Guide to the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Special Committee on Forms and Services Records
Open for research.
To browse this collection's digital content visit Pearl.
This collection has been digitized in its entirety.
In 1902, various presbyteries adapted overtures relating to the standardization of the forms of such services as marriage, baptism, and communion. The overtures spoke of "a great diversion of practice amongst the ministers of our Church" and requested that the General Assembly (PCUSA) "prepare and authorize a manual or book of forms for the use of the ministers of our Church." The 115th General Assembly (1903) appointed the Special Committee on Forms of Service (also known as the Committee on Forms and Services and the Special Committee on Forms and Services) to write such a manual.
Henry Jackson Van Dyke, Jr. (1852-1933) chaired the eleven-member committee, which included Louis FitzGerald Benson. The committee met for the first time in October of 1903. They agreed upon those services requiring standard forms: these included infant and adult baptism, first communion, regular communion, marriages, funerals, ordination, dedication of churches, special services such as Thanksgiving, and regular services on weekdays and Sundays.
During 1904 and 1905, the committee members worked on compiling material for the manual, for which they had chosen the title The Book of Common Worship. It was completed in 1906 and remained in use until a committee for its revision was appointed in 1928.
Record Group 65 primarily contains minutes, reports, publications, correspondence (including letters to Louis FitzGerald Benson), manuscripts, and other assorted material relating to the work of the committee. Folders 1, 6, and 10 include some pre-committee material.
To browse this collection's digitized content visit Pearl.
This collection has been digitized in its entirety.
Collection processed: 1970
Frederick M. Schalow, Records Researcher
Collection revised and finding aid prepared: 1979
Jane Ramsay
Collection rehoused and notes added to finding aid: September 1991
Stephanie Muntone, Processing Archivist
Collection refolded, folder descriptions and inclusive dates revised, and finding aid edited: March 2018
Bill Brock, Collection Management Archivist, and Cecilia Figliuolo, Archives Technician
| Box | Folder | Description | Alternative Formats |
| 1 | 1 | Typescript and carbon copy of Overture from Presbytery of Denver on Manual or Book of Forms for use of Ministers, 1902 | Digital |
| 1 | 1 | Typescript and carbon copy of Overture from The Synod of New York on Tentative forms of Worship, 1903 | Digital |
| 1 | 2 | Minutes - Special Committee on Forms of Service/Committee on Forms and Services, 1903-1905 | Digital |
| 1 | 3 | Published report to General Assembly with annotations by chairman Van Dyke, 1904 | Digital |
| 1 | 3 | Published report to General Assembly with annotations by chairman Van Dyke, 1905 | Digital |
| 1 | 3 | Published report to General Assembly with annotations by chairman Van Dyke, 1905 | Digital |
| 1 | 3 | Published report to General Assembly with annotations by chairman Van Dyke, 1905 | Digital |
| 1 | 3 | Published report to General Assembly with annotations by chairman Van Dyke, 1906 | Digital |
| 1 | 4 | Draft reports to General Assembly, circa 1905-1906 and undated | Digital |
| 1 | 5 | The Book of Common Worship manuscript by Henry Van Dyke, 1904 | Digital |
| 1 | 5 | Forms and Services (partial report of the Special Committee on Forms and Services) with annotations, 1904 | Digital |
| 1 | 6 | Correspondence to Louis FitzGerald Benson, 1898?, and Henry Van Dyke, 1902 | Digital |
| 1 | 6 | Articles by Henry Van Dyke on the Brief Statement of the Reformed Faith, 1902 and undated. | Digital |
| 1 | 6 | Correspondence to Henry Van Dyke regarding his election as Moderator to the General Assembly, 1902 | Digital |
| 1 | 6 | Brief Statement of the Reformed Faith, 1902 | Digital |
| 1 | 6 | Article by Henry Van Dyke, circa 1903 | Digital |
| 1 | 6 | "A Confidence," poem by G.A. Warburton, undated | Digital |
| 1 | 7 | Correspondence and printed materials re work of the committee, 1903-1905 and undated | Digital |
| 1 | 8 | Correspondence and printed materials re work of the committee, 1904-1906 and undated | Digital |
| 1 | 9 | Correspondence re work of the committee and of The Book of Common Worship, 1904-1906 and undated | Digital |
| 1 | 9 | The Book of Common Worship, 1906 | Digital |
| 1 | 9 | The Message, December 1904 | Digital |
| 1 | 9 | The Church Eclectic, August 1906 | Digital |
| 1 | 10 | Church Service Society report, 1899 | Digital |
| 1 | 10 | Church Service Society provisional constitution, ca. 1897 | Digital |
| 1 | 10 | Church Service Society constitution, ca. 1897 | Digital |
| 1 | 10 | Statistical reports (Tabulation and the Treasury of Prayers), 1903 | Digital |
| 1 | 10 | Committee on Forms of Service - Questionnaire and analyses of results, 1904 and undated | Digital |
| 1 | 11 | Orders of services (manuscript), undated | Digital |
| 1 | 12 | Revised copy of Forms and Services, 1904 | Digital |
| 1 | 12 | Proofs re Forms and Services, and related assorted material, 1903-1906 and undated | Digital |
| 1 | 13 | Letter from Sandford Fleming to Henry Van Dyke, 1909 | Digital |
| 1 | 13 | Letter from George Hodges to Henry Van Dyke, 1910 | Digital |