Guide to the Jack Haberer Papers

Descriptive Summary

Title

Jack Haberer Papers

Inclusive Dates

1983-2013

Bulk Dates

1996-2006

Call Number

RG 511

Creator(s)

Haberer, Jack.

Quantity

3.00 cubic feet (3 boxes) and 102 MB (431 digital files)

Language

Materials in English

Restrictions on Access

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

Access to this collection’s digital content is indicated in the Collection Inventory section of this guide, in the Alternative Formats column. When materials are marked “Digital,” they are immediately accessible. Click on the hyperlink to view the digital content in Pearl.

When materials are marked “Digital*” with an asterisk, they are available upon request. Click on the hyperlink to contact the Reference Desk to request access. Access is provided via a temporary password-protected link.

Digital Content

To browse this collection's digital content visit Pearl.

Materials marked “Digital” in the Collection Inventory may not be available on Pearl or in their entirety.

Repository

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

Biographical Note / Administrative History

Biographical Note

Jack Haberer (officially John H. Haberer Jr.) was born in Queens, New York on February 16, 1955, and raised in Ramsey, New Jersey. Haberer was baptized and confirmed in the Roman Catholic Church, but became strongly influenced by the Jesus Movement as a teenager. He worked with two friends to organize the Mustard Seed Coffeehouse in a local Episcopal Church and, during his time there, felt a strong call to pastoral ministry.

Haberer attended the Elim Bible Institute in Lima, New York for eighteen months before transferring to Roberts Wesleyan College. There, he received a Bachelor of Arts in religion and philosophy in 1976. Haberer went on to study at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary where he became more familiar with the Presbyterian Church. He received a Master of Divinity in 1982 and was hired to the staff of the New Covenant Presbyterian Church (Pompano Beach, Florida). Two years later he was ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and became the lead pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church, a large congregation in Satellite Beach, Florida. Haberer worked as pastor there from 1984 to 1994 while he completed his Doctor of Ministry degree at Columbia Theological Seminary. In January 1994, Haberer was called to serve as lead pastor of another large congregation, Clear Lake Presbyterian Church (Houston, Texas).

During his time at Clear Lake Presbyterian Church, Haberer took on a greater role in the PC(USA) by chairing two national organizations: the Presbyterian Coalition and Presbyterians for Renewal. From 1994 to 1997, he acted as the organizer and the first board chair for the Presbyterian Coalition. The Coalition marshaled opposition to the ordination of gay and lesbian Presbyterians, most notably campaigning for the successful passage of Amendment B in 1996. The Amendment, known as the “fidelity-chastity” amendment and G-6.0106b in the Book of Order, explicitly named fidelity in marriage or chastity in singleness as requirements for ordination. Haberer stepped down from his role as chair of the Coalition in 1997. From 1999 to 2005, he served as president of the Board of Directors for Presbyterians for Renewal, another organization devoted to renewal in the PC(USA).

Haberer also served on three denominational committees, including the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church. The Theological Task Force met from 2001 through 2006, and was charged with leading the church in a process of discernment that covered issues of Christology, biblical authority, ordination, and power. In the years following the task force, Haberer's stance on ordination rights shifted and he came to support the ordination of LGBTQIA+ Presbyterians. (Haberer shares this story in an oral history interview, available in Pearl.) Haberer also served as a member of the Task Force on Unity and Diversity of the Church from 1997 to 1998, and the Study Committee on the PC(USA) Washington Office in 2009.

Starting in January 2006, Haberer worked as the editor of The Presbyterian Outlook for nine years. He wrote over 500 editorials and news articles in this position. Haberer also spoke at churches, conferences, and presbytery meetings throughout the denomination. In addition to writing for The Presbyterian Outlook, Haberer wrote articles in Presbyterians Today, contributed to several academic journals, and published three books: It’s Complicated: A Guide to Faithful Decision Making; GodViews: The Convictions that Drive Us and Divide Us; and Living the Presence of the Spirit.

In 2014, Haberer resigned from his editorial role and returned to pastoral ministry at Vanderbilt Presbyterian Church (Naples, Florida). He served Vanderbilt Presbyterian for two years before accepting a call to become the lead pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Collection Overview

Subject files, correspondence, and campaign materials document Jack Haberer’s service to the Presbyterian Church, centered on his work for the Presbyterian Coalition and the PC(USA) Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church.

The collection is divided into two series: Renewal Groups, 1987-2011, and PC(USA) Committees and Dialogue, 1983-2013. The digital files that Haberer created and used during his work with renewal groups and PC(USA) committees have been integrated into the two series. The files mostly consist of text documents, converted to PDF for preservation. Files have been maintained in the original folder structure. Some of the documents are duplicates of print material in the collection.

The Renewal Groups series, 1987-2011, documents Haberer’s work for the Presbyterian Coalition and Presbyterians for Renewal. The bulk of this series relates to the Coalition's campaigns to pass or defeat amendments to the Book of Order that would prohibit the ordination of gay and lesbian Presbyterians. The series also contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, campaign advertisements, voting statistics, and meeting minutes from the Presbyterian Coalition. Also included are subject files on other organizations in the PC(USA) that were involved in the debate over gay and lesbian rights, and correspondence from Haberer's time as pastor of Clear Lake Presbyterian Church (Houston, Texas).

Four folders in this series consist entirely of digital files that Haberer created during his work with renewal groups. The "Presbyterian Coalition business" folder includes documents related to Amendment A and to the Call to Sabbatical. The "Presbyterians for Renewal business" folder contains meeting minutes, correspondence, and press releases from Haberer's time as president of the organization.

The PC(USA) Committees and Dialogue series, 1983-2013, consists of material from three PC(USA) committees that Haberer either served on or collected material from. The bulk of this series consists of documents from Haberer's time as a member of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church. The series contains task force meeting minutes, lectures, publications, and correspondence. Also included are educational resources either created or used by members of the task force as they completed their five-year study. Box 2 Folder 23 consists entirely of digital files related to the task force.

Two folders in this series relate to the Study Committee on the PC(USA) Washington Office which Haberer also served on. One folder in the series contains reports that Haberer collected from the Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil Union and Christian Marriage in 2010.

Also included are articles collected or written by Haberer on homosexuality and conversation notes from dialogue concerning ordination standards, same-sex marriage, and unity in the church. Box 2 Folder 22 contains digital files related to dialogue in the PC(USA), including correspondence with evangelical church leaders and notes from conference calls between the Covenant Network and Presbyterians for Renewal.

Organization and Arrangement

The collection is arranged as follows:

SERIES I: RENEWAL GROUPS, 1987-2011

SERIES II: PC(USA) COMMITTEES AND DIALOGUE, 1983-2013

Alternative Formats

To browse this collection's digital content visit Pearl.

Materials marked “Digital” in the Collection Inventory may not be available on Pearl or in their entirety.

Digital access copies in PDF and XSL format are available for content in some folders (see the Collection Inventory section of this guide).

Related Material

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Received from Jack Haberer in 2018.

Processing Information

Collection processed and guide prepared in 2018 by Elizabeth Wittrig, Pam Byers Memorial Fund Project Archivist, as part of the Pam Byers Memorial Collection.

Directory lists of the original and processed file structure and file names are available upon request.

Preferred Citation

Jack Haberer Papers, RG 511, Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Catalog Headings

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

Personal Name Subject

Haberer, Jack.

Corporate Subject

Presbyterian Coalition.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity.

Clear Lake Presbyterian Church (Houston, Tex.)

Presbyterians for Renewal.

Topical Subject

Gay clergy--United States--History--20th century.

Homosexuality--Religious aspects--Presbyterians--History--20th century.

Ordination of gay people--Presbyterians--History--20th century.

Ordination of lesbians--Presbyterians--History--20th century.

Genre-form

Born digital. aat

Clippings (information artifacts) aat

Correspondence. aat

Subject files. local

Collection Inventory

Box	Folder	Description	Alternative Formats

		SERIES I: RENEWAL GROUPS, 1987-2011

1	1	Amendment B, aftermath, 1997
1	2	Amendment B, opposition, 1996-1997
1	3	Amendment B, PC(USA) polity reflections, 1997
1	4	Amendment B, publications, 1996
1	5-6	Amendment B, responding to obfuscation, 1996-1997
1	7	Amendment B, support strategies, 1996-1997
1	8	Amendment A, advertisements, 1997-2001	Digital
1	9	Amendment A, aftermath hate mail, 1998
1	10	Amendment A, aftermath publications, 1998
1	11	Amendment A, articles, 1997
1	12	Amendment A, open letter to Dr. Howard Rice, 1998
1	13	Amendment A, opposing viewpoints, 1997
1	14	Amendment A, the Phoenix Debate: Laird Stuart vs. Jack Haberer, 1996-1998	Digital
1	15	Amendment A, Presbyterian Coalition open letter, 1997-1998
1	16-17	Amendment A, support strategies, 1997-1998
1	18	Amendment A, voting statistics, 1998
1	19	Amendment 01-A campaign, 2001-2002
1	20	Call to Sabbatical and the 210th General Assembly, 1998
1	21	General correspondence, 1995-1997
1	22	Genevans, 1997-1998
E	1	Genevans, 1997-1998	Digital*
E	2	Layman vs. Haberer, 2005-2007	Digital*
E	3	Presbyterian Coalition business, 1997-2007	Digital*
1	23	Presbyterian Coalition, by-laws, 1993
1	24	Presbyterian Coalition, conversation notes from phone calls, 1995-1996
1	25	Presbyterian Coalition, correspondence, 1997-1998

2	1	Presbyterian Coalition, correspondence, 1997-1998
2	2	Presbyterian Coalition, Gathering I resource materials, 1996
2	3	Presbyterian Coalition, Gathering II resource materials, 1997
2	4	Presbyterian Coalition, history, 1995-1996
E	4	Presbyterian Coalition meetings, 1997-2009	Digital*
2	5	Presbyterian Coalition, meeting (Sept.), 1995
2	6	Presbyterian Coalition, meeting (Jan.), 1996
2	7	Presbyterian Coalition, meeting (May), 1996
2	8	Presbyterian Coalition, meeting (Sept.), 1996
2	9	Presbyterian Coalition, meeting (April-May), 1998
2	10	Presbyterian Coalition Steering Committee, 1996-1998
2	11	Presbyterian Coalition Visioning Team, 1998
2	12	Presbyterian Confessing Movement, 1995-1997
E	5	Presbyterians for Renewal business, 2000-2011	Digital*
2	13	The Shepherds, 1998

		SERIES II: PC(USA) COMMITTEES AND DIALOGUE, 1983-2013

2	14	Homosexuality, articles and addresses, 1987-1992
2	15-17	Homosexuality articles, 1996-2003
2	18	"Keeping Faithful: A Response Guide," by Jack Haberer, 1993
E	6	PC(USA) dialogue, 2000-2013	Digital*
E	7	Theological Task Force, 2001-2010	Digital*
2	19	Theological Task Force, Austin Seminary President's Colloquium, 2005
2	20	Theological Task Force, educational resources, 2002-2003

3	1	Theological Task Force, educational resources - Christology, 1983-2002
3	2	Theological Task Force, founding documents, 2001-2002
3	3	Theological Task Force, international responses to the task force, 2006
3	4-5	Theological Task Force, lectures and publications, 2005-2006
3	6	Theological Task Force, meeting (2002 Feb.), 2001-2003
3	7	Theological Task Force, meeting (2002 Oct.), 2002
3	8-9	Theological Task Force, meeting (2003 Aug.), 1988-2003
3	10	Theological Task Force, meeting (2004 Feb.), 2004
3	11-12	Theological Task Force, meeting (2004 Aug.), 1983-2004
3	13	Theological Task Force, meeting (2004 Oct.), 2003-2004
3	14-15	Theological Task Force, meeting (2006 Jan.), 2002-2006
3	16	Theological Task Force, mutual invitation - forums of deliberation, 2006
3	17	Theological Task Force, task force report (drafts), 2005
3	18	Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil Union and Christian Marriage, final reports, 2010
3	19-20	Study on the PC(USA) Washington Office, 1997-2004 and 2008-2009

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Guide to the Jack Haberer Papers

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