Guide to the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Special Committee on Theological Education Records
Open for research.
In May of 1940, the General Assembly (PCUSA) approved the appointment of a special committee to study the field of theological education. This was not the first time the General Assembly had decided to study this subject: it had appointed committees in 1917, 1922-23, 1929-30, 1938, and 1939-40. The new Committee held its first meeting in May of 1941, with Dr. Charles F. Wishart as chair. Drs. Herman Morse and Charles T. Leber of the Board of National Missions served on the committee, along with six others. They soon realized that a study of not only the number and location of Presbyterian seminaries but of the problem of theological education for which the Presbyterian Church was responsible would take far longer than the year which would pass before their report to the 1942 General Assembly. At the Assembly they requested funding, a reappointment of the Committee until the 1943 General Assembly, and three additional members. These requests were granted.
During 1941-42 Committee members visited the ten Presbyterian seminaries to acquaint themselves with the seminaries, to interview faculty and students and discuss curricula and other issues, and to hold conferences on the "Policies and Programs of Theological Education" which the Committee had developed.
The 1943 report to the General Assembly was a lengthy and thorough study on Presbyterian theological education. It included the procedures of the Committee, a statement of the standard of the Presbyterian Church for theological education, a plan for achieving those standards, and recommendations to the Assembly.
Record Group 36 includes correspondence, minutes, financial records, reports and publications.
In 1943 Luther Morse Dimmit, who was Executive Secretary of the Committee and kept its records, created an index to facilitate their use by researchers. Record Group 36 maintains this original order. The folders are all numbered on the right-hand side to show their relationship to the index and stamped on the left-hand side to show their relationship to this finding aid.
| Box | Folder | Description | |
| 1 | 1 | Finding Aid to RG 36, 1991: Index to Research Materials, 1943 | |
| 2 | History of General Assembly Committees on Theological Education, 1917-1943 | ||
| 3 | GA Action on Seminary Curricula, 1936 | ||
| 4 | Report to GA, 1943 | ||
| 5 | Report to GA, 1943 | ||
| 6 | Minutes, 1941 | ||
| 7 | Minutes, 1942 | ||
| 8 | Minutes, 1943 | ||
| 9 | Executive Secretary Correspondence, 1941-43 | ||
| 10 | GA Correspondence, 1941-43 | ||
| 11 | Seminary Correspondence, 1941-43 | ||
| 12 | General Correspondence, 1941-43 | ||
| 13 | Outline of Proposed Research, 1942 | ||
| 14 | Statistical Data | ||
| 15 | "Policy and Program of Theological Education," 1942 | ||
| 16 | Seminary Conference Schedule | ||
| 17 | Princeton Seminary Conference, 1943 | ||
| 18 | Western Seminary Conference | ||
| 19 | Louisville Seminary Conference | ||
| 20 | McCormick Seminary Conference | ||
| 21 | San Francisco Seminary Conference | ||
| 22 | Dubuque Seminary Conference | ||
| 23 | Bloomfield Seminary Conference | ||
| 24 | Lincoln Seminary Conference | ||
| 25 | Johnson C. Smith Seminary Conference | ||
| 26 | Omaha Seminary Conference | ||
| 27 | Conference with Board of Directors | ||
| 28 | Correspondence and Reports on Visits to Seminaries | ||
| 29 | Map of Seminaries in USA and Canada | ||
| 30 | Plans for new Council of Theological Education, 1943 | ||
| 31 | Reports and Minutes of the Committee of Five, 1939 | ||
| 32 | Seminary Objectives | ||
| 33 | Seminary Materials | ||
| 34 | Seminaries--Women Students | ||
| 35 | Seminaries--Enrollments | ||
| 36 | Seminaries--Libraries and Faculty Organization | ||
| 37 | Seminaries--General Information | ||
| 38 | Seminaries--Trustees, Tuition, Degrees Offered | ||
| 39 | Seminaries--Home States of Students | ||
| 40 | Statistics--Supply and Seminary Enrollment | ||
| 41 | Rating of Seminary Equipment | ||
| 42 | Specific Deficiencies of Seminaries | ||
| 43 | Seminary Finances, 1941-43 | ||
| 44 | Seminary Finances | ||
| 45 | Curriculum Studies | ||
| 46 | Required and Elective Courses | ||
| 47 | Organization of Curriculum | ||
| 48 | Arguments re Study of Hebrew and Greek | ||
| 49 | Study for Doctorate of Theology | ||
| 50 | H.N. Morse--Study of Field Work | ||
| 51 | Princeton Department of Field Work | ||
| 52 | Field Work Plans | ||
| 53 | Study on Non-Presbyterian Seminaries | ||
| 54 | Study of Ecumenical Movement in Seminaries | ||
| 55 | Statistics on Colleges and Seminaries Attended by Missionaries and Ministers | ||
| 56 | Contacts in Colleges and Universities | ||
| 57 | Standards and Procedures of Missionary Appointment | ||
| 58 | Study of Dubuque/Omaha Situation | ||
| 59 | Conference on Seminaries with PCUSA | ||
| 60 | PCUS Seminary Survey | ||
| 61 | Summary of "The Education of the American Minister" by H.N. Morse | ||
| 62 | American Association of Theological Schools | ||
| 63 | Status of the Commissioned Church Worker | ||
| 64 | GA Report on Committee's Work | ||
| 65 | Articles | ||
| 66 | Statistics | ||
| 67 | Article on Seminary Improvements | ||
| 68 | Seminary Bulletins | ||
| 69 | Bulletins of American Medical Association |