Guide to the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly Special Committee on Legal Procedure Records
Open for research.
The following action taken by the 148th General Assembly (PCUSA) (1936) resulted in the appointment of the Special Committee on Legal Procedure:
"This General Assembly hereby empowers and instructs its Moderator and Stated Clerk to take such measures as may be adequate to maintain the full constitutional authority of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, guard all its interests and protect all its property rights; and associate with them, in the above responsibilities, such ministers and ruling elders, not exceeding seven in number, as they may deem wise counselors, and to make full report to the next General Assembly."
On behalf of the General Assembly, the Special Committee on Legal Procedure conducted the litigation arising out of the activities of a schismatic group operating within the PCUSA during the 1930s. The Special Committee was authorized to provide financial aid as well as counsel for the purpose of protecting the legal and property interests of the Church which were jeopardized by the schismatic controversy. The Committee dealt with problems presented in both ecclesiastical and civil spheres.
Three particular matters which engaged the attention of the Committee are documented by the materials in Record Group 19:
l. The case of the "Presbyterian Church in the United States of America vs. The Presbyterian Church of America."
The Special Committee entered a Complaint against the latter in the Philadelphia courts, successfully restraining the schismatic group from using a name of such close similarity to its own denomination's official title.
2. The Auburn Theological Seminary Matter.
Auburn Theological Seminary, established in 1820 for the education of the Presbyterian ministry, had a history of organic relationship to certain presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. In 1939, the General Assembly charged its Special Committee on Legal Procedure with the responsibility of protecting the property rights of the Church with respect to a proposed merger of Auburn Seminary with an independent seminary. The Church lost its attempt to prevent the merger of its resources with the independent seminary and the Committee in 1940 recommended that no appeal be made by the General Assembly, "said appeal being the prerogative of the legally interested presbyteries, if and when they should deem it wise so to proceed."
3. Judicatory Matters.
The Special Committee on Legal Procedure gave financial aid and legal advice to those judicatories where schismatic groups and individuals caused difficulties. In some particular PCUSA churches, a few individuals associated with the schism attempted to alienate valuable church property from its proper ownership through legal procedures. By mid-1937, church property in jeopardy was estimated at close to 2.5 million dollars. In cooperation with the presbyteries of jurisdiction, or with duly constituted committees of the same, the Special Committee on Legal Procedure engaged in friendly negotiations or litigation in the civil courts "to maintain the full constitutional authority of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., guard all its interests and protect all its property rights." Recourse to the civil courts was forestalled in some cases by effective action by those locally responsible for protecting the Church's interests, while in other cases initiation of protective measures in the civil courts was sufficient to obviate the necessity for further action. Certain cases, however, required formal court action.
All the cases successfully prosecuted by the Committee consistently emphasized the clearly established law that "the Church as a whole, acting through its supreme governing bodies, exercises the ultimate right of ownership and control over all its properties".
The collection is arranged as follows:
SERIES 1: MINUTES AND CORRESPONDENCE, 1936-1942
The materials comprising this and the other series were accumulated in the Office of the General Assembly. The correspondence was conducted by Lewis S. Mudge (1868-1945), Stated Clerk of the General Assembly from 1921-38 and Secretary of the Special Committee on Legal Procedure, and was continued in 1938 by his successor, William Barrow Pugh (1889-1950).
SERIES 2: CORRESPONDENCE--THE MATTER OF PROTECTION OF THE CORPORATE NAME OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 1936-1940
This series holds a considerable amount of correspondence with the Presbyterian Church in the United States concerning adoption of its corporate name in 1865, in connection with much helpful information and testimony given by officials of that Church in the case of the PCUSA vs. the Presbyterian Church of America. There is also much correspondence with attorneys involved in the case.
SERIES 3: CORRESPONDENCE--JUDICATORY MATTERS, 1936-1942
The materials in this series bulk largest in the collection. Much of the correspondence is with judicatory representatives and with attorneys. There is also correspondence with representatives of various General Assembly agencies, e.g., the Board of National Missions in specific cases where that agency had a particular interest in a property and was therefore the agency best qualified to deal effectively with the situation. The series includes, besides correspondence, copies of legal documents and miscellaneous items such as newspaper clippings.
SERIES 4: CORRESPONDENCE--AUBURN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY CASE, 1938-1941
Besides correspondence, the series includes historical data about the Seminary, copies of legal documents, such as briefs, notices of appeal, et cetera, and miscellaneous items.
SERIES 5: MISCELLANEOUS, 1936-1939
Researchers interested in the Presbyterian Church of America should see Record Group 7, John Gresham Machen Papers, and Record Group 9, Carl Curtis McIntire Papers.
A few pamphlets placed in Box 1 Folder 1, together with the finding aid, will give the researcher background on the schismatic movement and resultant General Assembly actions which led to the appointment of the Special Committee on Legal Procedure.
Collection processed: July 1968, Milton Kenin, Records Researcher
Collection processed and finding aid prepared: 1983, Jane M. Ramsay
| Box | Folder | Description | |
| 1 | 1 | Finding Aid to Record Group 19 | |
| SERIES 1: MINUTES AND CORRESPONDENCE, 1936-1942 | |||
| 1 | 2 | Minutes, 1936-42 | |
| 3 | Correspondence with Members, 1936-39 | ||
| 4 | Correspondence with Stated Clerks of Presbyteries, 1940-41 | ||
| 5 | Correspondence, Statements, Sermons, Addresses | ||
| 6 | Correspondence - Board of Pensions, 1937 | ||
| 7 | Correspondence with Presbyterian Church in the United States, 1937-38 | ||
| 8 | Correspondence, 1936 | ||
| 9 | Correspondence, 1936-39 | ||
| 10 | Correspondence, 1937-38 | ||
| 11 | Correspondence, 1938-40 | ||
| 12 | Correspondence, 1939-40 | ||
| 13 | Correspondence, 1939-42 | ||
| 14 | Correspondence--Presbyteries' Actions re Ministers Associated with Schismatic Movement, 1936-38 | ||
| 15 | Correspondence--Response to New Castle Presbytery's Resolution and to Other Statements, 1936-37 | ||
| SERIES 2: CORRESPONDENCE--THE MATTER OF PROTECTION OF THE CORPORATE NAME OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 1936-1940 | |||
| 1 | 16 | PCUSA vs. Presbyterian Church of America, 1936-39 | |
| 17 | PCUSA vs. Presbyterian Church of America, 1936 | ||
| 18 | PCUSA vs. Presbyterian Church of America, 1937-39 | ||
| 19 | PCUSA vs. Presbyterian Church of America, 1939-40 | ||
| SERIES 3: CORRESPONDENCE--JUDICATORY MATTERS, 1936-1942 | |||
| Synods | |||
| 2 | 1 | Dakota Synods, North and South, 1936 | |
| 2 | New York Synod, 1936-38 | ||
| Presbyteries | |||
| 2 | 3 | Aberdeen Presbytery, 1936-37 | |
| 4 | Bismarck Presbytery, 1936-39 | ||
| 5 | Butler Presbytery, 1936-37 | ||
| 6 | Chicago Presbytery, 1936-37 | ||
| 7 | Huron Presbytery, 1936-42 | ||
| 8 | Iowa City Presbytery, 1936-37 | ||
| 9 | Lackawanna Presbytery, 1936 | ||
| 10 | Los Angeles Presbytery, 1936 | ||
| 11 | Mahoning Presbytery, 1940 | ||
| 12 | Milwaukee Presbytery, 1936-40 | ||
| 13 | Minot Presbytery, 1938 | ||
| 14 | Monmouth Presbytery, 1936-39 | ||
| 15 | New Brunswick Presbytery, 1936-37 | ||
| 16 | Newburyport Presbytery, 1936-37 | ||
| 17 | Newburyport Presbytery, 1937-39 | ||
| 18 | New Castle Presbytery, 1936-42 | ||
| 19 | New Castle Presbytery, 1936-42 | ||
| 20 | Northern Arizona Presbytery, 1937 | ||
| 21 | Otsego Presbytery, 1936 | ||
| 22 | Philadelphia Presbytery, 1936 | ||
| 23 | Philadelphia Presbytery, 1936-39, 1954 | ||
| 24 | San Francisco Presbytery, 1936 | ||
| 25 | Shenango Presbytery, 1938-40 | ||
| 3 | 1 | Sioux City Presbytery, 1937 | |
| 2 | Sioux Falls Presbytery, 1936-40 | ||
| 3 | Steuben-Elmira Presbytery, 1936 | ||
| 4 | Syracuse Presbytery, 1936 | ||
| 5 | West Jersey Presbytery, 1936-38 | ||
| 6-7 | West Jersey Presbytery, 1936-41 | ||
| 8 | Winnebago Presbytery, 1936-37 | ||
| Local Churches | |||
| 3 | 9 | Alexandria, PA, 1938 | |
| 10 | Cedar Grove, WI, First, 1937-38 | ||
| 11-12 | Collingswood, NJ, Collingswood, 1937 | ||
| 13 | Corvallis, OR, First, 1938 | ||
| 14 | Portland, ME, Second Parish Church, 1939 | ||
| 15 | Portland, ME, Second Parish Church, 1939-41 | ||
| 16 | Portland, ME, Second Parish Church, 1939-42 | ||
| 17 | Portland, ME, Second Parish Church, 1940 | ||
| 18 | Portland, ME, Second Parish Church, 1941-42 | ||
| 19 | Portland, ME, Second Parish Church, 1942-44, 1952 | ||
| 20 | Willow Grove, PA, Willow Grove, 1938 | ||
| SERIES 4: CORRESPONDENCE--AUBURN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY CASE, 1938-1941 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Correspondence, 1938-39 | |
| 2 | Correspondence, 1939 | ||
| 3 | Correspondence, June-August, 1939 | ||
| 4 | Correspondence, August, 1939 | ||
| 5 | Correspondence, September-December, 1939 | ||
| 6 | Correspondence, 1939-40 | ||
| 7 | Correspondence, and Reports, 1940-1941 | ||
| SERIES 5: MISCELLANEOUS, 1936-1939 | |||
| 4 | 8 | Court Decisions | |
| 9 | Publications, 1936-39 | ||
| 10 | Correspondence with Bible Presbyterian Church |