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These records document the work of the General Field Services unit of the Executive Council’s Department of Christian Education, which provided consulting services to Episcopal dioceses, mission districts, and other Church organizations on educational issues. They include correspondence, printed materials, strategic planning documents, and forms and reports detailing field work done by departmental officers.

The complex, shifting, and sometimes obscure institutional reorganizations of Executive Council in the late 1960s and 1970s are partially reflected in this collection.

This collection consists of periodicals that were created for leaders in the field of Christian education as well as students and parents and covers two periods with a noticeable gap: 1927-1947 and 1953-1982. The publications provide guidance and leadership in the field and also serve as a forum to unify discussion and exchange current ideas on education.

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.

The records of the Division of College work document the Church’s work in college and university communities around the United States. Budgets and grant awards, and photographs constitute the unique records in this group. The photographs depict students, faculty, clergy, and lay leaders at conferences and gatherings in a variety of settings, as well as church buildings and interiors at various colleges and universities around the United States.

The records of the Girls’ Friendly Society in the United States of America (GFS-USA) provides an impressive historical record of the organization. Minutes and reports of the Board of Directors, Executive Committee, and Coordinating Board, as well as financial ledgers and audits document the organizations governing bodies and fiscal responsibilities. The relationship between the national headquarters of the GFS-USA and local chapters as well as the Department of Christian Education of the Executive Council is also well documented.

In addition, a large collection of publications provides a thorough history regarding the activities and mission of the GFS-USA from as early as 1878.