. The seven permanent committees were the Editorial Advisory Committee, Finance and Development Committee, Issues and Strategy Committee, Missions Committee, Nominating Committee, Parish Renewal and Evangelism Committee, and the Seminaries and Colleges Committee. The Issues and Strategy Committee worked to organize PUBC breakfasts, attendance, and outreach at General Assemblies. [Note that additional materials related to planning the PUBC’s presence at General Assemblies are in the Subject Files series under General Assembly.]

The Correspondence series, 1966-1987, consists of ingoing and outgoing correspondence with church members, PUBC members, directors of other church mission organizations, evangelical leaders, and leaders from other denominations. Scattered throughout the series are correspondence and minutes from PUBC committees. The bulk of correspondence was written by or to Matthew Welde who served as the executive director from 1977-1989. 

The Subject Files series, 1965-1989, contains topical files created by the PUBC. Some of the files were used by specific PUBC committees. For example, the General Assembly folders in this series were used and added to by the Issues and Strategy Committee as they organized the PUBC’s witness at each assembly. [Note that the rest of the Issues and Strategy material can be found in Series I: Committees, 1965-1989.]

This series also contains PUBC publications and administrative files such as copies of the official newsletter The Presbyterian Communique, conference planning notes, directories, and brochures. These are all under the heading “PUBC.”

Also included are files related to “issues” in the Presbyterian Church. A significant amount contains material on the debate over homosexuality in the church from 1976-1989. This includes: programs and correspondence related to the PUBC Consultation on the Ministry to Homosexuals in 1976 that was attended by members of the UPCUSA Task Force to Study Homosexuality; folders of correspondence and press releases related to dialogue between members of the PUBC and members of Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concerns (PLGC) in the 1980s; and a subject file on conversion therapy that maintains its original title “redeemed homosexuals.”