Guide to the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Christian Education Division of Continuing Education Records
Open for research.
The 1958 General Assembly appointed a Special Committee on the Nature of the Ministry. This committee recommended to the 1960 General Assembly that the Board of Christian Education be made responsible for assisting the presbyteries to study the subject, using materials provided by the Committee. The Board was to conduct its own study and to prepare the materials for the use of the presbyteries. The plan provided for seminars for both ministers and laymen. Employees of the BCE's Division of Continuing Education were assigned to the task of producing study materials, enlisting and training leaders, and completing plans for the church-wide inquiry into the essential nature of the ministry and its rightful expression in the twentieth century.
Record Group 154 contains the Nature of the Ministry Files of the BCE's Division of Continuing Education. These files include reports, conference and seminar records, papers and studies.
Records of the Special Committee on the Nature of the Ministry also available on microfilm: MF/NEG./115.
The collection is roughly chronological in arrangement.
Notes added to finding aid: June 1992
Stephanie Muntone, Processing Archivist
| Box | Folder | Description | |
| 1 | 1 | Finding Aid to Record Group 154 | |
| 1 | 2 | Reports to General Secretary from Committees on the Ministry and the Laity, 1959-1960 | |
| 1 | 3 | Papers Requested of Biblical Scholars, et al, 1959 | |
| 1 | 4 | "The Diversified Ministry of the UPCUSA" (Working Paper for the Committee), 1960 | |
| 1 | 5 | Endorsements of Study Seminars by Presbyteries, 1961 | |
| 1 | 6-7 | Literature | |
| 1 | 8 | Articles and Addresses | |
| 1 | 9-10 | Letters of Invitation to Laymen, 1961-1962 | |
| 1 | 11 | Laymen's Consultative Conference, NY, 1961 | |
| 1 | 12 | Laymen's Consultation, Radnor, 1961 | |
| 1 | 13 | National Training Conferences, Purdue, 1961 | |
| 1 | 14 | Administrative Handbook for the Study Seminars, 1962 | |
| 1 | 15 | Laymen's Seminar File--Samples, 1962 | |
| 1 | 16 | Work Papers | |
| 1 | 17 | Quiz Summary (Work Papers) | |
| 1 | 18 | Expense Sheets | |
| 1 | 19-21 | Correspondence, 1960-1965 | |
| 2 | 1 | Seminar--Lists of Leaders; Locations; Score on "A Quiz on the Church and its Ministry" | |
| 2 | 2 | Memos and Materials sent to Leaders of Ministers' Seminars, 1962 | |
| 2 | 3-12 | Evaluations of Seminars Submitted by Leaders, Field Directors and Executives, 1962 | |
| 2 | 13 | Proposal for Ministry/Laity Conference--Questionnaire and Replies, 1962 | |
| 2 | 14 | Correspondence regarding Follow-up on Seminars, 1962-1963 | |
| 2 | 15-16 | Reports and Recommendations from Synods and Presbyteries, 1962-1963 | |
| 3 | 1 | Nature of the Ministry Seminars Arranged by Synods and Dates; Percentage of Male and Female Participation | |
| 3 | 2-3 | Correspondence and Interim Reports, 1962-1966 | |
| 3 | 4 | Conference of Nature of the Ministry Seminar Leaders, Chicago, 1963 | |
| 3 | 5-11 | Reports from Judicatories, 1964 | |
| 3 | 12 | Report of Special Committee to General Assembly– Correspondence, 1964 | |
| 3 | 13 | Responses from Sessions and Presbyteries to the Report of the Committee; Correspondence and Notes, 1964-1965 | |
| 3 | 14 | Report for McCormick Quarterly, 1964 | |
| 3 | 15 | Drafts of Report of Special Committee on the Nature of the Ministry, 1965 | |
| 3 | 16 | Correspondence, 1966 | |
| 3 | 17 | Letters from Seminar Leaders, 1966 | |
| 3 | 18 | Sample Forms and Letters sent to Field Directors, et al |