Guide to the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly Special Committee on Legal Procedure Records

Descriptive Summary

Title

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly Special Committee on Legal Procedure Records

Inclusive Dates

1936-1942

Call Number

RG 19

Creator(s)

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly. Special Committee on Legal Procedure

Quantity

4.00 cubic feet

Restrictions on Access

Open for research. Medical, educational, and psychological records of living people are closed.

Repository

Presbyterian Historical Society, 425 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516 USA

Biographical Note / Administrative History

Administrative History

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".

Collection Overview

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

Related Material

Administrative Information

Processing Information

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

Catalog Headings

The following headings have been used to index the description of this collection in the society’s electronic catalog.

Topical Subject

Church property Law and legislation.

Ecclesiastical law Interpretation and construction.

Corporate Added Name

Presbyterian Church of America.

Auburn Theological Seminary.

Collection Inventory

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

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Guide to the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly Special Committee on Legal Procedure Records

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