Descriptive Summary
Creator(s)
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Materials marked "Digital" in the Collection Inventory may not be available on Pearl or in their entirety.
Biographical Note / Administrative History
Until 1844, church erection in the U.S. had been regarded as a local responsibility. However, in 1844 the General Assembly (Old School), in response to an overture, committed itself via the Board of Missions to the task of aiding financially weak congregations to build better churches. This was to be done by the churches through systematic benevolence giving. In 1855, the General Assembly appointed a Committee on Church Extension. With its headquarters in St. Louis near the frontier country where most of the aid was to be extended, the Committee was directly responsible to the General Assembly. In 1860, this work was assigned to the new Board of Church Extension which continued to aid weak churches in their building problems until the reunion of the Old and New School branches in 1870.
In 1853, the New School Assembly appointed a Church Erection Committee. Unlike its Old School counterparts, the New School program called for a permanent fund rather than annual benevolence giving which would be loaned to needy churches for a period of time and then repaid. This policy continued until 1870.
In 1870 the church extension and church erection agencies consolidated their work in a new organization known as the Board of the Church Erection Fund. During the 1870s and 1880s the Board enlarged its scope by building chapels in advance of building churches in the frontier country of Utah, New Mexico and Alaska. By the mid-1880s, its work was again extended with the establishment of schools and chapels among the Mormon, Indian and Spanish-speaking populations. With the general reorganization in 1923 the work of church erection was placed under the Board of National Missions though the original name was retained for legal reasons.
Collection Overview
Record group 43 contains the records of the Board of the Church Erection Fund, 1853-1946. The bulk of this collection dates from 1870. Miscellaneous items pre-1870 from the Old School program of the PCUSA have also been included.
Organization and Arrangement
SERIES 1: COMMITTEE/BOARD OF CHURCH ERECTION (OLD SCHOOL), 1853-70, MISC. ITEMS
Included are various plans of assembly and manuals, 1853-70. One ledger is also included.
SERIES 2: BOARD OF THE CHURCH ERECTION FUND, 1870-1946, MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS
Included are miscellaneous pamphlets and church/manse building plans, 1882-1921.
Also included are bound volumes with the following designations:
Index to minutes (1886-1915)
Journals (1890-1921)
Ledgers (1896-1924)
Cash Books (1916-1924)
Contributions and Appropriations (1919-1924)
Payments and Receipts (1901-1914)
Receipts and Disbursements (1936-1946)
Building Grants (1879-1888)
Legal forms, agreements, indentures, briefs, n.d.
Properties aided, 1927-1936
Appropriations to Churches by Synods, 1927-1930
Alternative Formats
To browse this collection's digitized content visit Pearl.
Materials marked "Digital" in the Collection Inventory may not have been digitized in their entirety.
Administrative Information
The bound volumes have been numbered chronologically. The researcher should cite the volume number, title and inclusive dates when requesting use.
The researcher is advised to consult the library's holdings for minutes and reports that have been cataloged separately.
Catalog Headings
Collection Inventory
| Box | Folder | Description | Alternative Formats |
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1 | 1 | Finding Aid to Record Group 43 | |
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| Series 1: Committee/board of Church Erection (Old School) | |
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| 2 | Constitution and by-laws, 1853 | |
| 3 | Plan of Assembly, 1856 | |
| 4 | Plan of Assembly, 1855 | |
| 5 | Plan of Assembly, 1866 | |
| 6 | Manual of church erection, 1868 | Digital |
| 7 | Churches for the west, n.d. | |
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| BOUND VOLUME | |
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| #11 | Ledger, 1856-70 | |
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| SERIES 2: BOARD OF THE CHURCH ERECTION FUND | |
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| 8 | Church plans, 1882 | Digital |
| 9 | Synopsis of the History of the Board of the Church Erection Fund, 1888 | |
| 10 | Plan of the B.C.E.F., 1914 | |
| 11 | B.C.E.F./Kennedy request, 1915 | |
| 12 | 75 Years of Church Building, 1919 | |
| 13 | Church and Manse building, 1920-1921 | |
| 14 | Manual of manse plans, n.d. | |
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| BOUND VOLUMES | |
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| Index to Minutes | |
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| Vol #1 | April 1, 1886 - September 15, 1913 | |
| Vol #2 | April 22, 1889 - March 23, 1896 | |
| Vol #3 | April 27, 1896 - March 24, 1902 | |
| Vol #4 | April 20, 1908 - July 15, 1912 | |
| Vol #5 | September 16, 1912 - March 15, 1915 | |
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| Journals | |
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| Vol #6 | March 26, 1890 - July 1, 1892 | |
| Vol #7 | April 17, 1906 - July 31, 1911 | |
| Vol #8 | February 1909 - April 1911 | |
| Vol #9 | August 3, 1911 - March 31, 1916 | |
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| Ledgers | |
| Vol #10 | June 26, 1918 - March 31, 1921 | |
| Vol #12 | April 11, 1896 - April 11, 1899 | |
| Vol #13 | April 11, 1899 - April 10, 1903 | |
| Vol #14 | April 1, 1911 - April 1, 1913 | |
| Vol #15 | April 1, 1913 - April 1, 1915 | |
| Vol #16 | April 1, 1915 - March 31, 1917 | |
| Vol #17 | April 1, 1917 - March 27, 1919 | |
| Vol #18 | April 1, 1919 - March 31, 1921 | |
| Vol #19 | April 1, 1923 - March 31, 1924 | |
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| Building grants | |
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| Vol #20 | #1879 - 1888 | |
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| Cash Books | |
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| Vol #21 | September 11, 1916 - October 31, 1918 | |
| Vol #22 | November 4, 1918 - November 31, 1920 | |
| Vol #23 | December 31, 1920 - September 30, 1922 | |
| Vol #24 | March 25 - June 18, 1924 | |
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| Contributions and Appropriations | |
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| Vol #25 | 1919-1920 | |
| Vol #26 | 1920-1921 | |
| Vol #27 | 1921-1922 | |
| Vol #28 | 1922-1923 | |
| Vol #29 | 1923-1924 | |
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| Payments and Receipts | |
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| Vol #30 | December 2, 1901 - June 30, 1905 | |
| Vol #31 | July 1, 1905 - October 31, 1908 | |
| Vol #32 | November 5, 1908 - October 31, 1911 | |
| Vol #33 | November 1, 1911 - September 30, 1914 | |
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| Receipts and Disbursements | |
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| Vol #34 | March 16, 1936 - April 29, 1939 | |
| Vol #35 | May 1, 1939 - April 30, 1942 | |
| Vol #36 | May 1, 1939 - April 30, 1942 | |
| Vol #37 | May 1, 1942 - April 30, 1944 | |
| Vol #38 | May 1, 1942 - April 30, 1944 | |
| Vol #39 | May 1, 1944 - December 31, 1946 | |
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| Miscellaneous | |
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| Vol #40 | Legal forms, agreements, indentures, briefs | |
| Vol #41 | Legal forms, agreements, indentures, briefs | |
| Vol #42 | Properties aided, 1927-1936 | |
| Vol #43 | Appropriations to Churches by Synods, 1927-1930 |