Guide to the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly Moderator William Laws Records

Descriptive Summary

Title

United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly Moderator William Laws Records

Inclusive Dates

1970-1971

Call Number

RG 130

Creator(s)

United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly. Moderator (1970-1971 : Laws)

Quantity

2.00 cubic feet

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*” 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

Materials marked "Digital" in the Collection Inventory may not have been digitized in their entirety.

Repository

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

Biographical Note / Administrative History

Biographical Note

William Laws was born in 1916 in Durham, North Carolina. He graduated from Davidson College in 1938 and from Louisville Seminary in 1943. That spring he married Ellen McDowell Davis. Laws was called to the Buechel Presbyterian Church in Buechel, Kentucky; he remained pastor of that church until 1950, when he moved his family to Columbus, Indiana to accept a call to the First United Presbyterian Church. This occasioned a change in denomination for Laws from the PCUS to the PCUSA. During the next two decades Laws was active in the community and the Indiana Synod, serving on various local boards and synod committees. In 1970 he was elected moderator of the General Assembly. He died in 1985.

Collection Overview

Record Group 130 contains Laws' moderatorial files, including a file on his moderatorial visits throughout the country, and a file of general correspondence.

Organization and Arrangement

SERIES 1: SUBJECT FILES, 1970-1971

SERIES 2: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1970-1971

SERIES 3: MODERATORIAL VISITS, 1970-1971

Alternative Formats

Materials marked "Digital" in the Collection Inventory may not have been digitized in their entirety.

Administrative Information

Processing Information

Collection processed and container list prepared: 1978
Robert A. Goldstein, Assistant Records Researcher

Notes added to finding aid and series created: March 1992
Stephanie Muntone, Processing Archivist

Catalog Headings

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

Personal Added Name

Laws, William Robert, 1916-1985.

Collection Inventory

Box	Folder	Description	Alternative Formats

1	1	Finding Aid to Record Group 130, Biography of Laws, Publicity relating to the 182nd General Assembly

		SERIES 1: SUBJECT FILES, 1970-1971

1	2	Academy of Parish Clergy, Inc.
	3	Arctic Slope Native Association
	4	Board of Christian Education; Curriculum: Studies on Human Sexuality
	5	Board of National Missions
	6	Board of Pensions
	7	Boggs Academy (Keysville, GA)
	8	Brandon, Walter (student at McCormick Seminary confined in U.S. Penitentiary)
	9	Brazil (Human Rights)
	10	Christian Children's Fund (reliability of)
	11	Church hostel facilities (proposal for)
	12	Church and Race, Division of
	13	Columbus, IN--Community Celebration of Laws' Moderatorial Election
	14	Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations
	15	Community of Reconciliation Presbyterian Church (Dallas, Texas)
	16-18	Complaints (general); Suggestions for Church Government
	19	Congratulations to colleagues
	20	Consultation on Church Union (COCU)/National Council of Churches (incl. original petition against Union, Session of Ebenezer Pres. Church, Lennox, SD)
	21	Council on Church and Society
	22	Council on Theological Education (Annual Meeting); Theological Education (general)
	23	Council on Church Support; Department of Interpretation and Stewardship; Correspondence re Spiritual Support of Church
	24	Creative Associates (proposal re videotaping GA 1971)
	25	Cuba (Cuban Presbyterians in Miami, etc)
	26	Davis, Angela--Defense Fund (complaints)
	27	Designations, Policy Statement on (182nd GA)
	28	Evangelism (increased church support for/Special Task Force on Mission and Evangelism
	29	Financial Assistance Requests
	30	182nd General Assembly (1970) (miscellaneous); Proposals on Procedure; Report to Presbytery of a Youth Advisory Delegate to l82nd GA
	31	183rd General Assembly (1971) (miscellaneous); Planning correspondence; Permanent Committee on Nominations (nominations to); Proposals for Worship
	32	General Assembly: Finances/Budget
	33-34	General Council (1970-71); General Council Committee on Social Responsibility in Investment (1971, and post-moderatorial: 1971-73) (incl. committee member background questionnaires)
	35	General Secretaries Conference
	36	Ghost Ranch Conference Center (Abiquiu, NM)
	37	Hawkins, Rev. Edler (Testimonial Dinner--incl. testimonial letters; typescript cards for address by Laws, etc)
	38	Health and Human Values Task Force (Metropolitan Philadelphia)
	39	Interdenominational Strategy to End the Draft (1971); Interfaith Vigil and Fast
	40	Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFC0) (pre-moderatorial: 1969)
	41	Invitations, declined (moderatorial year)
	42	Invitations (post-moderatorial: 1971)
	43	Long Range Planning Committee of General Council (pre-moderatorial: 1970
	44	Ministerial Relations, Department of
	45	Moderator's Travel (calendars and itinerary correspondence)
	46	National Committee on the Self-Development of People
	47	North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
	48	Presbyterian Church US (PCUS) (incl. historic moderatorial exchange of pulpits, 1-3-71)
	49	Presbyterian Lay Committee (incl. draft of Laws' article for The Presbyterian Layman: "What Can a Man Do for His Church?")
	50	Presbyterian Life (correspondence; drafts of various articles by Laws); Presbyterian Outlook (correspondence with Editor); The Upper Room (correspondence with Editor); Colloquy (complaint, etc.)

2	1	Presbytery of Chicago (re: search for Executive Presbyter, 1971)
	2	Presbytery of Philadelphia (re: Kenyatta Affair, etc.; moderatorial visit)
	3	Russia (re: Leningrad hijack trial, 1970)
	4	(Report) "Sexuality and the Human Community" (note: many letters protesting report include criticism of a variety of Church policies)
	5	Southeast Asia (re: US military involvement in Vietnam, Church policy toward	Digital*
	6-7	Submarine Church (at 182 GA, etc.) Youth (general); Youth Advisory Delegates (YADs) (at 182 GA); "Youth Organizations United (Y0U); White House Conference on youth
	8	Supersonic Transport (SST) (complaints re Church policy toward)
	9	Tarkio College (Missouri)
	10	Task Force on Southern Africa (re Church policy toward South Africa)
	11	Theological Seminaries (Louisville, Pittsburgh, Princeton)
	12	United Presbyterian Foundation (UPCUSA)
	13	United Presbyterian Men; United Presbyterian Women (re: Annual meeting at Purdue; Statement issued by Executive Committee, UPW, at 182nd GA etc.); Task Force on Women
	14	University Presbyterian Church (Buffalo) (correspondence, post-moderatorial: 1971)
	15	Worshipbook (correspondence)/Worship Services (Order of Worship, Hymns, etc.)

		SERIES 2: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1970-1971

2	16	A - K
	17	L - Z

		SERIES 3: MODERATORIAL VISITS, 1970-1971

2	18	Allentown, NJ/Woodbury, NJ
	19	Ames, IA
	20	Baltimore, MD
	21	Berwyn, PA
	22	Bethlehem, PA
	23	Bloomfield,IN
	24	Boise, ID
	25	Bridgehampton, NY
	26	Buffalo, NY
	27	Cherry Hill, NJ
	28-29	Chicago, IL
	30	Cincinnati, OH
	31	Columbus, IN
	32	Crawfordsville, IN
	33	Dayton, OH
	34	Deerfield, IL
	35	Detroit, MI
	36	Dover, DE
	37	Dubuque, IA
	38	Easton, PA
	39	Elwyn, PA
	40	Erie, PA
	41	Gary, IN
	42	Geneva, NY
	43	Germantown PA
	44	Goshen, NY
	45	Grove City, PA
	46	Hanover, IN
	47	Henderson, KY
	48	Houston, TX
	49	Indianapolis, IN
	50	Jacksonville, FL
	51	Kansas City, MO/northwest MO
	52	King of Prussia, PA
	53	Kirkwood, MO
	54	Lafayette, IN
	55	Lancaster, PA
	56	Lebanon, KY
	57	Lexington, KY
	58	Louisville, KY
	59	Maryville, TN
	60	Minneapolis, MN
	61	New Orleans, LA
	62	New York, NY
	63	Parson, KS
	64	Pittsburgh, PA
	65	Plainfield, IN
	66	Rochester, NY
	67	Rome, NY
	68	San Francisco/Los Angeles, CA
	69	Sandusky, OH
	70	Seattle, WA
	71	South Bend, IN
	72	Springfield, MO/Plainfield, MO
	73	Tulsa, OK
	74	Washington, DC
	75	Waterloo, NY
	76	Webster Groves, MO
	77	Wheeling, WV
	78	Wichita, KS
	79	Wooster, 0H

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Guide to the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly Moderator William Laws Records

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