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Archival description
Theology–Study and teaching
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Education for Mission and Ministry Unit. Records

This collection comprises a mixed series of Administrative Records and Subject Files that includes correspondence, reports, and printed material that appear to have been gathered selectively by an unknown office within the Education for Mission and Ministry cluster.

Prominent topics include the Diocese of Puerto Rico, Clergy Studies, and the National Institute for Lay Training (NILT). The NILT became the legal successor to the Church Army in 1975, promoting the training of laity for service to the Church community through the placement of volunteers in parish programs and seminaries. Of particular interest are General Convention committee records and a 1973 study by the Office of Development, “What You Said,” concerning diocesan needs and priorities.

Education for Mission and Ministry Unit

Department of Christian Education. Records

Records in this collection reflect the administrative and programmatic oversight activities of the national Episcopal Church entities responsible for education and lay Christian formation between 1920 and 1971. Though the collection is small, it covers a wide array of topics in Christian Education, including: curriculum development; continuing education; the Christian Nurture series; the Seabury series of Sunday school materials; departmental reorganization; and Christian education in various overseas regions. The materials include correspondence, minutes, reports, articles, audio tapes, and printed matter such as publications, articles, and addresses.

The correspondence includes material from the 1920s (when the unit was known as the Department of Religious Education) directed to the first Executive Secretary, the Rev. John Suter; there is then a gap, with the next group of correspondence beginning in the early 1950s. The 1970-1971 correspondence offers a good overview of issues faced in the period when there was no staff officer in charge of religious education.

A 1957 report titled “Review of Activities, Department of Christian Education, Protestant Episcopal Church” presents a comprehensive look at what the Department had accomplished up to that point and what it sought to accomplish in the future.

Office of Religious Education